Prof. Dr. Heino Falcke

Making the Impossible Possible

Making the impossible possibleHeino Falcke is an internationally acclaimed astrophysicist, talk show guest and sought-after speaker on the search for black holes and the Big Bang. Together with the Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration, he achieved a global sensation: the publication of the first image of a black hole. Heino Falcke is a professor at Radboud University in Nijmegen, a visiting scientist at the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy in Bonn and is currently building a radio telescope on the Gamsberg in Namibia. For a long time, he was closest to the sky in his microlight aircraft, until the International Astronomical Union named an asteroid after him: (12654) Heinofalcke. Since then, it has been cruising through the solar system on a very eccentric orbit. In his lectures, he shows in an impressive way what it means to go beyond mental limits, to believe in something bigger than we humans can imagine - and that it takes global teamwork to make bold dreams come true. Heino Falcke tells gripping and vivid stories about the great mysteries of space and takes his audience on an inspiring journey to the limits of space and time. He is a pioneer in his field, also from a technical point of view, and can tell an inspiring story about what it means to make the impossible possible.

Rates

Vita

Topics

Making the impossible possible -
How the first image of a black hole was taken

How a vision became reality
Technical pioneering achievement and milestones of success
Together instead of alone - How the global community made the impossible possible

The fascination of space - A journey to the end of space and time!

The great mysteries of space and what they mean for us humans
The big questions about the stars and what we always wanted to know about them

The first image of a black hole -
Light in the dark, black holes, the universe and us

Stages of a pioneer as best practice for your business
Keep getting back up - dealing with defeat
How to believe in the impossible to make it possible

References & Press

Company excerpt:

Art Directors Club, ASML, Europa-Park, McKinsey, NZZ Connect, Pawlik Consultants, Shell, Solutions x DILK, Stiftung Kunst & Natur, ZKB Pionierpreis Technopark

TV appearances (selection):

ARD Wer weiß denn sowas?
MDR Riverboat
NDR DAS!
NDR Talkshow
ORF Stöckl
RBB zibb
SRF Sternstunde Philosophie
ZDF Lanz

Awards:

2023 Herschel Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society
2021 Henry Draper Medal of the American National Academy of Science
2021 Amaldi Medal (European Prize for Gravitation) by the Italian Society of General Relativity and Gravitation
2021 R.M. Petrie Prize Lecture by the Canadian Astronomical Society
2020 Group Achievement Award of the Royal Astronomical Society
2020 Einstein Medal, together with S. Doeleman on behalf of the EHTC, Albert Einstein Society
Winner of the Spinoza Prize, the highest scientific award in the Netherlands
Academy Prizes of the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities

“Heino Falcke is conducting groundbreaking research into the most mysterious phenomenon in the universe and at the boundaries of space and time.”
From the jury statement for the Spinoza Prize

“For me, Heino Falcke is the Man of the Year 2019, and the photo he and his team took of the black hole in the M87 galaxy has long since become an iconic image. Falcke is not only a fantastic scientist, but also a gifted storyteller.”
Jim Jansen, Editor-in-Chief of New Scientist NL

“Falcke has the ability to communicate in a way that is rarely given to highly specialized scientists: he can explain Einstein's theory of relativity in a way that students can understand. When he talks about black holes (...), his enthusiasm for the subject has the effect of a black hole that draws the listener's attention.”
Jörg Römer, Der Spiegel