Dr. Tim Lichtenberg (he/him)
Tim works as Assistant Professor at the Kapteyn Astronomical Institute of the University of Groningen, where he leads the Forming Worlds Lab. He investigates the formation and evolution of rocky planets in order to embed the birth and life cycle of terrestrial worlds in an integrated picture. Ultimately, he wants to understand the planetary environmental conditions that led to the origin of life on the early Earth, and how widespread such places are in our galaxy.
The research of the Forming Worlds team is embedded within the Alien Earths, AEThER, Large Interferometer for Exoplanets, and PRELIFE research collaborations, and supported by the Branco Weiss Foundation, the Dutch Research Council (NWO), and the Kapteyn Astronomical Institute and Faculty of Science and Engineering of the University of Groningen.
Research Positions
10/2022 –
10/2019 – 09/2022
08/2018 – 09/2019
Kapteyn Astronomical Institute, University of Groningen
Kapteyn Astronomical Institute Tenure-track Assistant Professor
Branco Weiss Foundation Research Fellow
Project: Molten Exoplanets as a Window into the Earliest Earth
Atmospheric, Oceanic and Planetary Physics, University of Oxford
Simons Collaboration on the Origins of Life Postdoctoral Fellow
Atmospheric, Oceanic and Planetary Physics, University of Oxford
Swiss National Science Foundation Early Postdoc.Mobility Fellow
Project: Linking interior-atmosphere regimes to planetary accretion
Education
09/2014 – 07/2018
09/2012 – 08/2014
08/2012 – 01/2013
09/2009 – 08/2012
Department of Earth Sciences, ETH Zürich, Switzerland
Dr.sc. ETH Zurich / planetary physics, star and planet formation
Thesis: Thermal Evolution of Forming Planets: Isotope Enrichment, Differentiation & Volatile Retention
Department of Physics, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, Germany
Peking University (北京大学), Beijing, P. R. China
Semester abroad, chinese language and culture
Department of Physics, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, Germany
B.Sc. Physics / specialisation in astronomy
Thesis: Constraining Exoplanet Characteristics with Asteroseismology
Teaching & Mentoring
Mentored students
BSc thesis "Tidal evolution of the Hadean Earth", Marijn van Dijk, Kapteyn Astronomical Institute, main supervisor, 2025
BSc thesis "Timescales of exoplanet ocean formation", Anvel de Sainte Marie d'Agneaux, Kapteyn Astronomical Institute, main supervisor, 2025
BSc thesis "Interior structure of partially molten super-Earths", Flavia Pascal, Kapteyn Astronomical Institute, main supervisor, 2025
BSc thesis "Finding secondary atmospheres with JWST", Karen Stuitje, RUG Physics department, main supervisor, 2025
Internship "Surface UV flux of prebiotic atmospheres at varying redox state", Bruna Fena (FU Berlin MSc student), Kapteyn Astronomical Institute, main supervisor, 2025
Internship "UV flux of prebiotic atmospheres at varying redox state", Bruna Fena (FU Berlin MSc student), Kapteyn Astronomical Institute, main supervisor, 2025
MSc thesis "Probing planetary oxygenation with LIFE", Noah Borgmann, Kapteyn Astronomical Institute, main supervisor, 2025–
BSc Honours College research project "Exoplanet interior structure modelling", Flavia Pascal, Kapteyn Astronomical Institute, main supervisor, 2024-25
MSc thesis "Outgassing and geochemistry of sub-Neptune exoplanets", Jorick Lania, Kapteyn Astronomical Institute, main supervisor, 2024–
BSc thesis "Compositional degeneracies of underdense super-Earths", Jessica Helmerhorst, Kapteyn Astronomical Institute, main supervisor, 2024
BSc thesis "Redox tracers in rock vapour atmospheres of lava exoplanets", Björn Koops Kapteyn Astronomical Institute, main supervisor, 2024
BSc thesis "Redox-variant runaway greenhouse limits", Iris Boer, Kapteyn Astronomical Institute, main supervisor, 2024
BSc Honours College research project "Characterizing exoplanet surface composition with LIFE", Flavia Pascal, Kapteyn Astronomical Institute, main supervisor, 2023
MSc thesis project "Magma oceanography of sub-Earth GJ 367 b", Lotte Bartels, Kapteyn Astronomical Institute, main supervisor, 2023
