Tim Lichtenberg receives ERC grant and the first Europlanet Career Medal

Branco Weiss Fellow Tim Lichtenberg is among the receivers of the first ever Europlanet Career Medals. Dr. Lichtenberg is awarded the Early-Career Medal in recognition of his interdisciplinary approach that has shed light on the influence of radioactive elements on early planetary heating, the distribution of water and other volatile materials in planetary systems, and how planets evolve to become habitable. In addition, the medal honors his leadership in community-building, as well as him playing key roles in major international initiatives, including several James Webb Space Telescope programmes.

The Europlanet Medals were launched in 2025 to honor outstanding contributions to scientific excellence, community building, and outreach from individuals at different stages of their scientific careers. Europlanet is the parent body of the annual Europlanet Science Congress (EPSC) the largest annual meeting on planetary science in Europe. The awards will be presented this week at the Joint Meeting of the EPSC and the American Astronomical Society’s Division for Planetary Sciences (DPS) in Helsinki, Finland. There Tim Lichtenberg will give a medal lecture on Wednesday, September 10.

Dr. Lichtenberg is also the recipient of an ERC Starting Grant. His project called “MagmaWorlds – Tracing the chemical evolution of super-Earth exoplanets” aims to understand the link between the deep interior of a planet and its atmosphere by developing advanced computer models to simulate the entire life story of exoplanets over billions of years. Connecting recent advances from the fields of geophysics, geochemistry, climate science and exoplanet astronomy, MagmaWorlds will distinguish how volatile-rich panets, so-called water worlds, and rocky super-Earth originate and evolve. The ERC grant amounts to 1.5 million euro for a period of five years.

Read the news on the Europlanet website

Read the Europlanet press release

Read the news on the University of Groningen’s website

See the list of 2025 ERC Starting Grant winners (PDF)