Dr. Trifon Trifonov earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the esteemed Faculty of Physics at Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski” in Bulgaria. Continuing his academic journey, he achieved a Ph.D. in Astronomy from the renowned Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg in 2014.
Currently, Dr. Trifonov is honoured to serve as a scientist at the Institute of Astronomy “Max Planck” in Heidelberg and as a researcher at the Department of Astronomy at Sofia University. He is humbled to lead the EXO-RESTART project, supported by the “Scientific Research” Fund under the “VIHREN-2021” program.
With passion and curiosity, Dr. Trifonov focuses on various aspects of exoplanet research, such as Doppler detection and characterization of extrasolar planets around low-mass main-sequence stars and evolved intermediate-mass stars like G and K giants. His work also involves exploring the dynamics of multiple exoplanetary and S-type planet-binary systems using direct N-body simulations. Additionally, he finds joy in estimating planetary orbital parameters based on dynamical constraints and contributing to the understanding of planetary formation and evolution.
Among his notable achievements, Dr. Trifonov takes pride in the discovery of the nearby “super-Earth” Gliese 486b, which was published in the esteemed journal Science. He is equally delighted to have contributed to the development of specialized exoplanet search software called “Exo-Striker,” assisting fellow researchers in their pursuit of knowledge.