Eduardo Ros
Astronomer
Scientific Coordinator of the Former Dept. for Radio Astronomy/VLBI Fat the MPIfR
On leave of absence as Professor for Astrophysics and member of the Astronomical Observatory at the University of Valencia
Astronomer
Scientific Coordinator of the Former Dept. for Radio Astronomy/VLBI Fat the MPIfR
On leave of absence as Professor for Astrophysics and member of the Astronomical Observatory at the University of Valencia
About me
I am a radio astronomer at the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy, where my work focuses on high‑resolution observations of compact astrophysical objects using Very Long Baseline Interferometry. I contribute to international collaborations such as the Global mm‑VLBI Array and the Event Horizon Telescope, with a particular interest in the study of supermassive black holes and relativistic jets.
In addition to my research, I am actively involved in mentoring and graduate education. I value clear communication and enjoy presenting complex astrophysical topics to broad audiences, from the general public to advanced students. My goal is to support young researchers as they develop their scientific skills and to share the excitement of modern astrophysics.
Research
My research focuses on high‑resolution radio observations of compact astrophysical objects, with a particular emphasis on the environments of supermassive black holes and the physics of relativistic jets. I work primarily with Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI), using global networks of radio telescopes to study structures on the smallest accessible angular scales.
I contribute to the coordination, execution, and analysis of millimeter‑ and centimeter‑wavelength VLBI observations, aiming to improve our understanding of accretion processes, jet formation, and the dynamics of active galactic nuclei. A central aspect of my work is the integration of multi‑frequency and multi‑messenger data to obtain a more complete picture of these extreme systems.
I am an active member of several international collaborations, including EHT, GMVA, RadioAstron, MOJAVE, TANAMI, Fermi/LAT, and KM3NeT.
Chronology &
Supervised Theses
Supervised Theses
Chronology
- 13.10.1969 Born in Zaragoza, Spain
- 09.1972/06.1979 Preescolar & EGB (Educación General Básica) at the School Santo Domingo de Silos, Zaragoza, Spain
- 09.1979/06.1983 EGB at the Public School Torre Ramona, Zaragoza, Spain
- 09.1983/07.1987 BUP (Bachillerato Unificado Polivalente) & COU (Curso de Orientación Universitaria) at the Public Secondary School INB Don Pedro de Luna, Mixto No. 3, Zaragoza
- 09.1987/06.1991 Physics Studies at the Universidad de Zaragoza, Spain
- 07.1991/07.1992 Physics Studies at the Universität-Gesamthochschule Paderborn (Erasmus exchange grant), Germany
- 1992 BSc in Physics, Universidad de Zaragoza, Spain
- 01.1993/6.1993 Research at the Departament de Matemàtica Aplicada i Astronomia, Universitat de València, Spain
- 07.1993/12.1993 Fellow (Comett II program) at the Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie (MPIfR), Germany
- 01.01.1994/31.12.1997 Research fellow of the Departament d'Astronomia i Astrofísica, Universitat de València, Spain
- 01.1994/6.1994 Visitor at the Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía, Granada, Spain
- 03.1994 Visitor at the MPIfR, Germany
- 06.1994 Visitor at the Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge, MA, USA
- 11.1994 Visitor at the MPIfR, Germany
- 08/09.1995 Visitor at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, USA
- 11.1995 Visitor at the MPIfR, Germany
- 05.1997 Visitor at the Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge, MA, USA
- 14.11.1997 PhD: Astrometría diferencial de precisión en el triángulo de Draco (y estudios de SN 1993J), supervised by Prof. J.M. Marcaide, Universitat de València, Spain
- 01.01.1998/14.08.1999 Research fellow at the MPIfR, Germany
- 15.08.1999/24.02.2009 Research staff at the MPIfR, Germany
- 12.1999 Visitor at the Departament d'Astronomia i Astrofísica, Universitat de València, Spain
