Lýdia Štofanová

I am a researcher and an astrophysicist, who focuses mostly on the large-scale structure of our Universe, mainly galaxy clusters, galaxy groups, and cosmic web filaments. During my MUNI post-doc fellowship, I continue focusing on these research topics, while expanding my interests towards the ultra-violet regime. Part of my time is invested into pure academic research using high-resolution X-ray spectroscopy, while the other part focuses on working as a junior system engineer at the Czech Aerospace Research Centre, with the main focus on the QUVIK mission.

During my PhD research I worked with tools which analyze and model high-resolution X-ray spectra, as well as create observable quantities from the cosmological hydrodynamical simulations (namely Hydrangea) for observations with future planned X-ray missions (e.g. Athena) or probes (LEM). Additionally, I worked on developing photoionisation and galaxy cluster models for X-ray plasma code SPEX, during which I became familiar with different atomic databases (SPEXACT, CHIANTI, ADAS, APED). I am an aspiring space entrepreneur and I became the third Slovak alumna who graduated from the Space Studies Program of the International Space University.

I enjoy gaining knowledge about the world around us, and I love bringing this knowledge to others by giving talks and lectures. My long term career goal is to make the connections and collaborations between academia and the space industry more fluid and to be more involved with future missions design and operations.