Reinhard Genzel

Prof. Reinhard Genzel is an Honorary Professor of Physics at Ludwig-Maximilians University Munich (since 1989) and Director at the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics (MPE). He held a 25% Full Professorship at UC Berkeley's Department of Physics and Astronomy (1998–2016) before becoming Professor of the Graduate School there in 2017. His research focuses on galactic nuclei dynamics, star formation, and observational techniques in infrared/submillimeter astronomy.

Education & Early Career:

• Ph.D. in Physics/Astronomy, University of Bonn (1978)
• Postdoctoral Fellow at Harvard-Smithsonian Center (1978–1980)
• Miller Fellow at UC Berkeley (1980–1982)
• Associate Professor at UC Berkeley (1981–1985)

Research Highlights: Pioneered studies of the Milky Way's supermassive black hole at the galactic center, active galactic nuclei, and high-redshift galaxy formation. His group develops advanced infrared instruments at MPE to probe these phenomena.

Awards (selection):

• Nobel Prize in Physics (2020) for galactic center discovery
• Crafoord Prize (2012), Herschel Medal (2014), Balzan Prize (2003)
• Member of Leopoldina Academy, Royal Society, and multiple national academies

Labs & Collaborations: Leads MPE's Galactic Center research group. Collaborates with IMPRS on Astrophysics Munich program training doctoral students.