I am a research scientist at the Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics (ITA) at the University of Heidelberg, and a research associate at the Max-Planck Institute for Astronomy (MPIA) in Heidelberg.

My main research interest focus on the formation and early evolution of stellar clusters and associations. In particular, my favorite objects are young stellar groups half-embedded in star-forming regions of our neighboring galaxies the Large & Small Magellanic Clouds (see the research web-page for more). In the same galaxies I also investigate young and old spherical clusters that represent more advanced stages in the star cluster evolution. My interests include the study of young embedded clusters that are still forming stars and massive starburst clusters in our Galaxy. Star clusters and associations in the Andromeda galaxy are also included in my research, which I study within the Panchromatic Andromeda Galaxy Treasury (PHAT) HST Program. Finally, the Tarantula nebula in the Large Magellanic Cloud, which hosts the massive straburst cluster R136, is recently added to my "agenta" with observations taken with the Hubble Space Telescope within the 30 Doradus Treasury Program.

My research focus on the investigation of the stellar content, dynamical evolution, and physical characteristics of stellar clusters and associations, as well as on the mass function and clustering behavior of stars in such stellar groups and larger stellar structures. All these types of stellar concentrations are related to each other through the fomation of their stars in giant molecular clouds, and it seems that they are hierarchically connected to each other. The characterization and quantification of this clustering behavior is part of my work, which I perform with the application of several techniques, such as the minimum spanning tree, nearest-neighbor density, star-counts, the Delta-variance wavelet transform, two-point correlation functions and dendrograms.