Undergraduate research project "Finding terrestrial protoplanets in the galactic neighbourhood", Lorenzo Cesario, Kapteyn Astronomical Institute, main supervisor, 2023
PhD thesis "Evolution of rocky exoplanet atmospheres", Emma Postolec, Kapteyn Astronomical Institute, main supervisor, 2023–
PhD thesis "Evolution of rocky exoplanet interiors", Mariana V. Sastre, Kapteyn Astronomical Institute, main supervisor, 2023–
DPhil research project "Reduced atmospheric chemistry on rocky exoplanets", Harrison Nicholls, Oxford Atmospheric Physics, co-supervisor, 2023–
PhD research project "Fluid flow in aqueous planetesimals", Beat Hubmann, Kapteyn Astronomical Institute, main supervisor, 2023–2024
BSc thesis "Distinguishing surface features on atmosphere-less exoplanets", Lucas Priolet, Kapteyn Astronomical Institute, main supervisor, 2023
BSc thesis "The prevalence of steam in magma ocean atmospheres", Boyd van der Plaat, Kapteyn Astronomical Institute, main supervisor, 2023
BSc thesis "Detecting cooling protoplanets with direct imaging", Lorenzo Cesario, Kapteyn Astronomical Institute, main supervisor, 2023
BSc thesis "Spectral signatures of volcanic exoplanet atmospheres", Marijn Smorenburg, Kapteyn Astronomical Institute, main supervisor, 2023
MSc thesis "Planetesimal hydrology", Beat Hubmann, ETH Zurich Earth Sciences, co-supervisor, 2022
BSc semester project "Investigating the surface composition of airless, terrestrial exoplanets with LIFE", Gustav Pap, ETH Zurich Particle Physics & Astrophysics, co-supervisor, 2021
DPhil projects "Climate of condensable-rich exoplanet atmospheres", Robert J. Graham, Oxford Atmospheric Physics, co-supervisor, 2020–22
DPhil project "Beyond runaway: initiation of the post-runaway greenhouse state on rocky exoplanets", Ryan Boukrouche, Oxford Atmospheric Physics, co-supervisor, 2020–22
MSc semester project "Silicate melting and metal pooling in planetesimals", Madeleine Müller, ETH Zurich Earth Sciences, co-supervisor, 2020
Student mentor, University of Oxford, St Cross College, 16 graduate (MSc/DPhil) students from the natural sciences, 2019–22
BSc thesis "Percolative core formation in terrestrial planetesimals and protoplanets", Madeleine Müller, ETH Zurich Earth Sciences, co-supervisor, 2019
MSc thesis "Quantitative Predictions for the Observability of Protoplanetary Collisions", Irene Bonati, ETH Zurich Earth Sciences, co-supervisor, 2016–17
BSc semester project "2D Numerical Modeling of Pebble Accretion Influence on Planetesimal Evolution", Fabio Luchsinger, ETH Zurich Earth Sciences, co-supervisor, 2016
Courses
Exoplanets, MSc course, Kapteyn Astronomical Institute, University of Groningen, main lecturer, 2023–25
Hands-on Numerical Astrophysics School for Planet Formation Sciences, summer school, German Science Foundation priority research programme 1992 "Exoplanet Diversity", Rauenberg, lecturer, 08/2023
Star and Planet Formation, MSc course, Kapteyn Astronomical Institute, University of Groningen, co-lecturer, 2023, 2025
Life and Information, BSc seminar, Faculty of Science and Engineering, University of Groningen, guest lecturer, 11/2022
Origin and role of volatiles in the early solar system and planets, Block course for MSc and PhD students, University of Bayreuth, Bayerisches Geoinstitut, guest lecturer, 01/2020
Planetary Physics and Chemistry + Geophysics II, ETH Zurich Earth Sciences, substitute lecturer, 2017/18
Physics I+II for non-physicists, ETH Zurich Physics, Teaching Assistant, exercise/exam design, 2014–16
Scientific computing techniques, Göttingen University Physics, Teaching Assistant, 2013/14
Introduction to Astro- and Geophysics, Göttingen University Physics, Teaching Assistant, 2013
Basic physics lab course, Göttingen University Physics, Lab Assistant, 2012/14
Community Service
Refereeing & Committees
Astronomy & Astrophysics, Astrophysical Journal, Astrophysical Journal Letters, Astronomical Journal, Earth and Planetary Science Letters, Elements, Icarus, Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Nature, Nature Astronomy, Nature Communications, Planetary Science Journal, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia, Science, Science Advances
