PhD ceremony Chris Böttner

On 14 October 2025, Chris Böttner of the Kapteyn Astronomical Insitute defends his thesis called

Elsewhere's worlds.
Exoplanet Demographics Across
Galactic Environments.

Summary of his thesis
We are living in a golden age of exoplanet discovery. In the three decades since we first found another planet orbiting a distant star, we have mapped thousands of new worlds, turning our understanding of planet formation and planetary diversity on its head.

But so far, we have only been able to chart our own galactic backwaters. Almost every one of these worlds exists in our small corner of the Milky Way, leaving one tantalising question unanswered: What are planets like elsewhere?

This thesis explores the uncharted galactic regions and what they can teach us about how planets form. Through state-of-the-art galaxy and planet formation simulations, we show that a star’s galactic postcode profoundly shapes the kinds of planets it hosts and what the local planet population looks like.

The next generation of planet-hunting telescopes, led by the European Space Agency's PLATO mission, is perfectly positioned to study planets in these different neighbourhoods of our Galaxy. In doing so, PLATO will open a new window into understanding the physical processes of planet formation and bring us one step closer to understanding our own Solar System’s place in the cosmos.

Link to his thesis:
Elsewhere's worlds. Exoplanet Demographics Across Galactic Environments.

If available, you can follow the PhD ceremony via this livestream