Education
University of Amsterdam.
Astronomer astrophysicist director president university professor
University of Amsterdam.
In the 1980s he gained world-wide fame with his investigation of QPOs. His revolutionary discoveries have had an enormous impact in his field of research. In effect, they have made it what it is today.
Van der Klis pioneered special mathematical analysis techniques that are now regarded as the “gold standard” within his discipline.
Van der Klis"s research focuses on X-ray binaries, pairs of stars orbiting each other that emit X-ray radiation. Some binary star systems contain a compact object like a neutron star or a black hole.
By studying the dynamics of materials in the vicinity of such objects one can learn about their mass, radius and rotational speed. Moreover, this kind of research provides a testing ground for cosmology and general relativity.
Van der Klis made a number of breakthrough discoveries.
In 1984 he discovered the first type of QPOs (quasi-periodic oscillations of the X-ray emission) of compact stars while he was working with European Space Agency’s EXOSAT satellite to study the strongest X-ray sources near the centre of the Milky Way. His studies in the years 1984-1987 clarified the principles for classifying the several hundreds of strong X-ray sources known to exist in our Galaxy. In the 1990s, he and his research group discovered the first millisecond X-ray pulsar in a binary system, a neutron star spinning around its axis more than 400 times per second.
The discovery of this superfast spinning neutron star attracted great international attention.
Van der Klis obtained his Doctor of Philosophy at University of Amsterdam in 1983 working on observations of X-ray binaries. Foreign a while he worked at the European Space Agency lab ESTEC in Noordwijk.
In 1989 he returned to the University of Amsterdam as an associate professor and was made full professor of Astronomy in 1993. Since 2005 he is Director of the Astronomical Institute Anton Pannekoek of the University of Amsterdam and Chair of the Netherlands School for Astronomy (NOVA).
The international review committee noted: "He is a world leader in the X-ray radiation of compact objects and has formulated an intriguing connection between black holes and neutron stars, the two most extreme objects in the universe.
He and his research group also discovered the first X-ray pulsar with a rotation speed of four hundred revolutions per second." He will hold the title of Academy Professor until 2015.
Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences.