Anton Zensus
Astrophysicist.
exploring the universe.
connecting science & people.
I am an astrophysicist with decades of experience in fundamental research and international collaboration in radio astronomy.
Fundamental research expands knowledge, drives scientific and technological progress, and strengthens the foundations on which societies make long-term decisions.
first picture of a black hole.
With my team and international partners, I advanced Very Long Baseline Interferometry, linking radio telescopes across the globe and enabling the first image of a black hole.
new chapter.
As emeritus, I continue my astrophysical research and remain engaged in selected projects and collaborations.
In this new phase, I work selectively with institutions, leaders, and networks at the intersection of science, technology, and international cooperation, contributing experience, judgment, and perspective where they are most needed.
- Emeritus Director and Scientific Member, Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy
- Advisor on Transatlantic and Global Science Strategy
- Expert in Radio Astronomy and Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI)
- Researches galaxies and quasars with global radio telescope networks
- Founding Chair, Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration (first black hole image)
- Advisor to the President of the Max Planck Society for Transatlantic Cooperation
- Chair of the North America Roundtable of the Max Planck Society
- German Research Foundation (DFG) - Physics review board
- University of Bonn (Germany) - Scientific Advisory Board
- Associated Universities Inc. (USA) - Astronomy Committee
- Next Generation Very Large Array (USA) - Science Advisory Committee
- Shanghai Astronomical Observatory (China) - Scientific Advisory Board
- Deutsches Museum - Kuratorium
- Atlantik-Brücke
- International Astronomical Union
- European Astronomical Society
- American Astronomical Society
- Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft
- Astronomische Gesellschaft
- Karl Schwarzschild Medal 2024 – highest German prize for astrophysics
- Tycho Brahe Medal 2023 – highest European award for observational astronomy
- European Research Council Advanced Grant 2021 – most competitive European research grant
- Max Planck Forschungspreis für Internationale Kooperation 1999
- Alexander von Humboldt Forschungspreis 1994
Awards to the EHT Collaboration:
- Breakthrough Prize for Fundamental Physics 2019
- Frontiers of Science Award 2025
- Einstein Medal of the Swiss Albert Einstein Society 2019
- Group Achievement Award of the Royal Society 2021
- Bruno Rossi Group Award of the American Astronomical Society 2020
- NSF Diamond Achievement Award 2019
further honors:
- Golden Medal of the Institute of Applied Astronomy, St. Petersburg 2013
- RadioAstron Bronze Medal 2012
- Studienstiftung des Deutschen Volkes 1982-84
impact.
science at scale.
Discovery.
I study distant galaxies and the role of supermassive black holes, including how magnetic fields shape their environments.
Using Very Long Baseline Interferometry, we operate a global network of radio telescopes. In 2017, this work led to the first image of a black hole in the galaxy Messier 87.
My ERC-funded project, M2FINDERS, focuses on how relativistic jets form in the vicinity of these objects.
translation.
Fundamental research has its greatest impact when scientific excellence is linked with technological development, industrial expertise, and the infrastructures that turn discovery into lasting capability.
Many of the collaborations I have been part of have advanced specialised technologies and helped train a new generation of scientists and engineers.
governance.
Open science depends on people who are willing to take responsibility beyond their own boundaries.
I engage where scientific independence, public trust, and the long-term resilience of research systems are at stake—contributing experience and perspective, particularly in the context of international cooperation and transatlantic relations.
discourse.
Science needs voices that connect research, policy, and society.
I contribute to discussions on science, research policy, and international cooperation through interviews, lectures, and extended conversations.
For interviews, panels, or lectures: azensus@mpifr.de
- Terra X Lesch & Co LIVE: Das erste Foto von Sagittarius A*! Mit Reinhard Genzel und Anton Zensus
- Das Unsichtbare sichtbar machen - Bilder von Schwarzen Löchern von Anton Zensus
- Radio Views: EHT Image of the Black Hole in SgrA* - MPIfR scientists tell the story
- European Southern Observatory (ESO): Unveiling Sgr A*, the black hole at the centre of our galaxy
- Anton Zensus on defending science funding
- An astounding coincidence with theory | April 10, 2019 | Max-Planck-Gesellschaft
- Spellbound by the Black Hole | Humboldt Kosmos 111/2020 (english)
- Im Bann des Schwarzen Lochs | Humboldt Kosmos 111/2020 (deutsch)
- Big Techday 22: Making the Invisible Visible - Imaging Black Holes - Prof. Dr. J. Anton Zensus
engagement.
Experience gains meaning when it helps others move forward.
Today, I contribute selectively to institutions, leaders, and emerging talent at the intersection of science, technology, and international cooperation—through advisory work, mentoring, and systemic supervision, where shared values and purpose provide the right ground for collaboration. Write me at:
advisory.
I engage selectively, where experience and independent perspective support long-term strategy.
I do not offer solutions, but conversation at moments when responsibility, uncertainty, and consequence meet.
mentoring. supervision.
I work with individuals who carry responsibility for systems larger than themselves.
These conversations are collegial rather than instructional, shaped by shared reflection rather than guidance, and grounded in experience rather than framework.
notes.
observations & reflections
contact.
Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy
Prof. Dr. J. Anton Zensus
With gratitude to the global community of scientists, engineers, and institutions whose work continues beyond any individual.
