Rate My Professor Philip Hopkins

A leading figure in theoretical astrophysics, Hopkins specializes in the formation and evolution of galaxies, stars, black holes, and planets, investigating feedback from stars and supermassive black holes, astrophysical fluid dynamics, plasma physics, and the roles of dark matter and dark energy in cosmic structure formation. He leads the FIRE (Feedback In Realistic Environments) simulation collaboration and has developed the GIZMO multi-physics code and advanced smoothed particle hydrodynamics methods. With over 419 peer-reviewed publications garnering approximately 37,500 citations and an h-index of 102, his influential works include the Bolometric Quasar Luminosity Function (Hopkins, Richards, & Hernquist 2006) and the galaxy merger rate studies (Hopkins et al. 2009). Hopkins has received numerous honors, including the 2023 American Astronomical Society (AAS) High-Energy Astrophysics Division Mid-Career Award, Simons Investigator in Astrophysics (2023), AAS Helen B. Warner Prize (2016), NSF CAREER Award (2015), Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowship (2014), and the Robert J. Trumpler Award (2011). He has contributed to grant and telescope time allocation committees, organized international conferences, refereed for top journals, and delivered public lectures and science consultations for media productions such as The Expanse and Star Trek.