Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB)
About us
Our research interests cover various fields, among which nucleosynthesis, nuclear astrophysics, stellar evolution and chemical composition, binary stars, and neutron stars.The Institut d’Astronomie et d’Astrophysique (IAA-ULB) has grown quite remarkably during the last two decades. It is currently composed of two full professors, 4 tenured FNRS senior researchers, and more than 10 postdoctoral fellows from various countries (Belgium, France, India, Italy, Russia), and several Ph.D. students. The IAA staff members teach courses covering a broad range of matters from introductory astronomy to specialized topics.
Over the years, a coherent research strategy has been developed in the field of stellar physics. It involves observational studies (chemical composition of giant stars, binary properties, tomography of stellar atmospheres) that make use of the large ESO telescopes as well as of other major instruments including the HERMES spectrograph installed on the KULeuven Mercator telescope at La Palma (Canary Islands). These observations are complemented and supported by theoretical studies of mass transfer in binary systems, of standard and non-standard stellar evolution and of nuclear astrophysics (a field in which the IAA has long been recognized as an international centre of excellence), including the theory of nucleosynthesis. More recently the IAA has started research on the compact remnants of stellar evolution of massive stars: neutron stars. (IAA-ULB website)