Prof. Paul Koenraad is the chairman of the astronomy and meteorology society Galaxis in Den Bosch — a role he has held for over 35 years. By profession he is a physicist: he studied physics and astronomy in Utrecht, came to Eindhoven in 1986 to join a new semiconductor research group, earned his PhD there in 1990, and went on to become a professor of applied physics at Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) and dean of its Graduate School. His research centred on semiconductor nanostructures studied with scanning tunnelling microscopy.
Together with his wife Anne-Marie Koenraad he gave the lecture on the Aurora at Halley Observatory — see 2026-06-28 Lezing over het Poollicht bij Halley. Paul took the first half: the history and the physics of the aurora, including how electrons surf on Alfvén waves (the Landau mechanism). A wonderfully clear and enthusiastic speaker who could make a genuinely complex subject feel approachable.