Pavlo Plotko

I am a PhD student at DESY. I am a high-energy astrophysicist and I have a keen interest in outreach and bouldering.

Hello! I’m Pavlo Plotko. I joined the Deutsches Zentrum für Astroteilchenphysik (DZA) on 1 February 2025 as Scientific Coordinator, where I oversee scientific collaborations across Eastern Europe.

I’m originally from Kharkiv, in eastern Ukraine. Influenced by my mother, a teacher, I was introduced to computers and physics early on—writing my first lines of code at age 9. In high school, I competed in scientific Olympiads and tournaments. My passion for astronomy took off in 2012, when I carried out a photometric observation of asteroid 4 Vesta. I went on to earn both my Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Astronomy at Kyiv University, and from my very first year there I was involved in research projects and helped organize conferences and meetups.

Since September 2020, I’ve been pursuing a PhD at the Astroparticle Theory Group at DESY—my thesis work focuses on self-consistent modeling of ultra-high-energy cosmic-ray propagation from sources like active galactic nuclei (AGNs) and tidal disruption events (TDEs). My PhD is still in progress.

Outside my core research and coordination duties at DZA, I’m deeply involved in Ukrainian outreach initiatives and in efforts to enrich student life at both DESY and DZA. In my free time I’m also fascinated by human physiology and enjoy bouldering.