Heino Falcke

Background

About Heino Falcke

In 2019 I presented the first image of a black hole, made by the global Event Horizon Telescope consortium - an experiment I proposed and co-founded. This story I wrote up in the international best selling book “Light in the Darkness”. Before that I was project scientist and chair of the board of the European-wide LOFAR telescope project. My research encompasses theoretical, observational and experimental astrophysics - mainly focusing on black holes and high-energy particles. This work has been recognized with various scientific distinctions, such as the Spinoza award, the highest science award in the Netherlands, the Henry Draper medal of the National Academy of Sciences in the US, or the academy award of the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences in Germany. My passion lies with innovation, software, creative thinking, starting up and maturing new ideas. Good questions are often my best answers. I love to share my excitement for science and the universe with the general public and am frequently asked to give keynote lectures about it. In my free time I support the YMCA in my home time as chairperson and am an ordained lay-pastor (Prädikant) in our local protestant church.