Education

• Doctoral studies in Astronomy

  Mar 2023 – present
  University of Vienna, Austria | ESO Garching, Germany

  • Awarded a 9-month studentship at the European Southern Observatory (ESO) in Germany (Apr - Dec 2024)
  • Thesis topic: Investigating the star formation history of the Orion molecular cloud complex
  • Projected defense date: January 8, 2027
• Master's degree in Astronomy

  Oct 2019 – Mar 2022
  University of Vienna, Austria

  • Graduated with honors
  • Thesis: Creating an empirical isochrone archive for 67 open clusters in the Solar Neighborhood (link)
• Bachelor's degree in Physics

  Oct 2017 – Apr 2021
  University of Vienna, Austria

  • Focus on computational and condensed matter physics
  • Thesis: Numerical comparison of Neel and Brown heating of magnetic nanospheres in an external magnetic field
• Bachelor's degree in Astronomy

  Oct 2016 – Sep 2019
  University of Vienna, Austria

  • Thesis: N-body simulations concerning the trajectories and longevity of small bodies in the inner Solar System
• A levels

  Sep 2008 – Jun 2016
  WRG der Franziskanerinnen Wels, Austria

  • Graduated with honors

Work Experience

• Prae-Doc and PhD student in astronomy

  Nov 2022 – present
  University of Vienna, Austria

  • ERC AdG project ISM-FLOW (PI João Alves)
  • Analysis of the Orion star-forming region, with focus on Gaia and near-infrared data
  • Development of an empirical age determination method for star clusters
• Research studentship

  Apr 2024 – Dec 2024
  European Southern Observatory (ESO), Garching, Germany

  • 9-month ESO studentship as part of the doctoral program
  • Research on the formation history and kinematics of the NGC 2024 cluster in Orion
• Freelancer

  Oct 2021 – Dec 2021
  University of Vienna, Austria

  • Support of the preparations for the VISIONS project data release 2 and accompanying publications
  • Handling ESO archive queries for observational data
• University assistant

  Mar 2020 – Jun 2020
  University of Vienna, Austria

  • Gaia-based research and project support on open cluster memberships and ages

Internships

• Scientific internship

  Aug 2022 – Oct 2022
  Austrian Institute of Technology, Austria

  • Development and testing of catalyst layers for water splitting electrodes
• Scientific internship

  Aug 2021 – Sep 2021
  Austrian Institute of Technology, Austria

  • Development and testing of photo-chemical electrodes used for water splitting
• Scientific internship

  Jul 2021 – Jul 2021
  voestalpine Steel Division, Austria

  • Experiments concerning the welding properties of different types of steel
• Scientific internships

  Jul – Sep 2019, Feb 2020
  Fronius International GmbH, Austria

  • Experimental tests and analyses of plasma-based surface treatments for adhesive taping
  • Co-author of a peer-reviewed paper (Kehrer et al. 2020)
• Summer internships in commerce and logistics

  2013 – 2018
  Various companies, Austria

Awards

• Performance scholarship (4x)

  2019 – 2022
  University of Vienna

Supervision

• Primary supervisor of a Bachelor's thesis in astrophysics

  2026
  University of Vienna

  • Benchmarking the SigMA clustering algorithm on the Vela complex (finished)
• Co-supervisor of a Bachelor's thesis in physics

  2026
  University of Vienna

  • New noise removal methods for SigMA (ongoing)

Skills

Presentations

• Contributed talk

  2026
  Star Formation Fields (Crete IV)

  Crete, Greece

  Orion under the microscope: A high-resolution star formation history of the full complex
• Informal discussion

  2026
  European Southern Observatory

  Munich, Germany

  Adding new pieces to the puzzle of star formation
• Contributed poster

  2025
  Stellar Origins Conference

  Vienna, Austria

  Investigating the kinematics and dynamical evolution of NGC 2024 with infrared proper motions
• Contributed talk

  2025
  Ballyfest Conference

  Visegrad, Hungary

  Towards a holistic view of the Star Formation History of Orion
• Lunch talk (invited)

  2025
  European Southern Observatory

  Munich, Germany

  Tracing hidden star formation with infrared proper motions
• Contributed talk

  2024
  European Astronomical Society Annual Meeting, SS33

  Padova, Italy

  Navigating the stellar landscape: Insights from SigMA analysis of Orion’s young star clusters
• Contributed talk

  2024
  European Astronomical Society Annual Meeting, S4

  Padova, Italy

  Charting the Star Formation History of the Orion Complex: A Multi-Dimensional Analysis Using Gaia Data and Machine Learning
• Contributed talk

  2024
  Star formation and Machine Learning Conference

  Budapest, Hungary

  SigMA analysis of young stellar populations in Orion
• Contributed talk

  2023
  European Astronomical Society Annual Meeting, S4

  Krakow, Poland

  Machine learning in the context of stellar ages: Extraction of empirical isochrones for nearby open clusters
• Contributed talk

  2023
  European Astronomical Society Annual Meeting, S3

  Krakow, Poland

  Gaia DR3 Empirical Isochrones: An age-scaling ladder for nearby star clusters
• Contributed poster

  2023
  Star@Lyon Conference

  Lyon, France

  Creating an empirical isochrone archive from nearby open clusters
• Contributed talk

  2021
  European Astronomical Society Annual Meeting, S1

  Leiden, Netherlands (virtual meeting)

