Oliver Müller
I am a former professional Swiss astronomer turned medicine student...
... who worked on dwarf galaxies and near-field cosmology for nearly 12 years at different universities (University of Basel, University of Strasbourg, University of Cambridge, and Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne). I still teach Astronomy at the Volkshochschule Beider Basel and keep taps with my former colleagues, but now train to become a medical professional.
Experience and Education
Working experience
Visiting Research Fellow
Ambizione Fellow
Senior Data Analyst
PostDoc as SNF Fellow
PostDoc as SNF Fellow
PhD in Astronomy
Software Developer
Scientific Assistant
Education
University of Basel
University of Basel
University of Basel
Gymnasium Münchenstein
Awards
Prix Schläfli
Amerbach Prize
Edith Alice Müller Award
KlarText-Preis
Dies Academicus with the President of the University of Basel.
Interests
WLM galaxy. Captured by ESO’s OmegaCAM on the VLT.
Why studying dwarf galaxies?
Dwarf galaxies are the most abundant and most elusive type of galaxy. And more, they are thought to be the most dark matter-dominated objects in the Universe. They are also quite distinct in size, shape and mass from other galaxies, such as elliptical or spiral galaxies. The barely visible dwarf galaxies are a major puzzle to our understanding of structure formation in the Universe, described by the cosmological dark energy + cold dark matter model. The many discrepancies for dwarf galaxies between theory and observations in small-scale cosmology have now standing names like the Too-Big-Too-Fail problem, the cusp/core problem, or the planes-of-satellites problem.
Besides science?
Apart from being a scientist, I am an avid guitar player, my interest ranges from Jazz Manouche to Metal, as well as Swing dancer (Lindy Hop, Collegiate Shag, Balboa, and Solo Jazz). Additionally, I am an enthusiastic Pen and Paper Roleplay gamer and founder of a indie game studio Voltaria Games.
I also like travel and see new places. Being a scientist certainly helped coming around. When I have free time, especially during my travels I photograph, with focus on landscape and street photography.
Publications
Selected peer-reviewed articles
- 2025 · Poulain M., Müller O. „ Evidence of star cluster migration and merger in dwarf galaxies “, Nature, 640, 902
- 2021 · Müller O., Schnider E. „Dwarfs from the Dark (Energy Survey): a machine learning approach to classify dwarf galaxies from multi-band images“, OJAp 4, 3
- 2018 · Kroupa P., Haghi H., Javanmardi B., Zonoozi A.H., Müller O., Banik I., Wu X., Zhao H., Dabringhausen J., „Does the galaxy NGC1052–DF2 falsify Milgromian dynamics?“, Nature 561, E4-E5
- 2018 · Müller O., Pawlowski M., Jerjen H., Lelli, F. „A whirling plane of satellite galaxies around Centaurus A challenges cold dark matter cosmology“, Science 359, 534
Our work on the Centaurus group was highlighted on the cover of Science.
Popular science
- 2020 · Müller O. „Kosmisches Planktor", Spektrum der Wisenschaft
- 2018 · Müller O. „Von astronomischen Höhen und Tiefen – hinter den Kulissen eines Science Artikels", ScienceBlogs, Schreibwettbewerb, 2. Platz
- 2018 · Müller O. and Kroupa P. „Nicht so schnell mit MOND – Die Zwerggalaxie NGC1052-DF2 als kritischer Test für MOND und das Dunkle Materie Modell", ScienceBlogs
- 2017 · Müller O. „Ein Universum ohne Dunkle Materie, ScienceBlogs, Schreibwettbewerb
Book contributions
- 2018 Müller O., „A whirling plane of satellite galaxies around Centaurus A challenges cold dark matter cosmology.“ Conference proceeding to IAU Symposium 344
- 2017 Müller O., „Glauben an das Unbekannte.“ natura obscura
Media appearances
Selected Articles
- 2022 · The career insights I’m bringing back to academia after a year at Google · Nature
- 2021 · Scientists Find More Evidence That Galaxies Are Synced Up In a 'Cosmic Web' · Vice
- 2021 · Einstein könnte falsch gelegen haben · Blick
- 2020 · Oliver Müller: From underdog to rock star of astronomy · Horizons
- 2020 · Doch ganz ordentliche Zwerggalaxien · scnat netzwerk
- 2019 · Forscher entdecken eine zweite Galaxie ohne dunkle Materie – und befeuern damit eine langjährige Debatte unter Wissenschaftern · NZZ
- 2019 · NGC 1052-DF2 – von der MUSE geküsst · ScienceBlogs
- 2018 · Dancing Dwarf Galaxies Deepen Dark Matter Mystery · Scientific American
- 2018 · Synchronized Galactic Orbit Challenges Our Best Theory of How the Universe Works · Gizmodo
- 2018 · Galaxy rotations raise doubts on dark matter · Cosmos Magazine
- 2018 · New observations of galaxies challenge the standard cosmological model · Ars Technica
- 2018 · Die Ergebnisse sprechen gegen das Standardmodell · Welt der Physik
- 2018 · Schweizer Forscher stellt Universum auf den Kopf · 20 Minuten
- 2018 · Ein Doktorand greift nach den Sternen, die Uni Basel löscht das Licht · TagesWoche
- 2015 · Basler Game-Studio landet mit erstem Spiel ersten Hit · 20 Minuten
Videos
- 2021 · Zwerggalaxien vs. Dunkle Materie · nano
- 2018 · The Plane of Satellite Galaxies around Centaurus A · Youtube
- 2018 · These synchronized galaxies are upending what we know about the universe · Science Magazine
- 2016 · couch developers · Die Macher
Podcasts
- 2023 · From Academia to Google and Back with Dr Oliver Müller · Persistent Curiosity