OpenLearn Profile

Sabrina Gaertner

Sabrina Gaertner

Department of Physical Sciences

Professional biography
Sabrina is a Post Doctoral Research Associate in the OU's Department of Physical Sciences. I am a member of the Astrochemistry research group in the Department of Physical Sciences at The Open University. I have studied Physics at the University of Cologne (Germany). In 2013, I obtained my PhD within the Bonn Cologne Graduate School of Physics and Astronomy. At that time my research was focused on gas-phase Astrophysics. In laboratory experiments I investigated the reactions of neutral and electrically charged molecules (ions) as they would take place in space (under the environmental conditions found in star forming regions). In 2014 I joined The Open University as a Post-Doctoral Research Associate. In coming here, I changed my research focus a bit. I am still working to reproduce things that go on in space in the laboratory, but I moved from the gas phase to solid state. Currently I am investigating how Planets can form from collisions of tiny ice and dust particles, using experiments performed on parabolic flight. Also I am studying the structure of interstellar ices in general, regularly performing experiments at the ISIS Neutron Scattering Facility. I am a member of the Royal Astronomical Society, The UK Planetary Forum and the Division for Planetary Sciences (US). I always have enjoyed communicating my research to a wider public. One result of this is the series 60 Second Adventures in Microgravity.