Examination & Defence Committees
Mark Oosterloo, "Tracking CHNOS during the early stages of planet formation with a model-laboratory approach", PhD thesis, promoters: Inga Kamp, Wim van Westrenen, University of Groningen, Groningen, NL, 01/2025
Francisco Ardévol Martinez, "Machine learning for exoplanet characterisation in the JWST era", PhD thesis, promoters: Inga Kamp, Paul I. Palmer, Michiel Min, University of Groningen, Groningen, NL, 10/2024
Zara Siyal "Comparison and characterisation of properties of exoplanets and their host stars", BSc thesis, supervisors: Amina Helmi, Tom Callingham, University of Groningen, Groningen, NL, 07/2024
Tycho Hebels "The Effects of Dust Grain Surface Reactions on the HDO/H2O Ice Ratio
in Protoplanetary Disks", BSc thesis, supervisor: Inga Kamp, University of Groningen, Groningen, NL, 07/2024
Kevin de Man "Radiation processing of grains in protoplanetary disks", BSc thesis, supervisor: Inga Kamp, University of Groningen, Groningen, NL, 07/2024
Ioannis Panagiotou "Evolution of the pressure equilibrium and condensation in idealised simulations", BSc thesis, supervisors: Filippo Fraternali, A. Dutta, University of Groningen, Groningen, NL, 07/2024
Keavin Moore, "Coupled Models of Water on Terrestrial Planets Orbiting M-Dwarfs", PhD thesis, advisor: Nicolas B. Cowan, McGill University, Tiohtià:ke/Montréal, Québec, CA, 12/2023
Roos H. Voorhoeve "Enhancing and expanding the applicability of ReverseRADEX for accurate astrophysical insights", BSc thesis, supervisor: Floris van der Tak, University of Groningen, Groningen, NL, 12/2023
Bayron Armando Portilla Revelo, "Closing the gap between theory and observations of planet-forming disks with radiative transfer models", PhD thesis, promoters: Inga Kamp, Ewine van Dishoeck, University of Groningen, Groningen, NL, 12/2023
Nynke Visser, "The influence of the ice-albedo feedback on the long term carbon cycle of Earth-like exoplanets", MSc thesis, supervisors: Inga Kamp, Mark Oosterloo, Dennis Höning, Kapteyn Astronomical Institute, Groningen, NL, 08/2023
Raymon P. Ferdinand "Outgassing and Exoplanet Atmospheres: A study of the effects of outgassing on the temperature and composition of the secondary atmospheres of rocky exoplanets", BSc thesis, supervisors: Floris van der Tak, Michiel Min, Kapteyn Astronomical Institute, Groningen, NL, 06/2023
Yapeng Zhang, "Isotopes and the characterization of extrasolar planets", PhD thesis, promoters: Ignas Snellen, Laura Kreidberg, Leiden Observatory, Leiden, NL, 06/2023
Mantas Zilinskas, "Lava Worlds: Characterising atmospheres of impossible nature", PhD thesis, promoters: Yamila Miguel, Ignas Snellen, Leiden Observatory, Leiden, NL, 05/2023
Academic Union Management
Meeting Organisation
Rocky Worlds Discussions, monthly virtual seminar series, co-founder, board member, 10/2022–
LIFE Science Team meetings, monthly virtual team meeting, Co-Host, 03/2022–
Rocky Worlds IV, SOC, Groningen, main organiser, 01/2026
Exoclimes VII, SOC, Université de Montréal, QC, CA, 07/2025
Exoplanets V, Session Convenor, Leiden, 06/2024
Rocky Worlds III, SOC, Zurich, 01/2024
Annual LIFE Science Team workshop, Co-Chair, 09/2023
Goldschmidt 2023, Unraveling planetary interiors with extraterrestrial samples and space data, Co-Convener, Lyon, 07/2023
Origins of Solar Systems (GRS) Gordon Research Seminar: Constraining the Origin and Evolution of Planetary Systems Through a Multidisciplinary Approach, Co-Chair, South Hadley, US, 06/2023
The (geo)chemistry of terrestrial planet formation, SOC, Groningen, NL, 03/2023
Rocky Worlds II, SOC/LOC, main organiser, Oxford, UK, 07/2022
PLATO Atmospheres Workshop, SOC, Berlin/virtual, 12/2021
LIFE Lorentz center workshop (cancelled due to COVID-19), SOC, Leiden, NL, 06/2021
AGU20: Accretion and differentiation of rocky planets: perspectives from geophysics, geochemistry, & astronomy, session co-convenor, San Francisco/virtual, 12/2020
LIFE workshop III, SOC, Zurich/virtual, 12/2020
