Prof Markus Boettcher has been the South African Research Chairs Initiative (SARChI) Chair of Astrophysics and Space Physics at the North-West University in Potchefstroom, South Africa, since 2013.
He obtained his PhD in 1997 from the University of Bonn and the Max-Planck-Institute for Radio Astronomy in Germany. Prof Boettcher held Postdoctoral Research Appointments at Rice University, Houston, Texas and the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, D. C., in the U.S. From 2002 to 2012, he was on the faculty of Ohio University, Athens, Ohio, USA as Assistant, Associate, and then Full Professor.
Prof Boettcher's research focuses on high-energy processes in relativistic jets, including Galactic microquasars, Active Galactic Nuclei, and Gamma-Ray Bursts, combining both theoretical and observational studies.
His theoretical research specialty lies in time-dependent radiation transfer simulations, while his observational expertise includes optical and gamma-ray astronomy, with particular focus on his involvement in the High-Energy Stereoscopic System (H.E.S.S.) and the future Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA).
