My PhD-thesis is on the observational aspect of PLACID, the world's first active coronagraph. I will conduct observations using the instrument's unique liquid crystal focal plane mask, evaluating the on-sky contrast values by targeting directly imaged exoplanets, brown dwarfs, circumstellar disks and binaries. Currently I work on the PLACID data reduction software, the exposure time calculator, the target list and the on-sky commissioning of the coronagraph at the Doğu Anadolu Gözlemevi (DAG, Eastern Anatolia Observatory) near Erzurum, Turkey.
My interests in astrophysics involve direct (high contrast) imaging, exoplanets and their detection methods, habitability, as well as astrobiology and the search for extraterrestrial life.
