Tutors
| Martina Baratella | I am an ESO Fellow in Chile with duties in Paranal, where I support operations on UT1 and UT2, in particular I closely follow operations of ESPRESSO, 4MOST and MOONS (one of the latest additions to VLT suite of instruments). Being an UT1 and UT2 support astronomer allowed me to also operate FORS2, KMOS, UVES and FLAMES (plus VISIR, now retired). Before joining ESO, I was a post-doc at Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics in Potsdam, Germany, where I arrived after getting my PhD in Astronomy at University of Padova, Italy. For my science, I am a passionate stellar spectroscopist with expertise in atmospheric parameters and abundance determination. I am specialized in the analysis of young and active FGK dwarf stars, I love Galactic Open Clusters and lately also I am very interested in understanding the star-planet connection from the stellar chemical composition point of view. Outside work, I love watching animes and reading mangas, travel, and trying all types of different cuisines. I am looking forward to meeting you in this exciting school! |
| Henri Boffin | I am an astronomer at ESO Garching, Germany, working in the User Support Department, where I supports FORS2, MUSE, and SPHERE and am part of the small team that schedules the La Silla Paranal telescopes. I am also the Instrument Scientist of the Exposure Time Calculator 2.0 for the ESO La Silla Paranal instruments and the Operations Scientist of the FORS-Up project. Previously, I was an ESO Paranal Operations Staff Astronomer and the FORS2 and HARPS instrument scientist. I have much observing experience with EFOSC2 and HARPS, and work with the team that is operating PLATOSpec. For my science, I am working mostly on interacting binary stars, exoplanets, as well as open clusters. In addition to my PhD in Astronomy, I have a diploma of journalist and have done much outreach activities. I also devised a course on "writing and communicating your science", which I have given in many universities or institutes. |
| Célia Desgrange | I am a French ESO postdoctoral Fellow with duties at the VLT at the Paranal Observatory since November 2024. My research focuses on the architecture of exoplanets and circumstellar disks. I use mainly direct imaging, which is the technique that can take pictures of exoplanets! To have better constraints on the presence and characteristics of exoplanets, I combine direct imaging with the techniques called radial velocity and absolute astrometry. I am interested in questions such as: What is the diversity of planetary systems? Where, when and how do exoplanets form and evolve? Regarding the VLT operations, I observe for the community using the instruments SPHERE, XSHOOTER, CRIRES and ESPRESSO. In addition, I also work on operational projects on SPHERE, as I am the SPHERE Instrument Fellow. In this context, I am developing a new mode of observation for SPHERE, which should be offered to the international community in 2027. Being a Fellow at ESO was my dream job, because I really wanted to get this experience of working at a major Observatory. When I was a Master student, I had the opportunity to carry out an internship at the University of Chile. I discovered how beautiful Chile is, so I wanted to come back! I enjoy discovering it by going camping and hiking in its wonderful spots. |
| Alonso Luna | I am an ESO Fellow at Paranal Observatory, where I do observations on UT1,2, and 3, giving particular support to the three instruments in UT1: KMOS, FORS2 and MOONS. I am originally from Mexico City, where I studied physics, astrophysics and also classical guitar. There, I used to own a coffee shop until I decided to become an astronomer. Before joining ESO-Chile as a Fellow, I did my PhD in astrophysics between Universidad Andres Bello in Santiago and ESO-Garching looking for Hypervelocity stars. Afterwards, I did a post-doc at the Osservatorio Astronomico di Capodimonte in Napoli, Italy, studying variable stars, globular clusters and the Galactic bulge within the LSST collaboration. Overall, my science revolves around the stellar populations in the central regions of our galaxy and I study them with the help of large optical and near-infrared astro-photometric surveys. On my free time I like to play guitar and listen to live music, play football, and hang out with friends. I was a student at La Silla Observing School in 2020 and it had a huge impact on my career. |
