Paola Popesso is the Deputy Head of the Office for Science at the European Southern Observatory (ESO). She studied Astronomy at the University of Padua, Italy, and earned her PhD in Physics from the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics (MPE) and LMU, focusing on the optical properties of X-ray selected ROSAT clusters of galaxies.

Following her PhD, she spent two years as a GOODS Fellow at ESO and seven years as a junior scientist at MPE. Paola then led a research group at the Excellence Cluster Universe in Garching for seven years before joining ESO. She currently holds an ERC Consolidator Grant and leads her research group, which focuses on characterizing the thermodynamical conditions of the hot circumgalactic medium (CGM) and intra-group medium (IGrM) surrounding massive galaxies.

As Deputy Head of the Office for Science at ESO, Paola coordinates the scientific activities of approximately 50 ESO students and fellows.

Research interests:

• Galaxy evolution
• Galaxy groups and clusters
• Feedback-CGM/IGrM interplay
• Formation and evolution of galaxies and QSOs

Contact Address:

Dr. Paopla Popesso
European Southern Observatory
Karl-Schwarzschild Str. 2
85748 Garching bei Muenchen, Germany

E-Mail: popesso@eso.org