STEM Field | Insights
Prof. Dominika Wylezalek studied physics at the universities of Heidelberg and Cambridge (UK). Since 2020, she has been a research group leader at the Institute for Astronomical Computing of Heidelberg University. Her research focuses on the evolution of galaxies and the supermassive black holes. In the following interview, she talks about her interest for the subject, her current research as well as her experiences as a women in research.
Could you please briefly describe your academic career to date?
As a teenager, I was easily interested in and excited by many different topics and my “dream job” included everything from being a vet, medical doctor, politician, to restaurant owner. However, I still enjoyed physics the most and decided to start my studies at the University of Heidelberg, which offers a wide range of astronomy classes as part of the physics curriculum.
After finishing my BSc in Heidelberg, I moved to the University of Cambridge in the UK to obtain my master’s degree. Although that year was probably the most study-intensive year of my life, I greatly enjoyed having the opportunity to attend lectures by some of the top astronomers in the world and was highly inspired by the academic environment in Cambridge.
When I received an offer from the European Southern Observatory / University of Munich for a PhD position in 2011, I did not hesitate to accept it. My thesis project focused on investigating distant galaxy clusters, especially those associated with powerful, radio-loud active galactic nuclei (AGN). About one year into my PhD, I was given the opportunity to spend six months at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and Caltech. During these six months, I continued working on my primary PhD project but started to become heavily involved in other large collaborations on distant galaxy clusters. I also got the chance to assist the team with observations at the Keck Observatory and Gemini Observatory in Hawaii.
After finishing my PhD degree in 2014, I accepted an offer of a postdoctoral researcher position at the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, USA. In Baltimore, I shifted my research focus from studying clusters around powerful AGN to studying the AGN themselves and AGN feedback processes in detail.
In 2017, I moved back to ESO as a Research Fellow where I continued to work on AGN, AGN feedback processes and galaxy evolution.
In 2019, I was awarded an Emmy Noether Stipend from the DFG and have started to build my own research group at Heidelberg University in 2020.
What are you currently focusing on in your research work and what advantages does the James Webb Space Telescope bring to it?
How galaxies form and evolve and what processes are important at different cosmic epochs are major questions in modern astrophysics. In particular, growing supermassive black holes have turned out to be the architects of the Universe in many ways.
Supermassive black holes are some of the most mysterious objects that astronomers have tried to understand theoretically and observationally ever since Karl Schwarzschild solved Einstein’s field equations in 1916 – 105 years ago. We know today, that every massive galaxy in the Universe hosts a supermassive black hole at its center. The most popular example is the supermassive black hole at the center of our own galaxy, the Milky Way. In 2020, a part of the Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded for its discovery and confirmation.
But maybe even more intriguingly, the energy output from rapidly growing supermassive black holes is now widely considered to be the main driver in regulating the evolution of galaxies in the Universe and has become a major component in modern galaxy formation theories. Rapidly growing supermassive black holes at the centers of galaxies are called Active Galactic Nuclei, or short: AGN. The critical role of AGN in galaxy evolution was already hypothesized two decades ago but specific observational evidence has been surprisingly hard to come by. Constraining the power and reach of such feedback processes exerted by black holes onto their host galaxies remains a major unresolved issue in modern extragalactic astrophysics. Addressing and resolving these questions is the main goal of my research.
The JWST is the most advanced, highest-resolution near-infrared satellite ever built, designed to answer outstanding questions about the Universe. In particular, the JWST is equipped with ‘3D imaging spectroscopy’ capabilities yielding complex datasets and enabling fundamentally new analysis methods.
What fascinates you the most about your field of research and how did you become interested in it in the first place?
When I was five or six years old, on clear starry nights, outside in my parent’s garden, I started to wonder how big the Universe was and what was behind its boundaries. I think it was then that I decided, although it was not a conscious decision, to become an astronomer and work on understanding the Universe better.
Although I understand the many components of the universe much better today than 30 years ago when I first started to wonder about its size, I am more aware than ever before how much we still do not know, and how much is still waiting to be discovered and understood. Contributing my share to this endeavour is what drives me and my research every day.
Why is Heidelberg University the ideal place for your research?
The Zentrum für Astronomie der Universität Heidelberg (ZAH), which I am part of, is one of largest university astronomy groups within Germany. Together with the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, the Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics and the Heidelberg Institute for Theoretical Studies, Heidelberg is an international hub for cutting-edge astronomical research.
Understanding the role of supermassive black holes in galaxy evolution is a truly interdisciplinary field and requires active collaboration with groups working on various aspects in galaxy formation and evolution, both in terms of simulations and observations. Additionally, large astronomical data sets increasingly require novel approaches in data analysis and can be guided by machine-learning methods. Heidelberg University provides an ideal environment for my research with respect to all these aspects.
Were there any obstacles that you had to deal with as a woman in research and what helped you overcome them?
Fortunately, I have never experienced explicity discrimination being a woman in research but it is obvious that there are still a lot of conscious and unconscious biases. For example, many people are very surprised when they learn about what I do.
More generally, as a woman in research with a family (2 kids) I have been very fortunate to have an extremely supporting partner and family. Without their help, dedication and understanding for an academic career that includes a lot of uncertainty and moving across the world, it would not have been possible to have a career and a family.
What advice would you give to students that are interested in pursuing a similar career in research to yours?
Try to find good advisors, talk to previous students and try to assess who would be a good match to your personality and science interests. I have been extremely fortunate in having had great mentors and supervisors throughout my career who have been great teachers but have also helped me immensely in navigating through the science world.