I am currently a postdoctoral fellow at the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias, Tenerife, Spain and at the Astronomical Institute of Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic. My research is focused on symbiotic binaries and related objects, with a particular interest in analyzing their populations within the Milky Way and external galaxies, photometric and spectroscopic analysis of symbiotic candidates and search for new objects of this interesting class. One of my contributions that I value the most is the creation of the New Online Database of Symbiotic Variables. This database represents the comprehensive and most up-to-date catalog of symbiotic stars currently available, featuring the largest collection of orbital, stellar, and other observational parameters of these interacting binaries found in the literature. You can find more information in the Research part of the website.

Prior to my current position, I was a postdoctoral intern at the European Southern Observatory in Garching bei München, Germany and before that I had been pursuing a PhD through the cotutelle de thèse, joint degree program at the Charles University in Prague and P. J. Šafárik University in Košice, Slovakia. Notably, Košice is also the city where I was born and raised, and where I obtained both my bachelor's and master's degrees. This made my participation in the cotutelle program even more meaningful, as it allowed me to further develop my research interests and academic skills while remaining connected to my hometown and its academic community.

Apart from my research, I am passionate about outreach and enjoy sharing my love of astronomy with the public. Over the years, I have organized numerous lectures and stargazing events to engage audiences of all ages and backgrounds. I am the author of a weekly online podcast and a weekly radio show, where I discuss the latest developments in astronomy or current events and interesting phenomena in the night sky. Both are broadcasted in Slovak language. I have also been invited to contribute to a variety of TV and radio programs. More details on these activities can be found in the Outreach part of the website.

In addition to the above, I am proud to be a devoted husband and father to my son. In my free time, I love travelling and exploring new places and hike in the great outdoors. I am also an avid fan of Tolkien's Middle Earth and Pratchett's Discworld, and enjoy delving into the rich and imaginative worlds that they have created.

Professional activities

Career path

  • 2024 - current
         Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias
        Postdoctoral fellow
  • 2024
         European Southern Observatory
        Postdoctoral intern
  • 2022 – current
         Astronomical Institute of Charles University in Prague
        Postdoctoral researcher
  • 2018 – 2022
         Astronomical Institute of Charles University in Prague
        PhD student and researcher
  • 2018 – 2022
         Institute of Physics, P. J. Šafárik University in Košice
        PhD student

Short-term stays

  • April - June 2023
         Instituto de Astrofísica de Canaria, La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain
  • January 2020
         Nicolaus Copernicus Astronomical Center, Warsaw, Poland
  • October 2019
         Tartu Observatory, Tõravere, Estonia
  • October - November 2018
         Tartu Observatory, Tõravere, Estonia
  • September 2017 - February 2018
         Charles University in Prague Czech Republic (ERASMUS+ stay)
  • September 2016
         Tartu Observatory, Tõravere, Estonia
  • October - November 2015
         Tartu Observatory, Tõravere, Estonia

Education

University studies

Extracurricular

  • September 2022
         ERASMUS+ Summer School 'Eclipsing Binaries and Asteroseismology', La Palma, Spain, participated online
  • February 2022
         DAWN Winter School 'A toolkit for students starting research in Astrophysics', Copenhagen, Denmark, held online
  • September 2021
         MW-GAIA COST Action Summer School 'Stellar spectroscopy with Gaia and astrophysical parameterization of stars', Padova, Italy, held online
  • September 2021
         16th Heidelberg Summer School: 'Stellar Ecosystems', Heidelberg, Germany, held online
  • August - September 2020
         ChETEC Zagreb Nucleosynthesis software pipeline training school, Zagreb, Croatia, held online
  • August 2020
         ERASMUS+ Summer School 'GAIA & TESS: Tools for understanding the local Universe', Brno, Czech Republic, held online
  • March 2020
         JWST Proposal Preparation Workshop, Prague, Czech Republic
  • June 2019
         OPTICON/ERASMUS+ Summer school 'Observational Astrophysics: from proposals to publication', Stará Lesná, Slovakia