  Creating an empirical isochrone archive - methodology and benefits
• Contributed talk

  2021
  European Astronomical Society Annual Meeting, S15

  Leiden, Netherlands (virtual meeting)

  Creating an empirical isochrone archive for known clusters in the Solar neighborhood

Outreach

• Organizer of a station on inclusive astronomy, Lange Nacht der Forschung

  Apr 2026
  Vienna, Austria
• Helper at a station on inclusive astronomy, ESO Open House Day

  Oct 2024
  European Southern Observatory, Garching, Germany

Community

• Referee for Astronomy & Astrophysics (A&A) and Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (MNRAS)

  ongoing
• Local and scientific organizing committee member

  June 2026
  IfA-ISTA Wienerwald Symposium 2026, Vienna, Austria
• Organizer of a joint workshop with TU Wien

  May 2026
  Astro-Stats workshop 2026, Vienna, Austria
• Local organizing committee member

  Sep 2025
  Stellar Origins Conference, Vienna, Austria
• Organizer of ERC ISM-FLOW group workshop (internal)

  Apr 2024
  University of Vienna

First-Author Publications

• Submitted to Astronomy & Astrophysics (A&A)
  A comprehensive cluster census of Orion

  2026
  Rottensteiner, Alena; Ratzenböck, Sebastian; Alves, João; Meingast, Stefan; Hutschenreuter, Sebastian
• Astronomy & Astrophysics (A&A)
  Kinematics of young stellar objects in NGC 2024 based on infrared proper motions

  2026
  Rottensteiner, Alena; Petr-Gotzens, Monika G.; Meingast, Stefan; Alves, João; Bertin, Emmanuel; Bouy, Hervé; Piecka, Martin; Ratzenböck, Sebastian; Socci, Andrea
• Astronomy & Astrophysics (A&A)
  An empirical isochrone archive for nearby open clusters

  2024
  Rottensteiner, Alena; Meingast, Stefan

Co-Author Publications

• Astronomy & Astrophysics (A&A)
  Direct measurement of ISM proper motion with image registration

  2025
  Piecka, Martin; Posch, Laura; Meingast, Stefan; Hutschenreuter, Sebastian; Rottensteiner, Alena; Alves, João
• Astronomy & Astrophysics (A&A)
  The late Miocene 10Be anomaly and the possibility of a supernova

  2025
  Maconi, Efrem; Alves, João; Großschedl, Josefa E.; Rottensteiner, Alena; Swiggum, Cameren; Ratzenböck, Sebastian
• Astronomy & Astrophysics (A&A)
  The TW Hydrae Association is a cluster chain of Sco-Cen

  2025
  Miret-Roig, Núria; Alves, João; Ratzenböck, Sebastian; Galli, Phillip A. B.; Bouy, Hervé; Figueras, Francesca; Großschedl, Josefa E.; Meingast, Stefan; Posch, Laura; Rottensteiner, Alena; Swiggum, Cameren; Wagner, Nora
• Astronomy & Astrophysics (A&A)
  The star formation history of the Sco-Cen association

  2023
  Ratzenböck, Sebastian; Großschedl, Josefa E.; Alves, João; Miret-Roig, Núria; Bomze, Immanuel; Forbes, John; Goodman, Alyssa; Hacar, Álvaro; Lin, Doug; Meingast, Stefan; Möller, Torsten; Piecka, Martin; Posch, Laura; Rottensteiner, Alena; Swiggum, Cameren; Zucker, Catherine
• Astronomy & Astrophysics (A&A)
  VISIONS: the VISTA Star Formation Atlas

  2023
  Meingast, Stefan; Bouy, Hervé; Fürnkranz, Verena; Hernandez, David; Rottensteiner, Alena; Brändli, Erik
• Astronomy & Astrophysics (A&A)
  VISIONS: the VISTA Star Formation Atlas

  2023
  Meingast, Stefan; Alves, João; Bouy, Hervé; Petr-Gotzens, Monika G.; Fürnkranz, Verena; Großschedl, Josefa E.; Hernandez, David; Rottensteiner, Alena; Arnaboldi, Magda; Ascenso, Joana; Bayo, Amelia; Brändli, Erik; Brown, Anthony G.A.; Forbrich, Jan; Goodman, Alyssa; Hacar, Álvaro; Hasenberger, Birgit; Köhler, Rainer; Kubiak, Karolina; Kuhn, Michael; Lada, Charles; Leschinski, Kieran; Lombardi, Marco; Mardones, Diego; Mascetti, Laura; Miret-Roig, Núria; Moitinho, André; Mužić, Koraljka; Piecka, Martin; Posch, Laura; Prusti, Timo; Peña Ramírez, Karla; Ramlau, Ronny; Ratzenböck, Sebastian; Sacco, Germano; Swiggum, Cameren; Teixeira, Paula Stella; Urban, Vanessa; Zari, Eleonora; Zucker, Catherine
• Astronomy & Astrophysics (A&A)
  Extended stellar systems in the solar neighborhood

  2021
  Meingast, Stefan; Alves, João; Rottensteiner, Alena
• Surface and Coatings Technology
  Cold atmospheric pressure plasma treatment for adhesion improvement on polypropylene surfaces

  2020
  Kehrer, Matthias; Rottensteiner, Alena; Hartl, Wolfgang; Duchoslav, Jiri; Stehrer, Thomas; Stifter, David