Akash Vani

Education

September 2022: Master of Science in Physics, University of Heidelberg
Thesis: Properties of stellar populations and white dwarfs in a semi-analytic Milky Way disk model based on Gaia DR3
Supervisor: Prof. Andreas Just, Astronomisches Rechen-Institut (ARI), ZAH, Heidelberg

June 2019: Bachelor of Science in Physics, Savitribai Phule Pune University
Thesis: Photometric Calibration of UVIT
Supervisor: Prof. Shyam Tandon, Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA), Pune

Publications

Golovin, Reffert, Vani, Bastian, Jordan, Just, ‘Identification of new nearby white dwarfs using Gaia DR3’ (A&A, 2024) [ADS]
Golovin, Reffert, Just, Jordan, Vani, and Jahreiß, ‘The Fifth Catalogue of Nearby Stars (CNS5)’ (A&A, 2023) [ADS]

Talks, Proceedings & Posters

Talk: ‘A NIRCam-dark galaxy detected with the MIRI/F1000W filter in the MIDIS/JADES Hubble Ultra Deep Field’, Galaxy Group Meeting (Mar 2023), MPA, Garching
Talk: ‘L-Galaxies: Debugging galaxy evolution across cosmic epochs through galaxy scaling relations’, LGalaxies workshop (Jan 2024), DIPC, San Sebastian, Spain
Talk: ‘The battle of three flavours: L-Galaxies and scaling relations’, ITA (Nov 2024), Heidelberg
Talk: ‘Quenching massive galaxies across cosmic time with the semi-analytic model SHARK v2.0’, Galaxy Group Meeting (Nov 2023), MPA, Garching
Talk:’Examining the redshift evolution of galaxy scaling relation between a semi-analytic galaxy evolution model and observed data’, EAS Annual Meeting (2023), Krakow, Poland
Talk: ‘Are the ultra-high redshift galaxies surprising in the context of standard galaxy formation models?’, Galaxy Group Meeting (May 2023), MPA, Garching
Talk: ‘Properties of white dwarfs in a semi-analytic Milky Way model based on Gaia DR3’, [YouTube], White Dwarfs from Physics to Astrophysics (2022), KITP, Santa Barbara, USA
Talk: ‘The stellar content of the solar neighborhood & its modelling’, Campbell Hall (Sept 2022), University of California, Berkely, USA
Talk: ‘Properties of White Dwarfs in the JJ model based on Gaia (E)DR3’, EUROWD22: 22nd European Workshop on White Dwarfs, Tübingen, Germany
ePoster: ‘Properties of White Dwarfs in the JJ model based on Gaia EDR3’, EAS Annual Meeting 2022 (virtual), Valencia, Spain
Talk: ‘Extending the JJ model to the White Dwarfs’, Teeminar (2022), at ARI, Heidelberg
Talk: ‘High-Mass X-ray Binaries in the Milky Way’, Coursework (2020) at Heidelberg
Talk: ‘Cosmic Star Formation History’, Coursework (2020) at Heidelberg
Talk: ‘Evidence for Galactic disc RR Lyrae stars in the Solar neighborhood’, Coursework (2020) at Heidelberg

Schools and Workshops

June 2023: Summer School for Astrostatistics, Crete, Greece
Sept 2022: GaiaUnlimited workshop and unconference, Heidelberg, Germany
Aug 2022: Astronomy, astrochemistry & the origin of life, IMPRS, Heidelberg, Germany
Jun 2022: Junge AG summer school, MPIfR, Bonn, Germany
Jun 2022: EPS forum 2022, Paris, France
Sept 2021: Stellar Ecosystems, IMPRS (Virtual), Heidelberg, Germany
Aug 2021: ZTF (Virtual) Summer School 2021, Caltech, USA
July 2021: 2021 Sagan Exoplanet Summer Virtual Workshop, NExScI, Caltech, USA
Jan 2021: Astronomy Winter School (Virtual): High-Energy Astrophysics, NTHU, Taiwan
Oct 2020: SHINE Autumn School (Virtual) CERN, Switzerland
Sept 2020: Astronomy and Data Science, 7BISS (Virtual), Armenia
Nov 2019: Astrosat’s Data Analysis workshop, Goa University, India
June 2019: Quantum Information and Quantum Technology, IISER Kolkata, India
June 2018: Introductory Summer School in Astronomy and Astrophysics, IUCAA, Pune, India

Outreach and Activities

Public outreach talk, ‘Cosmic Chuckles and Star-Studded Shenanigans’, for 10th grade students (Aug 2023, Goa)

Coursework

My Master’s coursework at Heidelberg University:

Core courses: Astronomical Techniques, Cosmology, General Relativity, Theoretical Astrophysics
Specialisation: Stellar Astrophysics, Galactic and Extragalactic Astronomy, Dynamics of Galaxies, Star Clusters and Planetary Systems
Select electives: Introduction to GPU Accelerated Computing, Introduction to Machine Learning, Computational Statistics and Data Analysis, Statistical Methods, Startup Lab 2020, Solving problems on Quantum hardware, Python: Programming for Scientists, The Stellar Cookbook: A practical guide to the theory of stars, Advance Dark Matter

Select coursework at Savitribai Phule Pune University:

Physics: Computational Physics, Quantum Mechanics, Thermodynamics and Statistical Physics, Nuclear Physics, Advanced Electronics
Electives in Physics: Elements of Materials Science and Electro Acoustics and Entertainment Electronics
Mathematics: Laplace Transform and Fourier Series, Linear Algebra, Multivariable Calculus
Electronic science: Analog and Digital Circuit Design, Electronic Instrumentation, Communication Electronics

Online courses:

Strategic Management and Innovation (Specialization): Copenhagen Business School - Coursera
Neural Networks and Deep Learning: DeepLearning.AI - Coursera
Python for Everybody (Specialization): University of Michigan - Coursera
Number Theory and Cryptography: University of California San Diego - Coursera
Welcome to Game Theory: The University of Tokyo - Coursera
Chinese for HSK 1: Peking University - Coursera
Project Management: The Basics for Success: University of California, Irvine - Coursera
R Programming: Johns Hopkins University - Coursera