Background
Brandt was born in Durham, North Carolina but mostly grew up in Janesville, Wisconsin.
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Niel Brandt
Edit ProfileEducation
Brandt was born in Durham, North Carolina but mostly grew up in Janesville, Wisconsin. He attended Milton High School in Milton, Wisconsin and Phillips Exeter Academy in Exeter, New Hampshire. His undergraduate studies were done at the (Bachelor of Science 1992), where he lived in Blacker Hovse (sharing a room with Ian Agol) and was awarded the George Green Prize for Creative Scholarship.
His graduate studies were done at the Institute of Astronomy, Cambridge with Andrew Fabian.
Career
He is best known for his work on active galaxies, cosmological X-ray surveys, starburst galaxies, normal galaxies, and X-ray binaries. In 1997, he took up an assistant professor appointment at the Pennsylvania State University. He was promoted to associate professor in 2001, full professor in 2003, Distinguished Professor in 2010, and Verne M. Willaman Professor in 2014.
Brandt"s research focuses on observational studies of supermassive black holes (SMBHs) and cosmological X-ray surveys.
Specific objects investigated include actively accreting SMBHs (ie, active galactic nuclei: AGNs), starburst galaxies, and normal galaxies. His work utilizes data from facilities at the forefront of astrophysical discovery, including the Chandra X-ray Observatory, XMM-Newton, NuSTAR, and the Sloan Digital Sky Survey.
He is also involved with upcoming projects including the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope, the Advanced Telescope for High Energy Astrophysics (ATHENA), and new X-ray missions. In his cosmological X-ray surveys work, Brandt has been a leader in obtaining the most-sensitive X-ray surveys to date, including the Chandra Deep Field-North and the Chandra Deep Field-South.
These have been used to explore the demography, physics, and ecology of typical growing SMBHs over most of cosmic history.
They have also allowed the study of X-ray source populations in starburst and normal galaxies out to cosmological distances. In his general AGN studies, he has investigated AGN winds, the X-ray properties of the first quasars, and extreme AGN populations (eg, Narrow-Lincolnshire Seyfert 1 galaxies and weak-line quasars). He has also worked on investigations of the cosmic microwave background radiation and the effects of neutron-star and black-hole natal kicks.
Brandt is an author of more than 420 research papers on these subjects.
Brandt leads a small research group including postdoctoral researchers, graduate students, and undergraduate students. Brandt also regularly teaches courses on high-energy astrophysics, black holes, and active galaxies.
Achievements
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Caltech George Green Prize for Creative Scholarship, 1992 National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship, 1994–1996 Sloan Fellowship, 1999–2004 National Science Foundation Faculty Early Development (CAREER) Award, 2000–2005 Newton Lacy Pierce Prize in Astronomy, 2004 Fellow of the American Physical Society, 2009 Bruno Rossi Prize, 2016.
Connections
Education
Awards
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Newton Lacy Pierce Prize in Astronomy; Sloan Fellowship; Bruno Rossi Prize Caltech George Green Prize for Creative Scholarship, 1992 NSF Graduate Research Fellowship, 1994–1996 Sloan Fellowship, 1999–2004 NSF Faculty Early Development (CAREER) Award, 2000–2005 Newton Lacy Pierce Prize in Astronomy, 2004 Fellow of the American Physical Society, 2009 Bruno Rossi Prize, 2016 The Bruno Rossi Prize is awarded annually by the High Energy Astrophysics division of the American Astronomical Society 'for a significant contribution to High Energy Astrophysics, with particular emphasis on recent, original work'.; The Sloan Research Fellowships are awarded annually by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation since 1955 to 'provide support and recognition to early-career scientists and scholars'.Newton Lacy Pierce Prize in Astronomy; Sloan Fellowship; Bruno Rossi Prize Caltech George Green Prize for Creative Scholarship, 1992 NSF Graduate Research Fellowship, 1994–1996 Sloan Fellowship, 1999–2004 NSF Faculty Early Development (CAREER) Award, 2000–2005 Newton Lacy Pierce Prize in Astronomy, 2004 Fellow of the American Physical Society, 2009 Bruno Rossi Prize, 2016 The Bruno Rossi Prize is awarded annually by the High Energy Astrophysics division of the American Astronomical Society 'for a significant contribution to High Energy Astrophysics, with particular emphasis on recent, original work'.; The Sloan Research Fellowships are awarded annually by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation since 1955 to 'provide support and recognition to early-career scientists and scholars'.