Petr Heinzel

Petr Heinzel (* November 9, 1950) is a Czech astronomer and professor who is specialized in Solar physics. From 2004 to 2012 he was director of the Astronomical Institute of Czech Academy of Sciences. In 2012 he was appointed Professor of Astronomy and Astrophysics at the Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic. Since, 2017, he is Chairperson of the Czech Astronomical Society. He is also a member of the International Astronomical Union.
Petr Heinzel graduated in 1974 from the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics of the Charles University in Prague, the oldest and largest university of Czech Republic, belongs to the top three universities in Central and Eastern Europe. In 1982, he received a Doctor of Philosophy in Astrophysics and in 1993 became Doctor of Science in Astrophysics.
Petr Heinzel's area of research is Solar physics. He has made research on Solar flare, Solar prominence, Coronal loop, chromosphere structure and Radiative transfer in Stellar atmosphere. He has achieved significant scientific results in radiation hydrodynamics of Stellar atmosphere, as well as in the Spectroscopy analysis of astrophysical plasma.
He started working at the Astronomical Institute of Czech Academy of Sciences of Ondřejov after graduating in 1974. There he became the head of the solar department, a position that he would hold until 2004.
From 1987 to 1995, he was associate scientist in the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory Measurements of Emitted Radiation, that developed a VUV (radiation) telescope and spectrometer (project SUMER, for Solar Ultraviolet Measurements of Emitted Radiation) at the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research in Lindau, Germany, to operate on board of the European Space Agency spacecraft Solar and Heliospheric Observatory, which was launched in December 1995.
In July 2004, Petr Heinzel became director of the Astronomical Institute of Czech Academy of Sciences. He defended his position in 2007, when the institute was transformed into a public research institution, and remained in office until 2012. 
In 2012, Petr Heinzel was appointed Professor of Astronomy and Astrophysics at the Department of Astronomy, Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic. He had been Associate professor since 2005.
On April 2, 2017, Petr Heinzel was elected Chairperson of the Czech Astronomical Society.
Petr Heinzel teaches Stellar atmosphere theory and solar physics at the Charles University in Prague. Abroad, he is external lecturer at the Comenius University in Bratislava, Slovakia and at the University of Wrocław, Poland.
He has been member of the Supervisory Board for Doctor of Philosophy students at the Charles University in Prague, and Supervisor of PhD students at the Charles University, the Comenius University, the University of Wrocław, the Moscow State University and the Cairo University.
He has also been visiting professor at the Paris-Sud University (Orsay), Paris Observatory de Meudon, France, at the University of Wrocław, Poland and at the Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics in Garching, Germany. 
In 2003, Petr Heinzel received the award of the Czech Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic for the analysis of spectral data of hydrogen of the solar atmosphere obtained by the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory.
In 2009, he received the Gold Medal of the University of Wrocław for long-term cooperation and in recognition of his scientific results.
Petr Heinzel was laureate for 2014 of the Nušl Prize awarded by the Czech Academy of Sciences. The award was presented by the Chairman of the Czech Astronomical Society of the time Jan Vondrak, Dr Sc.
His hobby is classical music. He plays the violin and together with other astronomers participates in the cultural life at the Ondřejov Observatory and at national or international astronomical events in Czech Republic.
=== Scientific papers ===
Since 1975, Petr Heinzel has published more than 130 Scientific literature, which have received more than 2,000 Citation. His H-index has reached 26, which is above-average in astronomy.
=== Books ===
Petr Heinzel coauthored multiple books discussing solar physics:
* Solar Coronal Structures (1994, coauthored with V. Rušin and J.-C. Vial)
* The Physics of Chromospheric Plasmas (2007, Astronomical Society of the Pacific, coauthored with I. Dorotovič and R. J. Rutten)
* Solar and Stellar Flares and Their Effects on Planets (2016, Cambridge University Press, coauthored with A. Kosovichev and S. Hawley)
* Solar and Stellar Flares (2017, Springer Science+Business Media, coauthored with Lyndsay Fletcher)
Category:1950 births
Category:Czech astronomers
Category:Czech professor
Category:Czech physicists