Frans Snik
Frans Snik
Frans Snik
Leiden University

The group of Frans Snik (1979) at Leiden Observatory (Leiden University) develops advanced optical instrumentation for telescopes around the world and in space, to  characterize exoplanets, with an ultimate goal to detect signs of extraterrestrial life. The group combines liquid-crystal-based coronagraphy with wavefront-sensing, spectroscopy, and polarimetry, supported by ERC StG FALCONER (2016-2021). These activities also generate spin-off activities here on Earth: from air pollution monitoring to biomedical sensing. Frans co-invented the core technology of the SPEX instrument concept that is currently being realized for the next NASA climate satellite (PACE/SPEXone) to measure the effects of anthropogenic aerosols on our climate and our health. The development of SPEX led to the development of iSPEX; a smartphone camera add-on that enables air pollution measurements. Frans led the iSPEX project that involved thousands of citizen scientists in the Netherlands and throughout Europe to constitute a unique air pollution measurement network. Frans and his team of the H2020 project MONOCLE are currently working on iSPEX 2, that enables measurements of both water and air pollution with most smartphones with greatly enhanced accuracy. Frans is the co-founder of the Citizen Science Lab at Leiden University, and is co-developing the Dutch national strategy/network for citizen science.