- 12.2000 Visitor at the Joint Institute for VLBI in Europe, The Netherlands
- 03.2001 Visitor at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory , Charlottesville, VA, USA
- 10.2002 Visitor at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory , Green Bank, WV, USA
- 11.2002 Visitor at the Departament d'Astronomia i Astrofísica, Universitat de València, Spain
- 04.2003 Visitor at the Departament d'Astronomia i Astrofísica, Universitat de València, Spain
- 2004 Ramón y Cajal Award from the Spanish Ministry of Science (declined)
- 05.2006 Visitor at the Departament d'Astronomia i Astrofísica, Universitat de València, Spain
- 01.10.2006/30.09.2010 Principal Investigator of the Bonn node for the EU Marie Curie program ESTRELA
- 07.2007 Habilitation (Venia Legendi) granted by the Spanish Consejo de Universidades
- 01.10.2004/24.02.2009 Coordinator of the International Max Planck Research School for Astronomy and Astrophysics at the University of Bonn (and Cologne)
- 01.06.2005/24.02.2009 Research Coordinator and Press Speaker of the MPIfR
- 25.02.2009/30.06.2013 Associate Professor for Astrophysics at the Departament d'Astronomia i Astrofísica, Universitat de València, Spain
- 01.05.2009/28.02.2010 Scientific Consultant (Use of Effelsberg Telescope) at the MPIfR
- 06.2009-01.2010 Visitor at the MPIfR, Germany
- 06.-07.2010 Visitor at the MPIfR, Germany
- 12.2010 Visitor at the MPIfR, Germany
- 08.2011 Visitor at the MPIfR, Germany
- 08.2012 Visitor at the MPIfR, Germany
- 01.06.2010/30.05.2014, Spanish delegate in the EU COST Action MP0905 ‘Black Holes in a Violent Universe’ and leader of Working Group #4 on ‘Supermassive Black Holes'
- 01.03.2013/30.06.2013 Director of the Astronomical Observatory, Universitat de València, Spain
- 01.07.2013/present On leave of absence (excedencia temporal until 30.06.2018, excedencia voluntaria after this date) as Associate Professor for Astrophysics at the Departament d'Astronomia i Astrofísica, Universitat de València, Spain
- 01.07.2013/31.12.2026 Scientific Coordinator of the Department for Radio Astronomy/VLBI at the MPIfR, Germany
- 01.2015/10.2020 Executive Secretary of the Board of the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT)
- 01.2015/05.2022 Coordinator of the Outreach Committee of the EHT
- 01.2015/05.2022 Coordinator of the Proposal Preparation Working Group of the EHT
- 10.2015/present Member of the External Scientific Advisory board of the Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía, since 2020 also secretary
- 09.2016/06.2022 Representative of the MPIfR at the Chemical-Physical-Techological Section (CPTS) of the Scientific Council of the Max Planck Society
- 01.2017/present European Scheduler of the Global millimetre-VLBI Array
- 12.04.2019 Presentation of the first image of a black hole at the European Comission (see video here, my intervention starting on min 11:50)
- 09.2019/06.2022 Member of the Perspectives Commission of the CPTS of the Scientific Council of the Max Planck Society
- 09.2019/06.2022 member of the Senate of the Max Planck Society (and ex officio member of the Max Planck Society)
- 10.2019 Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics (together with the EHT collaboration)
- 2020 Diamond Award of the US National Science Foundation (together with the EHT collaboration)
- 2020 Bruno Rossi Prize of the American Astronomical Society (together with the EHT collaboration)
- 2020 Einstein Medal (together with the EHT collaboration)
- 2020 Royal Spanish Society of Physics award to the best popular scientific article (together with Antxon Alberdi, José L. Gómez and Iván Martí)
- 2021 Royal Astronomical Society Group Award (together with the EHT collaboration)
- 01.02.2026/present Scientific Coordinator of the former Department for Radio Astronomy/VLBI at the MPIfR, Germany
- (until its new constitution due to the replacement of J. Anton Zensus as Director after his retirement)
