On 10 October, the Senate of Vilnius University (VU) conferred the title of Honorary Doctor of Science on three distinguished scholars at a solemn meeting of the Senate held at the Church of St. Johns. Hans Kjeldsen, Professor of Aarhus University (Denmark) awarded Honorary Doctorate for his outstanding work in the field of the asteroseismic studies of stellar structure and in recognition of his close scientific bonds with Vilnius University.
Since 1999, he has been working closely with researchers at the Institute of Theoretical Physics and Astronomy (ITPA), Faculty of Physics. Together they organised and lectured at the Summer Schools organised by the Molėtai Astronomical Observatory, and carried out asteroseismological research. The joint scientific work with Prof. H. Kjeldsen and members of his research group continues to this day.
Professor Kjeldsen's research focuses on asteroseismic stellar studies. He was the first person in the world to discover solar-like oscillations in another star, and it is now widely used in stellar structure studies and age determination. “This method of studying stars has been implemented on NASA's Kepler space mission. For his outstanding scientific leadership and exemplary creativity and dedication to Kepler's orbital operations and science, the Professor was awarded the NASA Group Achievement Award. Kjeldsen also serves on the research teams of many other space missions (CoROT, NASA TESS, Delphini-1, STEP and ESA PLATO) and has published over 280 scientific papers“ – said Professor Aidas Matijošius, Dean of the Faculty of Physics of Vilnius University.
During the ceremony Professor Kjeldsen mentioned that cooperation with Vilnius University is not only continuing, but also getting stronger. He mentioned how much he appreciates the open attitude of his colleagues in Lithuania, joint efforts, and expressed his satisfaction with the results achieved together. “All of us working in asteroseismology – including the Vilnius group – have a bright future ahead", he said.
“We are very happy that our colleague and friend Prof. Hans Kjeldsen is inaugurated as an Honorary Doctor of our Vilnius University. Everyone who has worked with or learned from him during the 25 years of cooperation knows Hans as an exceptional expert in many scientific fields and a very friendly person. With his support, Lithuanian astronomers entered the forefront of stellar asteroseismic research and exoplanet research. In the future, we plan to jointly achieve even more significant scientific results for Lithuania, Denmark, and the world.” – ITPA Professor Gražina Tautvaišienė spoke warmly of her long-standing colleague.
Professor Daniel Petit (France) and Professor Anna Pikulska-Radomska (Poland) were also inaugurated as honorary doctors of Vilnius University at the ceremony.