ESO workshop: Threats from the surroundings, SOC, Munich/virtual, 11/2020
Exoplanets III, Moderator, Heidelberg/virtual, 07/2020
Mini-workshop: LIFE – Large Interferometer For Exoplanets, SOC, Zurich/virtual, 05/2020
3rd Oxford Meeting on Planets, LOC/SOC, Oxford, UK, 12/2019
Exoclimes V, LOC, Oxford, UK, 08/2019
2nd Oxford Meeting on Planets, LOC/SOC, Oxford, UK, 12/2018
Water during planet formation and evolution 2018, LOC/SOC, Zurich, CH, 02/2018
The Origins of Volatiles in Habitable Planets: The Solar System and Beyond, LOC, Ann Arbor, USA, 10/2017
NCCR PlanetS Workshop: The crucial role of water, LOC/SOC, Zurich, CH, 12/2016
Academic Associations
European Association of Geochemistry, 2021–
International Astronomical Union, 2021–
American Geophysical Union, 2020–
European Astronomical Society, 2019–
Royal Astronomical Society, 2019–
Europlanet Society, 2019–
European Geosciences Union, 2019–
German Astronomical Society, 2013–
German Physical Society, 2010–
Swiss Society for Astrophysics and Astronomy, 2015–24
Funding & Awards
Research & Workshop Grants
Open eScience Early Career Project PROTEUS, Netherlands eScience Center, PI, 12/2023
Workshop grant for Rocky Worlds Discussions, Meteoritical Society, PI, 02/2023
Faculty Research Grant, Faculty of Science and Engineering, University of Groningen, PI, 12/2022
Research Grant of the Branco Weiss Foundation, PI, 08/2022
A-rated ERC Starting Grant Proposal (reserve list), European Research Council, 06/2022
Workshop grant for Rocky Worlds II conference, Royal Astronomical Society, PI, 05/2021
Workshop grant for Rocky Worlds II conference, Meteoritical Society, PI, 03/2021
Research grant Geodynamic Regimes During Planetogenesis, Simons Foundation, PI, 12/2018
Bernoulli postdoctoral fellowship (not started), University of Oxford & University of Bern, 03/2018
Research grant Early Postdoc.Mobility Fellowship, Swiss National Science Foundation, 12/2017
Research grant Linking Interior-Atmosphere Regimes to Planetary Accretion, Swiss National Science Foundation, PI, 12/2017
Workshop grant for Water during planet formation and evolution, University of Zurich, Co-I, 04/2017
MERAC funding and travel award for project Volatile degassing from terrestrial planet precursors, Swiss Society for Astrophysics and Astronomy, PI, 09/2016
Honours
Planetary and Solar System Sciences Division Outstanding Early Career Scientist Award 2023, European Geosciences Union (EGU), 04/2023
Winton Award for Early Achievement in Geophysics 2022, Royal Astronomical Society, 01/2022
Doctoral Thesis Award 2019, German Astronomical Society, 09/2019
PhD Prize for Planetary Systems and Astrobiology 2018, International Astronomical Union, 06/2019
Non-stipendiary Junior Research Fellowship, St Cross College, University of Oxford, 06/2019
Horneck-Brack Presentation Award, 2nd prize, European Astrobiology Network Association, 09/2018
'Dr. Berliner – Dr. Ungewitter' prize for M.Sc. thesis, Göttingen University, 12/2014
M.Sc. diploma awarded 'with distinction', Göttingen University, 07/2014
Outreach
Media Interviews, Press Releases & Public Talks
Media interview for article 'Exoplanet plate tectonics: A new frontier in the hunt for alien life', New Scientist, 12/2024
Media interview for pdocast 'Die knifflige Suche nach außerirdischem Leben' (The tricky search for extraterrestrial life), Deutschlandfunk, 12/2024
Public Talk 'Formation and Evolution of Terrestrial Worlds', DOT Planetarium Groningen, 05/2024, slides
Public Talk 'Entstehung und Entwicklung terrestrischer Welten' (German, audience ~100), Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, 05/2024, slides
Media interview for article 'What is a presumed sign of life doing on a dead comet?', Science News, 04/2024
Biographical interview with news outlet "Welt der Physik", part of thematic "Year of Science 2023" of the German Ministry for Science and Education, 04/2023
Media interview for article 'Planeet en ster groeien samen op' (Planet and star grow together), New Scientist Netherlands, 12/2022
