Biography
I am currently an assistant professor at the School of Astronomy and Space Sciences, Nanjing University (since July 2025), and concurrently hold an appointment as an honorary lecturer at the research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics, The Australian National University (June 2025–June 2030).
Previously, I was a research fellow at The Australian National University (2023–2025), and a postdoctoral research scientist at the Heidelberg Institute for Theoretical Studies (2023) and the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research (2019–2023). I received my PhD from the University of Sydney in 2019.
I welcome applications from undergraduate, master’s, and PhD students, as well as postdoctoral researchers, to join our research group led by assistant professor Zhen Yuan and myself. Prospective candidates are encouraged to contact me at jie.yu@nju.edu.cn.
Teaching
Fundamentals of Astronomy (Lab), 2026
Forum on Astronomy and Space Sciences (Colloquium Organizer), 2026
Students:
Chenxi Wang (MSc, 2025-present)
Tianyang Cui (BSc, 2024-2025)
Jiashu Pan (BSc, 2023-2024)
Research Interests
Exoplanet Formation and Detection:
I work on the formation, characterization, and detection of exoplanets orbiting both main-sequence and evolved stars.
Asteroseismology:
My research focuses on asteroseismology—the study of stellar oscillations to infer fundamental stellar properties and to probe stellar internal structure and dynamics.
Stellar Magnetic Activity:
I investigate stellar magnetic activity using X-ray, optical, and radio observations, focusing on its connections to exoplanets, binary systems, and stellar populations in globular and open clusters.
Interstellar Extinction and Dust Mapping:
I have a strong interest in interstellar extinction and reddening, with an emphasis on constructing high-precision 3D dust maps for planet-search fields (e.g., Kepler, TESS, and PLATO) using combined spectroscopic and photometric data.
I have participated in several major astronomical missions and surveys, including the Chinese Space Station Telescope, Earth 2.0, LSST, SDSS-V, GALAH, and ESA PLATO.
Publications:
As of January 2026, I have authored 10 first-author publications, contributing to a total of more than 50 papers with over 1,800 citations on ADS. One of my first-author papers has received 240 citations, placing it among the top 10 most-cited papers since June 2018 that include asteroseismology in the abstract. My first-author work includes a publication in Nature Astronomy. Below are 5 selected publications.
1. Jie Yu, Charlotte Gehan, Saskia Hekker, et al., 2025, Nature Astronomy, 9, 1045, Enhanced magnetic activity in rapidly rotating binary stars.
2. Shourya Khanna, Jie Yu*, Ronald Drimmel, et al., 2025, A&A, 701, A270, GaiaUnlimited: The old stellar disc of the Milky Way as traced by the Red Clump.
3. Jie Yu, Shourya Khanna, Nathalie Themessl, Saskia Hekker, Guillaume Dréau, Laurent Gizon, and Shaolan Bi, 2023, ApJS, 264, 2, Revised Extinctions and Radii for 1.5 Million Stars Observed by APOGEE, GALAH, and RAVE.
4. Jie Yu, Timothy R. Bedding, Dennis Stello, Daniel Huber, Laurent Gizon, and Saskia Hekker, 2020, MNRAS, 493, 1388. Asteroseismology of luminous red giants with Kepler. I. Long Period Variables with radial and non-radial modes.
5. Jie Yu, Daniel Huber, Timothy R. Bedding, Dennis Stello, Marc Hon, Simon J. Murphy, Shourya Khanna. 2018, ApJS, 236, 42. Asteroseismology of 16000 Kepler Red Giants: Global Oscillation Parameters, Masses, and Radii.