Dr. Cem Berk Senel

I am a planetary scientist studying how hypervelocity impacts redistribute energy and mass across planetary surfaces, atmospheres and interiors. My research combines impact physics, computational fluid dynamics and planetary atmosphere modelling, spanning scales from micrometeoroid impacts and asteroid deflection to planet-altering collisions.

A major focus of my current work is on small bodies and planetary defence. As a member of NASA’s DART Investigation Team and ESA’s Hera Impact Working Group, I perform three-dimensional shock-physics simulations to explore crater formation, ejecta dynamics, momentum transfer and the internal structure of rubble-pile asteroids such as Dimorphos. At planetary scales, I investigate how major impacts transform atmospheres, climate and habitability. My work on Chicxulub showed how fine dust contributed to the impact winter associated with the end-Cretaceous mass extinction. I also study impact-driven environmental change on early Mars, as well as ejecta production and volatile release on airless and icy worlds. Across these different scales, my broader goal is to understand impacts not simply as cratering events, but as processes that connect planetary interiors, surfaces and atmospheres and shape planetary evolution.

FWO POSTDOCTORAL FELLOWSHIP (2023–2026)

Modeling Impact Processes at Multiscale: From Asteroid Interiors to Planetary Habitability and Evolution

My FWO Postdoctoral Fellowship focused on impact processes across a broad range of spatial and energy scales, from the response and internal properties of rubble-pile asteroids to the atmospheric and environmental consequences of major planetary impacts.

RESEARCH THEMES

• Hypervelocity impact physics and shock-physics modelling
• Asteroid deflection, DART and Hera planetary defense missions
• Rubble-pile asteroids, crater formation and ejecta dynamics
• Chicxulub impact and impact-driven climate change
• Planetary atmospheres and paleoclimate
• Early Mars environments and habitability
• Micrometeoroid impacts, ejecta and volatile release
• Airless bodies and icy moons
• Computational fluid dynamics and high-performance computing

EDUCATION

PhD in Engineering Sciences & Technology
Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Belgium, 2023
Multiscale Modeling of Planetary Boundary Layers on Earth and Mars

Research Master in Environmental and Applied Fluid Dynamics
von Karman Institute for Fluid Dynamics, Belgium, 2018

MSc in Heat-Fluid
Istanbul Technical University, Turkey, 2016

BSc in Mechanical Engineering
Istanbul Technical University, Turkey, 2014