Professor of Theoretical High Energy Astrophysics
Anton Pannekoek Institute for Astronomy/GRAPPA
University of Amsterdam
Science Park 904, rm. C4.151
1098 XH Amsterdam, Netherlands
T +31 20 525 7478/7491
s.b.markoff@uva.nl

I work at the interface of Astrophysics and Astroparticle Physics, and am interested in a variety of problems relating to the accretion process especially around black holes, both big and small.  I am a member of the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) Collaboration, serving on its Science Council from 2016-2022 (Vice Chair from 2019), and now sit on its Science Board.  I also co-coordinate the Multi-Wavelength Science WG, and am a member of the Cherenkov Telescope Array Project.  I am currently co-PI of the ERC Synergy Grant “BlackHolistic” to better understand black holes of all scales, including building a new mm-radio dish in Namibia (the Africa Millimeter Telescope, or AMT) in partnership with the University of Namibia.  By augmenting the EHT array with the AMT we will be able to make the first movies of the event horizon region of a supermassive black hole, as well as use the AMT on its own to study transient black hole outbursts.


Group Blog

Know your newest KNAW: Sera joins the KNAW club!

Astrophysicist by day, a music and pop-culture enthusiast by night, our very own Sera Markoff is elected as a member of the Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen (the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences). This prestigious recognition underscores her contributions to the advancement of astrophysics and her role as a leading figure in both science and science outreach.  The Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, known as the KNAW (Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen), is one of the oldest and most prestigious scientific organizations in the Netherlands. It serves as a key advisory body to the Dutch government on scientific matters, and its members are selected based on their significant contributions to science or the arts. Membership... Continue reading →

Latest News

Bringing the band back together!

First, the new news

It’s the start of a new year so of course I made a bunch of resolutions that likely won’t stick, but one of them was to start doing more research blogging on our site, and to encourage my group to do better here too, after a longish hiatus. Why the hiatus? At least from my side I guess the fallout from the pandemic has been … Continue reading →

Where I Am / Will Be

Oxford ERC 3day
December 16, 2024 - December 18, 2024
Winter break
December 23, 2024 - January 12, 2025
Location: US