Academic profile
Frank C. van den Bosch
Professor of Physics & Astronomy at Yale University. My research combines theoretical models, numerical simulations, and empirical methods to understand galaxies, their dark-matter halos, and the evolution of cosmic structure.
frank.vandenbosch@yale.edu
Department of Astronomy, Yale University
Kline Tower, Office KT 649 · 219 Prospect Street
New Haven, CT 06511
Academic appointments
- 2019–present
- Professor of Physics and AstronomyYale University, New Haven, USA
- 2012–2019
- Associate Professor; tenured in 2015Yale University, New Haven, USA
- 2011–2012
- Visiting Professor · Lady Davis FellowshipHebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel
- 2010–2012
- Assistant ProfessorYale University, New Haven, USA
- 2009–2010
- Associate ProfessorUniversity of Utah, Salt Lake City, USA
- 2005–2009
- Leader, Independent Junior Research GroupMax Planck Institute for Astronomy, Heidelberg, Germany
- 2003–2005
- Leader, Theory GroupETH Zürich, Switzerland
- 2000–2003
- Senior Postdoctoral Research AssociateMax Planck Institute for Astrophysics, Garching, Germany
- 1997–2000
- Hubble Fellow · Postdoctoral Research AssociateUniversity of Washington, Seattle, USA
Education
- 1997
- Ph.D. in AstronomyLeiden University, the Netherlands
Thesis: The Central Regions of Early-Type Galaxies
Advisors: P. T. de Zeeuw and W. Jaffe - 1992
- M.Sc. in AstronomyLeiden University, the Netherlands
- 1988
- Propadeuse in Physics and AstronomyLeiden University, the Netherlands
Research interests
- Galaxy formation: theoretical, numerical, and empirical models.
- Cosmology: cosmological parameters, structure formation, and halo assembly.
- Large-scale structure: galaxy clustering, halo occupation modeling, and assembly bias.
- Small-scale structure: dark-matter substructure and tests of the nature of dark matter.
- Galactic dynamics: kinetic theory, stability, dynamical friction, and angular momentum.
Publications & impact
Author or co-author of more than 230 refereed papers and 50 conference papers, spanning galaxy formation, cosmology, and galactic dynamics.
Galaxy Formation and Evolution
Houjun Mo, Frank van den Bosch, and Simon White
Cambridge University Press, 2010 · 840 pages
Recipient of a 2010 PROSE Award.
Honors & fellowships
- 2016–present
- Associate MemberSimons Center for Computational Astrophysics, New York City
- 2011
- Lady Davis Visiting Professor FellowshipHebrew University
- 2010
- PROSE AwardFor Galaxy Formation and Evolution
- 1997–2000
- Hubble FellowshipUniversity of Washington
Teaching & mentoring
Undergraduate and graduate teaching at Yale, the University of Utah, and ETH Zürich, with extensive publicly available lecture notes.
Research supervision
The extended CV records 17 graduate students, 7 postdoctoral researchers, 28 graduate research projects, and 14 undergraduate or summer students supervised or currently under supervision, alongside service on 29 graduate thesis committees.
Invited school lectures
Michigan Cosmology Summer School (2023); Jerusalem Winter Schools (2012–2013 and 2003–2004); Santa Fe Cosmology Summer Workshops (2011 and 2006); and Bochum/Bonn Graduate Schools (2004 and 2003).
Leadership & professional service
- 2025–present
- Director of Graduate StudiesYale University
- 2025–2026; 2012–2013
- Director of Graduate AdmissionsYale University
- 2023–2026
- Elected Committee MemberDivision of Dynamical Astronomy, American Astronomical Society
- 2022–2024; 2018–2019
- Executive Committee MemberYale University
- 2016–present
- Chair and FounderHITS-Yale Program in Astrophysics (HYPA)
- 2016–present
- Grant Application Review Committee MemberNSF and NASA
Peer reviewer for more than 140 astronomy and physics papers; scientific organizing committee member and reviewer for national and international funding organizations.
Professional memberships: American Physical Society, American Astronomical Society, Division of Dynamical Astronomy, and Sigma Xi.