Nils Hoyer

Nils Hoyer is a Research Fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy (MPIA) in Heidelberg, Germany, working within the Department of Galaxies and Cosmology under the Galactic Nuclei research group. He maintains dual affiliation with the Donostia International Physics Center (DIPC) in Donostia-San Sebastián, Spain, as part of the International Max Planck Research School for Astronomy and Cosmic Physics (IMPRS-HD).

Education:

• PhD in Astrophysics (2021–present) from Max-Planck-Institut für Astronomie and Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg, supervised by Dr. Nadine Neumayer and Dr. Silvia Bonoli
• Master of Science in Physics (2018–2020) from Max-Planck-Institut für Astronomie and Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg, supervised by Dr. Nadine Neumayer and Dr. Iskren Y. Georgiev
• Bachelor of Science in Physics (2014–2018) from Landessternwarte Heidelberg and Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg, supervised by Prof. Dr. Jochen Heidt

Research Focus: Hoyer specializes in nuclear star clusters (NSCs)—the densest stellar systems in the universe occupying galactic centers. His work investigates NSC formation mechanisms, interactions with massive black holes, and resulting exotic phenomena including stellar mergers and gravitational wave sources. He employs multi-wavelength observational data from SRG/eROSITA, Hubble, and James Webb Space Telescopes spanning X-ray to mid-infrared regimes, combined with semi-analytical cosmological modeling through the "L-Galaxies" framework to simulate star cluster evolution.

Publication Trends: Analysis of Hoyer's 10 publications (2019–2024) reveals dominant themes in nuclear star cluster demographics, black hole interactions in galactic nuclei, and galaxy evolution. A significant portion involves the PHANGS-JWST Treasury Survey examining star formation physics and dust properties in nearby galaxies. His work consistently bridges observational astronomy with cosmological simulations, particularly using the L-Galaxies model to study tidal disruption events, black hole formation mechanisms, and NSC abundance in low-mass galaxies.

Scientific Recognition: No formal awards or fellowships were documented in the source materials.

Collaborations & Infrastructure: As a postdoctoral researcher, Hoyer has no listed advisees but contributes to major international collaborations including the PHANGS-JWST team and SRG/eROSITA mission. His work is institutionally supported through MPIA and DIPC affiliations within the IMPRS-HD framework. He operates within the Galactic Nuclei group at MPIA, utilizing advanced computational resources for simulation work and accessing cutting-edge observational facilities like JWST and eROSITA.