Dr. Kjær is a Danish national, who has been passionate about science since childhood. In 2001 she obtained a Bachelor degree in Science and in 2003 a Master degree in Astronomy from the University of Copenhagen. During these studies she worked as a research assistant and participated in observing runs both on La Palma (Canaries) and La Silla (Chile). Furthermore, in 2002/2003 she taught Astrophysics at the Technical High School of Copenhagen, for which she also developed the educational material.

In 2004 Dr. Kjær moved to Munich and started a PhD position at the European Southern Observatory (ESO). While in Munich Dr. Kjær enrolled at the Ludwig-Maximillian Univeristy (LMU) and in the International Max Planck Research School, both of which she graduated from in 2007. From LMU Dr. Kjær obtained the degree Dr. rer. nat. with honors. After her studies Dr. Kjær was awarded a research fellowship from the Carlsberg Foundation, which was graciously hosted by Queen’s University Belfast.

Dr. Kjær researches supernova, and in particular SN1987A’s transformation to a supernova remnant. While working at ESO she was one of the first to make use of an integral field spectrograph on an extended object. Her observations lead to the discovery of the shape and movement of the inner supernova ejecta, which has implications for explosion mechanism models and symmetries therein.

Currently Dr. Kjær is living in Munich, where she writes books and takes care of her two young children.