Dr. Shrinivas Kulkarni

Biography

Shrinivas R. Kulkarni is the George Ellery Hale Professor of Astronomy and Planetary Science at the California Institute of Technology. He earned his M.S. from the Indian Institute of Technology in 1978 and completed his Ph.D. at the University of California in 1983. Kulkarni has held various academic positions at Caltech, starting as an Assistant Professor in Astronomy and progressing to his current role as Hale Professor since 2017. He has served as the Executive Officer for Astronomy and was the Director of the Caltech Optical Observatories from 2006 to 2018. His research areas include compact objects, transients, planets, and the development of innovative instrumentation. He has made significant contributions to the study of galactic interstellar phenomena, millisecond pulsars, and gamma-ray bursts. Notably, he was the Principal Investigator for the Palomar Transient Factory, which investigates transient astronomical events. Kulkarni's research has a main focus on broad surveys of planets and emphasizes precision astrometry, contributing significantly to the field of astrophysics.

Research Interests