Panel member for Astrofísica UC Golden Webinars in Astrophysics: Lynnae Quick - The Role of Cryovolcanism in Creating Habitable Niches on Ocean Worlds in Our and Extrasolar Planetary Systems, 10/2021
Panel member for Astrofísica UC Golden Webinars in Astrophysics: Frances Westall - Biosignatures and the Search for Extraterrestrial Life: A Historical Overview from the Beginnings to the State of the Art, 10/2021
Press release and media communication for Lichtenberg et al. 2021a (Altmetric), featured in 36 news outlets ,01/2021
Public talk 'Wasser, Wüste oder Lava: Wie entstehen erdähnliche Planeten?' (Water, desert or lava: how do Earth-like planets form?), virtual, Planetarium Göttingen, 11/2020
Letters to a Pre-Scientist Pen Pal, 2019-20
Press release and media communication for Lichtenberg et al. 2019b (Altmetric), featured in 21 news outlets, 02/2019
ETH Zürich focusTerra special Exhibition "Expedition Solar System", 2018-19
ETH Zürich Scientifica 2015 - "Licht und Astronomie – Geschichte und Geheimnisse des Universums", 09/2015
Figures and media for german popular science article “Exotische Welten – Wie alte Sterne neue Planeten bilden” by Dominik Schleicher in “Sterne und Weltraum”, 08/2015
Astrobites reddit "Ask-Me-Anything", 06/2015
Visit of primary school in Zürich Seefeld with Q&A, 06/2015
Visualisation video of cosmological star formation simulation, 07/2014
Public talk "Ferne Welten im Computer: Planetenentstehung durch Gravitationsinstabilitäten" (German) , Institute for Astrophysics, University of Göttingen, 03/2014
Blog & video posts
Hidden water in magma ocean exoplanets, 10/2021
The turbulent hearts of shrouded super-Earths, 05/2021
Early carbon depletion of terrestrial worlds from the outside-in, 05/2021
Molten exoplanets as a window into the earliest Earth, 01/2021
Formation of the Solar System in two steps, 01/2021
Two emergent faces of rocky planetary systems, 02/2019
Planetesimal magmatism as a key to the chemical assembly of terrestrial planets, 01/2019
Spotting Protoplanet Collision Afterglows in the Stellar Neighbourhood, 11/2018
Impact splash chondrule formation during planetesimal recycling, 11/2017
Supernova ejecta pollute young planetary systems, 08/2016
On the variety of asteroid interiors, 04/2016
Astrobites – The astro-ph Reader's Digest
Astrobites is a daily astrophysical literature journal written by graduate students in astronomy around the world. Its goal is to present one interesting paper per day in a brief format that is accessible to undergraduate students in the physical sciences who are interested in active research. During my authoring activity for Astrobites from 2014–2016 I published a variety of blog articles. Until 2019 I remained active in the Astrobites community in various administrative and supportive roles.
Why open research practices are a clever move, 12/2016
Modest chaos in the early solar system, 11/2016
Driving planetary dynamos by giant impacts, 08/2016
Water worlds – self-arrests, thermostats and long-term climate stability, 07/2016
Massive circumstellar disks accrete faster than low-mass ones, 05/2016
Grand Fireworks from the Local Super-Bubble, 04/2016
Bridging the gap: asteroid collisions without quantum foam, 03/2016
The tempestuous adolescence of circumstellar disks, 02/2016
Sustainable Climates on Greenhouse Super-Earths?, 11/2015
Ripping Apart Asteroids to Account for Earth’s Strangeness, 11/2015
Dry Out Super-Earths via Giant Impacts, 10/2015
Triggered fragmentation in self-gravitating disks, 09/2015
Giant planets from far out there, 08/2015
Nature’s Starships Vol. II – A Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Bloody Cold Beginnings, 07/2015
Nature’s Starships Vol. I – Ride in on Shooting Stars, 06/2015
Circumplanetary disks… soon!, 05/2015
Hot Shots: How to Trigger Star Formation in the Early Universe by Supernova Blast-Waves, 05/2015
Why is star formation so inefficient?, 04/2015
Are Extrasolar Worlds More Likely to Be Water-rich?, 03/2015
Sneak a peek on the cause of death of protoplanetary disks, 02/2015
Are Carbon-Rich Planets Just an Observational Bias?, 01/2015
Orderly disorder: Simulations of planet-disk dynamics with AREPO, 12/2014