Professor Jørgen Christensen-Dalsgaard is one of the most important contemporary stellar astronomers. Since taking his PhD degree at Cambridge University in 1978, with a dissertation entitled Solar Oscillations, Jørgen Christensen-Dalsgaard has had a central and crucial role in the establishment of asteroseismology as an international area of research.
He has been the driving force behind a number of international scientific achievements based on precise measurements of stellar oscillations – so-called ‘starquakes’ – and sophisticated theoretical models developed over the last few decades. Jørgen Christensen-Dalsgaard has been a pivotal point in relation to several discoveries relevant to research on exoplanets (planets that orbit other stars). His list of publications is exceptional, with more than 570 papers and an h-index of 89. He has published in some of the most prominent scientific journals, with three Science papers in 2011 alone and a Nature paper in 2012.
In recent years, Jørgen Christensen-Dalsgaard has been awarded large research grants by grant-makers including European Research Council, the Danish National Research Foundation, the Villum Foundation and the Carlsberg Foundation, which has significantly strengthened the research field in Denmark and at Aarhus University in particular, where work in the field takes place at the Stellar Astrophysics Centre under the Department of Physics and Astronomy.
Today, Denmark and Aarhus University are among the leading players in research into the structure and development of stars as well as the study of the specific properties of exoplanets – not least thanks to close collaboration with NASA and MIT, among other partners. Under the direction of Jørgen Christen-Dalsgaard, the Stellar Astrophysics Centre will now take on a leading role in the part of the space mission involving the collection of data by the TESS telescope on the structure and lifecycle of the nearest stars.
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“Annette Vissing-Jørgensen is an excellent example of what can be achieved with a strong background in quantitative economics and business administration, which is precisely the defining strength of the Master’s degree degree programme in economics and management at Aarhus University. Annette has succeeded in getting the absolute best out of this academic upbringing in Aarhus.” Thus states the nomination of Annette Vissing-Jørgensen for the Rigmor and Carl Holst-Knudsen Award for Scientific Research 2018.
After completing her Bachelor’s degree in economics at Aarhus University in 1993, Annette went on to pursue her Master’s degree in economics at Warwick University, and then on to MIT for her PhD. After receiving her PhD, Annette Vissing-Jørgensen was employed at the elite universities University of Chicago, Northwestern University and University of California, Berkeley, where she is currently holds a position as a professor of finance, as well as serving as the head of the the finance group at the Haas School of Business.
Annette Vissing-Jørgensen conducts research on asset pricing, entrepreneurship and financial decisions of households. Her latest research concerns how the development in returns on shares affects American monetary policy, and whether this influence is disproportionately great. Her research has been published eight times in some of the most renowned journals within economics and finance. She has also worked as a consultant for the American Federal Reserve System and has served on the board of the American Finance Association and the European Finance Association.
Even though it has been some years since Annette studied economics at Aarhus University, she still maintains connections to the programme here. She has spoken at several workshops and conferences, been a co-applicant for a grant from the Danish Council for Independent Research, as well as serving as host when researchers from Aarhus University have visited Northwestern University and the University of California, Berkeley in connection with their research.
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