About me (that's Vernesa)

• Contact: Vernesa Smolčić
  e-mail: vs@astro.caltech.edu
  
• Education:
  • Elementary school:
    • 1986 -- 1991, Munich, Germany
    • 1991 -- 1994, Zagreb, Croatia
  • Gymnasium: 1994 -- 1998, Prva Privatna Gimnazija, Zagreb;
    graduated in May 1998 (matura)
  • University:
    • 1998 -- 2004, Faculty of Science, University of Zagreb, physics major, (Prirodoslovno-matematički fakultet); graduated on Apr, 16 2004
    • 2004 -- 2007 astrophysics PhD student, MPIA + University of Heidelberg, Germany
    • 2005 -- 2007 Fellow of the International Max Planck Research School for Astronomy and Cosmic Physics at the University of Heidelberg (IMPRS)
  
  
• Languages: Native Croatian, fluent English and German, school knowledge of Italian (4 years of studying) and Latin (5 years of studying)
• Computers:
  • Operating Systems: Windows & Linux
  • Knowledge of: IDL, SM, Fortran, AIPS, html, LaTex, DoPhot, MS Office
• Awards:
  • 2006: Ernst Patzer Award for best refereed publications by young MPIA scientists
  • 2003: University of Zagreb Rector's Award for best students research project
• Hobbies:
  • Trained ballroom dancing for a year
  • Gym, jogging, spin racing, yoga, free-climbing, tennis
  
  
• Scientific activities during undergraduate studies:
  • Višnjan observatory:
    • Participated in "Managers in Science and Education" workshop, Nov, 16 -- 19 2001
    • Helped organizing the "Meeting on Asteroids and Comets" (MACE), May, 17 -- 19 2002
    • Published astrophysical news on the Višnjan web-site.
  • Research:
    • 2002 -- 2004: collaboration with Krešimir Pavlovski (University of Zagreb), Željko Ivezić (Princeton University/University of Seattle), Karl Rakos (University of Vienna) and Sasa Ilijić (University of Zagreb):
      -- discovered a second stellar locus in SDSS color-color diagrams, consistent with M-dwarf and white-dwarf binary star systems (ApJ, 2004, 615, 141)
      -- analized the rest-frame properties of 99,000 SDSS galaxies (MNRAS, 2006, 371, 121)
  • Vatican Observatory Summer School in Astronomy and Astrophysics, Castel Gandolfo, Rome, Italy, Jun, 15 -- Jul, 11 2003
• Science at MPIA:
  • Apr -- Jun 2004: Summer project at MPIA, collaboration with D. Zucker, E. F. Bell and H. W. Rix
    -- developed a pipeline (encompassing DoPhot) for extracting photometry from SDSS images containing crowded-stellar fields; the pipeline was applied to the images of the dSph galaxy Leo I (published in AJ, pdf)
  • PhD Studies and Thesis (2004 -- 2007):
    -- International Max-Planck Research School (IMPRS) PhD student
    -- Thesis title: Properties of the faint radio population in the VLA-COSMOS survey: Star forming galaxies and AGN (pdf)
    -- supervisors: E. Schinnerer, H. W. Rix and S. Wagner
  • Postdoc (2008 and beyond):
    -- California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91101, USA
    -- CARMA (mm), COSMOS, VLA-COSMOS and SDSS related science