Coordination Funds

• Applicant: Professorin Dr. Heike Rauer
• Subject Area: Astrophysics and Astronomy
• Term: since 2017
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 366440150

The goal of SPP is to combine the efforts of the German exoplanet community to better understand the diversity of extrasolar planets. This requires to also combining efforts across disciplines, in particular linking observational planet detection and characterization to theory. The observational basis will be formed by upcoming international projects for which German scientists have leading roles, such as, e.g., CARMENES, NGTS, GAIA, CHEOPS and instruments at major ground-based observatories. This will be complemented by public data available, e.g. from K2 and TESS missions, and the JWST. The purpose of the proposed SPP is to connect and unify the observational and theoretical efforts that are currently spread out over Germany. The SPP will foster such co-operations by bringing observers and theoreticians together. A main focus for the central coordinator therefore is to organize SPP activities which allow the German exoplanet community to enhance collaborations, build-up new teams and educate a generation of young scientists who can exploit the instruments and theoretical models within the SPP and beyond in the next decades. Tools to help organizing these activities will be: a central visitor program, workshops, conferences and schools, as well as working level meetings between participants. The SPP web site will form a central focus to exchange information, data and results, but also serve as a platform of the SPP to the science community and general public. These activities are complemented by support for young scientists in general and young female scientists in particular. A public outreach program will complement the science activities allowing us to advertise the SPP activities to the general public, but in particular to use the fascinating topic of extrasolar planets to make more young people interested in natural science studies. This proposal outlines the funds requested to support these activities.

• DFG Programme: Priority Programmes
• Subproject of: SPP 1992: Exploring the diversity of extrasolar planets