- 03.2026/present Principal Investigator of the Program 1 (together with Christian M. Fromm) of the Research Unit FOR5195 Relativistic Jets in Active Galactic Nuclei (coordinated by Matthias Kadler)
First image of a black hole, presented in April 2019
(see Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration, ApJ 875, L1, 2019)
Supervised PhD theses:
- Matthias Kadler: Compact Radio Cores in AGN: the X-Ray Connection, University of Bonn, 2005 (Co-supervised by Jürgen Kerp; Otto-Hahn-Medal of the Max Planck Society 2007)
- Chin Shin Chang: Active Galactic Nuclei throughout the Spectrum: M87, PKS 2052−47, and the MOJAVE Sample, University of Cologne, 2010
- Christian Michael Fromm: Spectral Evolution in Blazars: The Case of CTA102, University of Bonn, 2013 (Co-supervised by Manel Perucho Pla; PhD Thesis Award Astronomische Gesellschaft 2014, Outstanding PhD Theses Springer Verlag 2014)
- Christoph Rauch: High frequency VLBI observations of galactic and extragalactic sources, University of Cologne, 2016 (Co-supervised by Thomas P. Krichbaum & Andreas Eckart)
- Roberto Angioni: TANAMI sources in the radio and in gamma-rays, University of Cologne 2018 (Co-supervised by Matthias Kadler)
- Anne-Kathrin Baczko: The black hole and the jet of the galaxy NGC 1052, University of Cologne, 2019 (Co-supervised by Matthias Kadler)
- Felix Pötzl: Space-VLBI studies of the parsec-scale jet in the quasar 3C 345, University of Cologne, 2021 (Co-supervised by Andrei P. Lobanov)
- Joana Anna Höllmer (neé Kramer): Magnetohydrodynamic Processes and Polarized Emission in AGN Jets. University of Cologne, 2023 (Co-supervised by Nicholas R. MacDonald)
- Petra Benke: Multi-wavelength variability in AGN jets and other VLBI studies, University of Cologne, 2024 (co-supervised with Matthias Kadler)
- Jan Röder: Dynamics and radiative processes of relativistic magnetized plasmas in active galactic nuclei, University of Cologne, 2024
- Cecilia Degli Agosti: The gamma-radio connection in AGN jets: University of Cologne (expected for fall 2026; co-supervised by Yuri Y. Kovalev)
- Lena Carolin Debbrecht: mm-VLBI studies of nearby AGN,
- University of Cologne (expected for fall 2027; co-supervised by Georgios F. Paraschos and Matthias Kadler)
- Indy Leclercq: Very Long Baseline Interferometry: Study of the Relativistic Jet in the Active Galactic Nucleus 4C+21.78, Imperial London College/University of Valencia, 2011
- Shaun J. Nicol: Kinematic and Emission Analysis of the Relativistic Jet in the Blazar B1551+130 using VLBI Data, Imperial London College/University of Valencia, 2012
- Laura Vega García: Physics of the parsec-scale jet in 0836+710, Universität Bonn, 2015 (Co-supervised by Dr. Andrei P. Lobanov)
- Joana Anna Kramer: Ray tracing through RMHD jet simulations: using polarised radiative transfer to disentangle the magnetic field structure of relativistic outflows, Universität Bonn, 2020 (Co-supervised by Dr. Nicholas R. MacDonald)
- Lena Carl Debbrecht: Modelling the jet structure of NRAO 150 and 3C 84 using VLBI, Universität Bonn, 2024 (Co-supervised by Georgios F. Paraschos)
- Prathamesh Ingale: Mapping the Spectral Energy distributionand spatial extend of M81* through coordinated Effelsberg, VLBA and EVN observations, Universität Bonn, 2025 (Co-supervised by Sebastiano von Fellenberg)
- Matthias Kadler: NGC 1052 – A Study of the Parsec-Scale Twin Jet, University of Bonn, 2002
- Christian Michael Fromm: High Resolution Studies of AGN – The 2006 Radio Flare of CTA 102, University of Bonn, 2009 (Award to the best Diploma thesis, Association for Supporters and Friends of the MPI für Radioastronomie)
- Enrique Sanchis Melchor: Superluminal Motion in Relativistic Jets, University of Valencia, 2012
- Anne-Kathrin Baczko: Calibration and imaging of GMVA observations of NGC 1052, Universität Nürnberg-Erlangen, 2012 (co-supervised by Matthias Kadler)
- Laura Vega García: Radiointerferometría, jets relativistas y agujeros negros supermasivos, University of Valencia, 2013
- Joana Anna Kramer: VLBA observations of TANAMI sources, Universität Bonn, 2017
- Laura Ann Busch: The obscuring torus in NGC 1052, Universität Bonn, 2017
