Flemish astronomer Connie Aerts won the Kavli Prize for Astrophysics. This biannual Norwegian Prize is one of the most important scientific prizes after the Nobel Prize.

Aertz is researching stellar earthquakes. she said in News & Co. On NPO Radio 1. “Earthquakes show seismologists what the physics and chemistry of our planet is. I do it for stars the same way. We get a lot of information from that.”

Dutch Research School of Astronomy calling her work “Leader”. Her research has yielded a “wealth” of new discoveries about the mass, size, chemical composition and age of stars.

an example

As a child, Aertes was fascinated by the stars. “Never underestimate a child’s curiosity, I always say. I’ve lived in the country and have always looked at the stars and wanted to know: What’s going on inside those stars? I’ve made this my profession.” She hopes it inspires the attention that girls and young women get. She said she wanted to be a role model against VRT News†

Arts is affiliated with the University of Leuven and Radboud University Nijmegen and a member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences. She shares the award with fellow Danish Jürgen Christensen-Dalsgaard and American Roger Ulrich. The prize is linked to a cash prize of $1 million (938,000 euros).

in 2018 Ewine van Dishoeck of Leiden University was awarded the Kavli Prize for Astrophysics. There are also Kavli Prizes for Nanoscience and Neuroscience.