About the author

Dr. Ruth Titz-Weider

Ruth Titz-Weider studied physics at the University of Bonn and received her doctorate in 1991 with a thesis on heterodyne receivers in the terahertz
range at the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy.

After completing her doctorate, she joined the then DLR Institute of Optoelectronics in Oberpfaffenhofen, where she developed an atmospheric physics receiver for the Falcon research aircraft. In 1997, she went to the newly founded DLR Institute of Space Sensor Systems in Berlin-Adlershof, focusing on the SOFIA research aircraft and public relations. After taking parental leave, she transferred to the field of extrasolar planets at the DLR Institute of Planetary Research. In addition to her technical work in the field of exoplanets, she is the point of contact for public relations work on this topic and on relevant missions such as PLATO.

She is often invited to give lectures in planetariums and other extracurricular educational venues, organises teacher training courses and was a member of the Berlin state jury for 'Jugend forscht' for ten years.

Posts from Ruth Titz-Weider

Space | 24. August 2023

Life on Venus? A DLR FAQ about the trace gas phosphine

In 2020, the planetary research community and the interested public turned their attention to Venus. A research team from the University of Cardiff had detected the gas phosphine in the high clouds of Earth’s inner neighbouring planet for the first time. Phosphine (PH3) is produced on Earth, either naturally by organic weathering processes or artificially – for example for use as fertiliser. So, were traces of life on Earth’s neighbour indirectly discovered in 2020 by detecting phosphine? That would have been a sensation. Or was it much ado about nothing? read more