Marat Gilfanov appointed Distinguished Guest Professor at Nanjing University
The School of Frontier Science at Nanjing University has announced the appointment of Prof. Dr. Marat Gilfanov, Senior Scientist at the Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics (MPA), as a Distinguished Guest Professor. Currently, Gilfanov is working with the Nanjing scientists on a joint project studying intermediate mass black holes (IMBHs).
In particular, the team will search for X-ray emission signatures from IMBHs—objects with masses between 100 and 100,000 times that of the Sun. The collaboration will leverage Nanjing University’s advanced data analysis capabilities and MPA’s theoretical modeling expertise, combining observational data with cutting-edge simulations. The project is expected to yield new insights into the role of IMBHs in galaxy formation and the broader cosmic structure.
Dr. Gilfanov’s internationally recognized career is spanning over four decades. He earned his Ph.D. in Physics from the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology and started his research career at the Space Research Institute of Russian Academy of Sciences. In 1996 he earned the degree of Doctor of Sciences equivalent to the German Habilitation. Since 1996, he has been working at the Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics, where he has led groundbreaking research on black hole populations, spectral formation in X-ray binaries, nature of progenitors of type Ia supernovae, and a number of other topics. He is one of the creators of the all-sky X-ray map obtained by the eROSITA X-ray telescope aboard SRG orbital observatory on which prominent large scale structures – the eROSITA Bubbles, were identified.
His work has been instrumental in shaping modern understanding of the X-ray binaries, their scaling relations and contribution to X-ray background and the demographics of black holes in the universe. In 1992, he received the COSPAR Zeldovich Medal for Young Scientists, in 1997 the Tsyolkovsky medal of The Russian Federation of Cosmonautics and in 2017 the Belopolsky Prize in astrophysics. He is a full member of the Russian Academy of Sciences and a member of Academia Europaea.
