Max Grönke: new ERC Research Group Leader at ZAH
Since July 1, 2025, Dr Max Grönke started as new Research Group Leader at ZAH. His group is hosted by the Astronomisches Rechen-Intitut (ARI). With his ERC programme on "Resolving the Multiscale, Multiphase Universe” he plans to connect small-scale plasma physics with the large-scale galaxy ecosystems.
From the Black Forest to the Cosmos
Born in Schramberg in Germany’s Black Forest, Max Grönke moved to Berlin for his undergraduate physics studies, including a year abroad in Madrid, before heading north to the University of Oslo. There he earned his PhD in 2017 at the Institute of Theoretical Astrophysics with a thesis on "Lyman-alha observables of the high-redshift Universe". His thesis won the University’s King’s Gold Medal.
Hubble Fellowships and Trans-Atlantic Experience and Founding the ‘Multiphase Gas’ Group at MPA
After Oslo, Grönke crossed the Atlantic for a post-doctoral position at the University of California, Santa Barbara (2017–2018). He then received a prestigious NASA Hubble Fellowship, splitting his time between UCSB and Johns Hopkins University from 2018 to 2021. These years enhanced his reputation for bridging theory, simulation and observation in galaxy-evolution studies. Since November 2021 Gronke has led the independent Max Planck Research Group "Multiphase Gas" at the Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics (MPA) in Garching. His team combined high-resolution magneto-hydrodynamic simulations with radiative-transfer modelling to decode how cold and hot gas phases coexist in galaxies and halos.
ERC Starting Grant and outlook for ZAH
In October 2024 the European Research Council awarded Gronke a five-year, €1.5 million Starting Grant for “Resolving the Multiscale, Multiphase Universe” (ReMMU). In this project he will develop new computational techniques to embed realistic multiphase physics into cosmological simulations, enabling tighter comparisons with JWST and ground-based surveys.
On July 1, 2025, Dr Grönke started as new Research Group Leader at ZAH. His group is hosted by the Astronomisches Rechen-Institut (ARI). With his ERC ReMMU programme, coupled with his group’s open-source tools, he plans to connect small-scale plasma physics with the large-scale galaxy ecosystems, delivering sharper theoretical predictions for new data flooding the field via a new generation of high performance telescopes.
Max Grönke and his group will reside in ARI's offices located at the Weberstraße. You can reach him via max.gronke(at)uni-heidelberg.de.
Personal website:
Welcome at ZAH, Max!
Remark: Max Grönke publishes as "Max Gronke", i.e. with "o" instead with the umlaut "ö".