| Michaël Marsset | I am an ESO staff astronomer in the Back-end Operations Department in Garching, where I am in charge of data reduction pipelines for instruments such as X-shooter, SPHERE, MUSE, and SOXS. My career has taken me to several institutions around the world, including in France (my home country), Canada, Spain, Northern Ireland, the United States, and Chile, where I spent four years as an ESO Fellow at Paranal Observatory. My scientific passion is meteorites, and my research focuses on identifying their asteroid parent bodies using some of the world's largest optical and near-infrared telescopes. These facilities allow me to measure the reflectance spectra, three-dimensional shapes, and densities of asteroids. By combining these observations, I seek to establish genetic links between meteorites and their parent asteroids, helping to reconstruct the original compositional gradient of the Solar System's protoplanetary disk. Outside of work, I enjoy traveling, music, volleyball, swimming, and (free)diving. Above all, I love sharing my enthusiasm for space rocks and science. I look forward to meeting you at the La Silla Summer School! |
| Hannah Osborne | I’m currently an ESO fellow in Chile, where I spend half of my time on research and half on duties at Paranal Observatory. My Paranal duties are to support UT1 and UT2, and I’m also part of the instrumentation team for ESPRESSO. For most of my PhD I was part of the exoplanets group at the Mullard Space Science Laboratory in the UK, I also spent one year as a visiting student at the ESO headquarters in Germany. My research is focused on analysing archival RV data in a homogenous way to enable demographics studies of the compositions of small exoplanets. I also work on trying to understand the impacts of stellar activity in Extreme-Precision RV (EPRV) observations, as well as the synergy between different observations methods, and how these can provide a much richer understanding of exoplanet systems. Before my PhD, I originally trained as a high school science teacher and since then have been involved in some amazing outreach and education programs which I really enjoy. Outside of work, I spend most of my time exploring the city or watching TV with my dog. |
| Joanne Rojas | I am a PhD student in Astrophysics at Universidad Diego Portales in Santiago, Chile, where I work on the detection and characterization of giant gaseous exoplanets. My research combines high-precision radial velocities and astrometry to better understand the properties and dynamics of planetary systems. I am also part of the observing team for PLATOSpec, a high-resolution spectrograph installed on the 1.5-m telescope at ESO’s La Silla Observatory. Before joining the PLATOSpec team, I worked as an instrument operator for FIDEOS on the 1-m telescope, which gave me the opportunity to gain hands-on experience with astronomical observations and instrumentation. Outside academia, I love spending time with my cats, going to the gym, and trying good food. I am particularly a big fan of completos because, honestly, is there a better way to spend an afternoon? I am looking forward to meeting everyone and sharing this exciting experience with you! |
| Organizers | |
| Leslie Kiefer | I am the Librarian at ESO, and I also work for the Science Office, helping with the organization of meetings and International Conferences. On the Library side, I work mostly on maintaining tools to provide metrics that help to assess ESO’s scientific impact, along with the usual Library services, like providing access to publications and other scientific content. One of my future projects is to create a historical archive with the documents and artifacts available for the most part at La Silla & Paranal, and to tell the history of astronomy in Chile. So far, I’ve helped with the organization of many conferences and two La Silla Schools, and I am looking forward to the 2026 version! On a personal side, I love dogs, reading, traveling & horror movies. |
| Elyar Sedaghati | I am an ESO staff astronomer at Paranal, originally from Iran/Armenia, although I have spent most of my adult life in the UK and Germany. I studied natural sciences at Cambridge University, and then worked in investment banking for a few years, both in London and Frankfurt. I then moved back to science and obtained my Masters and PhD in Berlin, Germany. On Paranal, I am responsible for the FORS2 and ESPRESSO instruments, as well as being involved with the development of the ANDES spectrograph for the ELT. My scientific interests are detection and characterization of exoplanetary atmospheres, as well as testing planet formation theories. I speak English, Spanish and Persian, as well as some German and Armenian. When not busy with Paranal or science or my dog, I like to either go up the mountains for skiing or head to the coast for some surfing, which makes Santiago the ideal place to live. |
