Hello, Universe.

I'm Jurjen de Jong.

Radio Astronomer Software developer

Profile
Profile

Something about me.

Profile Picture

Profile

Hello there! I am a radio astronomer and software developer with a background in various fields and industries. My journey has taken me across five countries, allowing me to learn and work across varied settings and cultural backgrounds. Professionally, I've had the privilege of developing innovative data-driven tools and software for commercial companies, as well as smashing around terabytes of data on high-performance supercomputers to uncover the mysteries of the universe. Don't hesitate to contact me if you want to get in touch.

  • Name: Jurjen (Michiel Gerrit Hendrik Jan) de Jong
  • Date of birth: 26th of May 1993
  • Nationality: Dutch
  • Based in: Leiden, the Netherlands
  • Job title: Radio astronomer, data scientist, software developer
  • Hobbies: Football, yoga, fitness, gaming, travelling
  • Website: jurjen93.github.io
  • Email: jurjongATproton.me

Natural languages

Over time I have picked up (bits of) a few languages in the places where I resited. In my daily life, I communicate in Dutch and English, both at home and in a professional setting. Below you can find languages along with my self-assessed confidence levels.

  • 100%
    Dutch
  • 95%
    English
  • 30%
    German
  • 15%
    Swedish

Programming languages

Below, I listed the main programming languages I utilize daily to develop software and data pipelines. The ratings reflect my hands-on experience (hope you trust me on this one). Additional details about my tech stack among other information about me are available in my CV, which you can download below.

  • 95%
    Python
  • 90%
    Bash
  • 70%
    SQL
  • 25%
    Julia
  • 20%
    R
  • 10%
    Rust
Download CV
Timeline

Resume.

My work experiences and educational background.

Work Experience

Radio Astronomer

January 2021 - Present

Leiden Observatory

I contribute to the development of the VLBI calibration and imaging pipelines for LOFAR to study radio galaxy evolution, while also being teaching assistant for the master course 'Radio Astronomy' and supervisor of several bachelor and master research projects. From 2021 to 2024 in the role as PhD candidate and from 2025 until now as a postdoc.

Volunteer

August 2018 - Present

Stamily

I co-founded the non-profit Stamily, which fosters a supportive community for people who stutter. As first chair of the board, I took up a leading role in the management of the association. The core of our success is the empowerement of our members, who can pick up leadership roles as well.

Data Scientist

August 2019 - January 2021

Matrixian Group

I developed machine learning pipelines, address validators, and APIs for various clients. See projects below.

Mathematical Astronomer

September 2019 - January 2020

European Space Agency

As part of an internship, I worked on investigating mathematical 'laws' related to the distances between stars. My work resulted in a publication in Astronomy & Astrophysics. Astrobites also wrote an article about my work.

Science writer

August 2017 - January 2020

Scientias

As a student job, I wrote popular science articles about physics, mathematics, history, computing, and the space industry. You can find my articles here.

Mechanical Engineer

June 2017 - August 2017

EPPM (Tunisia)

During the summer of 2017, I worked on automating calculations for determining the stresses on lifting lugs.

Education

PhD degree

Radio astronomy

2021-2025

Leiden University (the Netherlands)

Researching how to improve the calibration and imaging data pipeline for LOFAR, while studying radio galaxy evolution.

Summer school

2018-2018

National Cheng Kung University (Taiwan)

During the summer of 2018, I studied Chinese/Taiwanese culture and language with a scholarship from Leuven University.

Advanced Master's degree

Space Studies

2017-2018

Leuven University (Belgium)

During this additional master's program, I studied various topics related to the space industry, including space biology, law, technology, science, and more.

Erasmus exchange

2016-2017

Uppsala University (Sweden)

As part of the Erasmus+ exchange, I followed astronomy and physics courses as part of my master's degree in mathematics in Ghent.

Master's degree

Mathematics

2015-2017

Ghent University (Belgium)

I completed courses about applied/fundamental mathematics, astronomy, theoretical physics, and quantum computing. My final thesis was about applying the analytical Fox-H function on the Nuker Model.

Bachelor's degree

Physics

2013-2015

Utrecht University (the Netherlands)

I completed courses about fundamental physics, including quantum mechanics, special relativity, advanced Newtonian mechanics, and more. For my bachelor's thesis project, I analysed the Ganita-Yukti-Bhasa, originally written in Malayalam/Sanskriet.

Bachelor's degree

Mathematics

2012-2015

Utrecht University (the Netherlands)

I focused on both fundamental mathematics and its applications in physics and astronomy. I also included history and philosophy courses, which were part of the minor in history and philosophy of science.

Propadeautics

Mechanical Engineering

2011-2012

Avans Breda (the Netherlands)

I completed the first year of Mechanical Engineering. During this year, I realised that I am more inclined towards theoretical work than practical engineering.

