IN THE PRESS


Prof. Otto Hannuksela Joins the GRAVITY Group for a Collaborative Research Visit

02 June, 2025

Prof. Otto Hannuksela

The IAC3’s GRAVITY group receives from June 03-24 of 2025 a visit from Dr. Otto Akseli Hannuksela, assistant professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK). Prof. Hannuksela is a world-leading expert on gravitational lensing of gravitational waves, a highly sought-after phenomenon where the gravitational signals from sources in the distant universe are bent, deformed and magnified as they pass near heavy objects such as galaxies and galaxy clusters, almost like visible light passing through a glass lens. He has led the first searches for lensed gravitational waves, founded the gravitational lensing group within the LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA Collaboration, and served as its chair for several years. He got his BSc in Physics from the University of Helsinki (Finland) in 2015, then moved to CUHK earning his MPhil in Physics in 2017 and PhD in Physics in 2019. After a postdoctoral position at Nikhef and the University of Utrecht in the Netherlands, he joined the CUHK faculty in 2021 and is now the principal investigator of its LIGO Scientific Collaboration member group. Prof. Hannuksela will collaborate with GRAVITY group members on topics covering gravitational lensing, tests of general relativity with gravitational waves, and science opportunities with future detectors. His host is Dr. David Keitel and his stay is financed by a “professors convidats” (visiting professor) grant of the University of the Balearic Islands.