I am a staff member at the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy in Heidelberg. I work on machine learning and statistical data analysis methods for inference in large astronomical data sets. I lead a group working on the development and application of these for Gaia. My astronomical topics of research include Galactic structure, brown dwarfs and the impact of astronomical phenomena on Earth climate and biological evolution.

So utterly at variance is Destiny with all the little plans of men
- H.G. Wells, The First Men in the Moon (1901)