Research

The research of my group is focused on star-exoplanet relationship. By using theory and numerical simulations, we research the interaction of exoplanets with their host star's wind. Our research allows us to investigate how (and whether) these interactions can produce detectable observational signatures, how the stellar wind can affect planetary magnetospheres, how it shapes escape in close-in planets, among other physical processes. Our research therefore can supply more detailed diagnostics of the wind interaction with exoplanets, guiding observers towards the most promising systems to host detectable signatures of such interactions. Our numerical and theoretical work is further complemented by numerous collaborations with observers.

Would you like to learn more? I have written reviews and overviews on stellar winds and star-planet interactions recently. These selected materials are adequate for MSc/PhD student level and above. They can also be useful for non-specialists who would like to get more familiar with these fields.

Publications and CV

For more details on our work, please check my list of publications in ADS. My CV can be found in Orcid.

Group

Current group members

• Assoc. Prof. Aline Vidotto (Principal Investigator)
• Andrew Allan (PhD Student)
• Dr Stefano Bellotti (Postdoctoral Scholar - ESA visitor programme)
• Dr Florian Driessen (Postdoctoral Scholar)
• Dr Dag Evensberget (Postdoctoral Scholar)
• Markus Strickert (PhD Student)

Former group members (in reverse chronological order)

• Dr Sebastian Pineda (visitor researcher)
• Dr Robert Kavanagh (former PhD Student until 2022)
• Dr Amanda Mesquita (former PhD Student until 2022)
• Dr Gopal Hazra (former Postdoctoral Scholar until 2022)
• Dr Stephen Carolan (former PhD Student, graduated in 2022)
• Dr Donna Rodgers-Lee (former Postdoctoral Scholar until 2022)
• Dr Daria Kubyshkina (former Postdoctoral Scholar until 2021)
• Dr Carolina Villarreal D'Angelo (IRC Postdoctoral Fellow until 2020)
• Dr Dualta O Fionnagain (former PhD student, graduated in 2020)

Open positions

PhD position at Leiden Observatory (application deadline Nov 15, 2023)

I have an opening for a PhD position to work on the modelling of stellar and/or planetary outflows.
Interested applicants, please follow this link, where you will learn more about pursuing a PhD at Leiden Observatory and will be able to submit your application. The start date is around October 2024, and the application deadline is on Nov 15, 2023.

About me

I am an Associate Professor in Leiden Observatory, at Leiden University, where I am the principal investigator of the ERC Consolidator project ASTROFLOW, which investigates the interaction between stellar and planetary outflows. Prior to joining Leiden in September 2021, I was an academic at Trinity College Dublin, Ireland, and, before that, I held independent research fellowships from the Royal Astronomical Society (at University of St Andrews) and from the Swiss National Science Foundation (at Geneva Observatory). I obtained my PhD from the University of Sao Paulo, in (patria amada) Brazil.

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