Konstantinos Kovlakas

Welcome!

I am Konstantinos Kovlakas, a postdoctoral fellow at the Institute of Space Sciences (ICE/CSIC, IEEC) in Barcelona, working on binary stellar evolution population synthesis for understanding X-ray binary populations across comic time.

A few words about me...

Since I was a kid, I was fascinated by mathematics, programming, and astronomy. Eventually, astronomy won my heart, and I was enrolled in the Physics Department of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (Greece). My thesis, under the supervision of the late Prof. John H. Seiradakis, was on the detectability of exoplanets via the transit method, and I explored the capability of radio-astronomical algorithms for detecting transits in optical light curves. My programming background was particularly useful in my master studies on "Computational Physics" in the same University, where, under the supervision of Prof. Manolis Plionis, I developed software for analyzing the spatial distribution of galaxies from Cosmological Simulations via optimizing Graph Theoretic algorithms.

Later, for my PhD studies in an ERC programme led by Prof. Andreas Zezas in the University of Crete, I changed my subject (again!) and focused on the energetic and enigmatic ultraluminous X-ray Sources (ULXs). Using Chandra data, I created the largest so-far census of ULXs in nearby galaxies, and investigated their connection with the parameters of their host galaxies. To do so, I developed a sample of galaxies in the Local Universe, named "Heraklion Extragalactic Catalogue" (or HECATE) which provides a multitude of information on galaxies with distances less than 200 Mpc.

This is were the pattern of changing subjects stopped. I continue working on ULXs and X-ray binary populations from the theoretical point of view. Specifically, I was invited as a post-doctoral researcher in the Observatory of Geneva by Tassos Fragos, to work on the creation of the POSYDON, a population synthesis code for binary stars which using detailed stellar evolution modeling can study the formation pathways and evolution of ULXs. Recently, in my new appointment in Barcelona as a postdoctoral fellow, I am studying the cosmic evolution of X-ray binary and ULX populations, and their contribution in the X-ray output of galaxies in the history of the Universe. 

Furthermore, I am interested in astrostatistics and application of machine learning in astronomy. Aside from employing Bayesian statistics and machine learning in my research, I am co-organizing and teaching in the "Summer School for Astrostatistics in Crete" series (2019, 2022 and 2023).

Aside from research, I try to allocated as much time as possible for science outreach activities, especially through the 100mentors platform. Using the network "The Tipping Point in Education" I have been given the opportunity to talk about astronomy and career paths to students of ages 8-18.