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Caltech
Division of Physics, Mathematics and Astronomy

S. George Djorgovski

Professor of Astronomy and Data Science
B.A., University of Belgrade, 1979; M.A., University of California, 1981; Ph.D., 1985; Assistant Professor, Caltech 1987-90; Associate Professor, 1990-97; Professor, 1997-; Director, Center for Data Driven Discovery, 2014-19; Executive Officer for Astronomy, 2016-19.

Research Interests: Data science, astroinformatics, data-intensive astronomy, AI applications in science, time domain astronomy, quasars and other active galactic nuclei, gravitational lenses, cosmology

Overview

Professor Djorgovski has worked on a broad variety of topics in astronomy and cosmology, including the structure and dynamics of globular clusters, fundamental properties of galaxies and their evolution, gamma-ray bursts, early phases of galaxy and structure formation, quasars, gravitational lenses, cosmological tests, dark energy, exploration of the time domain, digital sky surveys, Virtual Observatory, and the growing field of astroinformatics.

He is interested in how Machine Learning and AI can be used to systematically analyze and explore these large and complex data sets and the observable parameter space, possibly even to discover new types of astrophysical objects and phenomena. These new tools enable us to address the challenges of exponential growth of data volumes and complexity, and extraction of knowledge and understanding from the data, becoming essential tools for the scientific methodology in the 21st century. To this effect, he has been working on the data science methodology transfer between different fields, for example from astronomy and space science to medicine.

More broadly, he is interested in the ways in which computational and information technology changes the ways we study and understand the world around us. This ongoing revolution is changing all of science and scholarship, along with nearly every other aspect of modern society.

Selected Awards

  • Fellow, American Association for Advancement of Science, 2014
  • First Prize, Boeing-Griffith Science Writing Contest, 2008
  • Presidential Young Investigator, 1991 – 1997
  • Several Distinguished Visiting Professorships
  • ISI 1000 most cited physicists, 1981 – 1997
  • NASA Group Achievement Award, 1996
  • Dudley Observatory Award, 1991
  • Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Fellow, 1988 – 1991
  • Harvard Junior Fellow, 1985 – 1987
  • The Asteroid 24421 Djorgovski (2000 BQ33)
  • Erdős number = 2

Caltech Affiliations

Industry Appointment

Professional Societies

  • American Association for Advancement of Science (AAAS)
  • American Physical Society (APS)
  • International Astronomical Union (IAU)
  • Association for Computing Machinery (ACM)
  • Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)
  • International Astrostatistics Association (IAA)
  • International Astroinformatics Association (IAIA)

PhD Thesis: Surface Photometry and the Structure of Elliptical Galaxies

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Selected Publications

For a complete publications list, see feeds.library.caltech.edu

Related Courses

Ay 1. The Evolving Universe. 9 units (3-1-5); third term, 2025-26. Introduction to modern astronomy that will illustrate the accomplishments, techniques, and scientific methodology of contemporary astronomy. The course will be organized around a set of basic questions, showing how our answers have changed in response to fresh observational discoveries. Topics to be discussed will include telescopes, stars, planets, the search for life elsewhere in the universe, supernovae, pulsars, black holes, galaxies and their active nuclei, and Big Bang cosmology. A field trip to Palomar Observatory will be organized. Not offered on a pass/fail basis.
Instructor: Djorgovski
Ay 111 abc. Introduction to Current Astrophysics Research. 1 unit (1-0-0); first, second terms, 2025-26. This course is intended primarily for first-year Ay graduate students, although participation is open and encouraged. Students are required to attend seminar-style lectures given by astrophysics faculty members and other researchers. The intent of the course is for students to gain an understanding of the breadth of astrophysics research that is conducted at Caltech, and to learn about potential research opportunities, as well as different career paths in astronomy. Credit is also given for attending the weekly astronomy colloquia. At the end of each term, students are required to summarize in oral or written form (at the discretion of the instructor), one of the covered subjects that drew their interest. Part c not offered 2025-26.
Instructors: Djorgovski, El-Badry
Ay 119. Astroinformatics. 6 units (3-0-3); third term, 2025-26. This class is an introduction to the data science skills from the applied computer science, statistics, and information technology, that are needed for a modern research in any data-intensive field, but with a special focus on the astronomical applications. Open to graduate and upper-division on undergraduate students in all options. The topics covered include best programming practices, supervised and unsupervised machine learning, feature selection, dimensionality reduction, databases, Bayesian statistics, time series analysis, deep learning, data visualization, and possibly other topics. The class will feature real-world examples from cutting-edge projects in which the instructors are involved.
Instructors: Djorgovski, Graham, Mahabal, Lombeyda