Joris Witstok

Astrophysicist studying the formation of the first stars, black holes and galaxies in the Universe with the largest telescopes on Earth and in space.

Cambridge

About me

I am a Postdoctoral Research Associate at Sidney Sussex College and the Kavli Institute for Cosmology, the University of Cambridge, under Prof Roberto Maiolino and Dr Sandro Tacchella. I am part of the Galaxy Formation and Evolution group, which is affiliated with both the Kavli Institute for Cosmology and Cavendish Laboratory.


My research interests revolve around galaxy formation and evolution in the early Universe: how the first stars and galaxies were formed, and how they subsequently brought about the Reionisation of the Universe, a major phase transition that turned the neutral Universe back to a (mostly) ionised state.


I completed my PhD at the University of Cambridge with Dr Renske Smit and Prof Roberto Maiolino. Before my PhD, I was at the Institute of Astronomy for the Master of Advanced Study in Astrophysics. I completed my undergraduate degree at the University of Leiden, studying Physics and Astronomy.

Extragalactic astronomy

Learn more about my research.

For public:
An introduction to extragalactic astronomy

What is a galaxy?

How do we learn about the first galaxies in the Universe?

For scientists:
My research

The build-up of metals and dust in the early Universe

The role of galaxies in Cosmic Reionisation

News & Media

Discovery of the most distant galaxies currently known

Finding carbon-rich dust grains in the early Universe

Contact

For pressing existential or practical questions