Professor René Oudmaijer

Profile

My research concerns the formation of stars. In particular, I investigate the accretion of matter onto the star until it reaches its final mass. This parameter governs a star’s subsequent evolution and final fate. I observe and study these objects using state-of-the-art facilities to probe them at ever finer resolutions.

Astrophysics Group @ Leeds:

Research interests

My research interests concern the formation of stars, their circumstellar disks and stellar evolution in general. I study these using complementary observational approaches. On the one hand I study larger samples of object which allows us to draw statistical conclusions on the global properties of for example Massive Young Stellar Objects, which I do in collaboration with Leeds colleagues Hoare and Lumsden on the RMS project. Another example is my ESO X-Shooter programme to study the spectra of a large number of Herbig Ae/Be stars, which are intermediate mass pre-Main Sequence stars. These studies are underpinned and informed by in-depth studies of smaller numbers of stars. In these investigations, I aim to probe ever closer to the star, which is of course where all the action happens, be it mass accretion or stellar outflows. I do this using a variety of cutting edge methods to reach the finest resolutions possible. Below are some selected papers with my PhD students and postdocs using techniques such as spectro-astrometry, spectropolarimetry and interferometry.

<h4>Research projects</h4> <p>Any research projects I'm currently working on will be listed below. Our list of all <a href="https://eps.leeds.ac.uk/dir/research-projects">research projects</a> allows you to view and search the full list of projects in the faculty.</p>

Current postgraduate researchers

• Rob Shenton
• Heather Johnston

<h4>Postgraduate research opportunities</h4> <p>We welcome enquiries from motivated and qualified applicants from all around the world who are interested in PhD study. Our <a href="https://phd.leeds.ac.uk">research opportunities</a> allow you to search for projects and scholarships.</p>

Projects

<li><a href="//phd.leeds.ac.uk/project/1056-x-shooter-spectroscopy-of-massive-young-stellar-objects--">X-Shooter spectroscopy of Massive Young Stellar Objects </a></li>