Europlanet Early-Career Medal for Tim Lichtenberg

Europlanet has announced the winners of its inaugural Career Medals, which are designed to honour outstanding contributions from planetary scientists at three stages of their careers.

Dr Tim Lichtenberg is awarded the Europlanet Early-Career Medal in recognition of an interdisciplinary approach that has led to significant advances in the understanding of planetary formation and exoplanet evolution.

Lichtenberg’s work 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.

Tim Lichtenberg works as Assistant Professor at the Kapteyn Astronomical Institute of the University of Groningen, where he leads the Forming Worlds Lab. His research bridges geochemistry, geophysics, climate science and exoplanet astronomy, and explores how factors like magma ocean longevity, the balance between oxidation and reduction processes, and core-mantle segregation can influence exoplanetary atmospheres and give insights into planetary evolution and habitability.

Lichtenberg proposed that the presence of aluminium-26 (26Al) during planet formation can heat and dry out embryonic planets. This theory could explain why planetary systems like our Solar System form largely dry terrestrial planets, contrasting with those in which Earth-mass exoplanets become water-rich ocean worlds. These theoretical insights have since been supported by observations of protoplanetary disks, analysis of stellar remnants that have been polluted by planetary debris, as well as evidence from meteorites formed very early in the Solar System’s history. These findings directly impact our understanding of the origin and distribution of long-lived atmospheres on terrestrial exoplanets.

Beyond his scientific achievements, Lichtenberg has shown leadership in community-building, promoting inclusive and team-spirited work environments and open science. He plays key roles in major international initiatives, including the Large Interferometer for Exoplanets (LIFE) project, several James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) programmes, and the interdisciplinary Rocky Worlds meeting series.

The awards will be presented next week at the Joint Meeting of the Europlanet Science Congress (EPSC) and the American Astronomical Society’s Division for Planetary Sciences (DPS) 2025, which will take place at Finlandia Hall, Helsinki, Finland, from 7-12 September.

Dr. Lichtenberg will give his medal lecture on 10 September 2025 during the Europlanet Science Congress in Helsinki.

Source: europlanet