Didier Queloz is a distinguished Swiss astrophysicist who has fundamentally reshaped humanity's understanding of planetary systems beyond our Solar System. He currently serves as Professor of Physics at the University of Cambridge's Cavendish Laboratory while maintaining a part-time professorship in astronomy at the University of Geneva. Born on February 23, 1966, Queloz received his master's degree in physics from the University of Geneva in 1990 and completed his doctorate at the same institution in 1995. Following postdoctoral research at Geneva and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, he returned to Geneva as faculty in 2000, becoming a full professor in 2008 before establishing his position at Cambridge University in 2013.
Queloz's most transformative contribution occurred during his doctoral studies when, in collaboration with his advisor Michel Mayor, he announced the first discovery of a giant planet orbiting a Sun-like star outside our Solar System in 1995. This groundbreaking discovery was made possible through precise measurements of stellar radial velocity using the innovative ELODIE spectrograph capable of detecting velocity changes as small as 13 meters per second. Their work earned them half of the 2019 Nobel Prize in Physics, fundamentally transforming astronomy by proving that exoplanets exist around Sun-like stars and could be reliably detected through Doppler spectroscopy. This seminal achievement catalyzed what has been termed the 'exoplanet revolution,' establishing an entirely new field of astronomical research that has since led to the identification of thousands of planetary systems.
Over the subsequent decades, Queloz has continued to advance the field through the development of sophisticated astronomical instruments and detection algorithms that have enabled the characterization of hundreds of exoplanetary systems. His scientific contributions have focused on expanding detection capabilities to retrieve detailed information about planetary physical structures, formation processes, and evolutionary pathways. Queloz has authored over 400 scientific publications accumulating more than 50,000 citations, demonstrating the profound impact of his work across the scientific community. His current research program at Cambridge is directed toward detecting Earth-like planets and investigating the potential for universal life, representing the next frontier in humanity's quest to understand our place in the cosmos.