Portfolio

Project experience.

Below is a showcase of projects I've either contributed to as a team member or lead myself. It's important to note that I do not claim ownership of the projects developed during my time at Matrixian Group.

mergingclusters

Deepest sub-arcsecond LOFAR image

Astronomer
mergingclusters

Merging Galaxy Clusters

Astronomer
Gaia

Benford's law in Gaia DR2

Mathematical Astronomer
greenroof

Greenroof project

Data scientist
volksbank

Mortgage Prepayment Prediction

Machine Learning Engineer
addresschecker

Address Checker

Data scientist
avm

Automated Valuation Model

Data scientist / Machine Learning Engineer
Science

Publications & Talks

You will find below my contributions to publications in scientific journals, conferences, and some of the popular science articles and blogs that I have written for various websites.

First-authored papers

Title Authors Publisher Year Contribution
Advanced sub-arcsecond wide-field imaging pipeline with LOFAR J.M.G.H.J. de Jong et al. in prep. TBD Leading
PhD Thesis J.M.G.H.J. de Jong Gildeprint 2025 Leading
Unlocking ultra-deep wide-field imaging with sidereal visibility averaging J.M.G.H.J. de Jong et al. Astronomy & Astrophysics 2025 Leading
Into the Depths: Unveiling ELAIS-N1 with LOFAR's deepest sub-arcsecond wide-field images J.M.G.H.J. de Jong et al. Astronomy & Astrophysics 2024 Leading
Cosmic evolution of FRI and FRII sources out to z=2.5 J.M.G.H.J. de Jong et al. Astronomy & Astrophysics 2024 Leading
Deep study of A399-401: Application of a wide-field facet calibration J.M.G.H.J. de Jong et al. Astronomy & Astrophysics 2022 Leading
Benford's law in the Gaia Universe J.M.G.H.J. de Jong et al. Astronomy & Astrophysics 2020 Leading

Co-authored papers

Title Authors Journal Year Contribution
A decade of sub-arcsecond imaging with the International LOFAR Telescope L.K. Morabito et al. Astrophysics and Space Science 2025 Wide-field imaging and science at different scales
The LOFAR Two-metre Sky Survey: Deep Fields Data Release 2 Shimwell et al. Astronomy & Astrophysics 2025 LOFAR VLBI input and reviewer
A hidden active galactic nucleus population: the first radio luminosity functions constructed by physical process L.K. Morabito et al. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 2024 Providing deep ELAIS-N1 data at 140 MHz
Abell 0399-Abell 0401 radio bridge spectral index: the first multifrequency detection G.V. Pignataro et al. Astronomy & Astrophysics 2024 Providing deep LOFAR data at 144 MHz
The Decameter sky at sub-arcminute resolution C. Groeneveld et al. Nature Astronomy 2024 Software component
1-arcsecond imaging of the ELAIS-N1 field at 144MHz using the LoTSS survey with the international LOFAR telescope Ye et al. Astronomy & Astrophysics 2024 Calibration strategy

Talks

Title Conference Talk/Poster Location Year
Creating a FAIR open Science Pipeline for high-resolution LOFAR imaging (COPLI) OSCARS AGM Flash talk Rome (Italy) 2025
Towards the LOFAR 2.0 era with deep sub-arcsecond wide-field imaging Colloquium Invited talk ASTRON (the Netherlands) 2025
Automated sub-arcsecond wide-field imaging with LOFAR ADASS 2024 Talk Valletta (Malta) 2024
Ultra-deep sub-arcsecond wide-field imaging with LOFAR Teaser talk Invited talk ASTRON (the Netherlands) 2024
Into the depth: Deepest 0.3" wide-field images with LOFAR LOFAR Family meeting 2024 Talk Leiden (the Netherlands) 2024
Into the depth: Deepest 0.3" wide-field images with LOFAR URSI 2024 Talk Gran Canaria (Spain) 2024
Unveiling ELAIS-N1 with LOFAR's deepest sub-arcsecond wide-field images SPARCS Talk Bologna (Italy) 2024
Deep sub-arcsecond calibration and imaging of ELAIS-N1 SALF (Science At Low Frequencies) Talk Amsterdam (the Netherlands) 2023
ELAIS-N1 at sub-arcseconds LOFAR Family Meeting 2023 Poster Olztyn (Poland) 2023
ELAIS-N1 at 1" - Towards sub-arcsecond resolution Deep Field symposium 2023 Talk Online 2023
Stamily World Congress for People who Stutter Talk Liverpool (United Kingdom) 2022
Influential people who stutter World Congress for People who Stutter Talk Liverpool (United Kingdom) 2022
A deep study of A399-401 SPARCS Talk Johannesburg (South-Africa) 2022
A deep study of A399-401 IAU Talk Busan (South-Korea) 2022
Stamily World Congress for People who Stutter Talk Hveragerði (Iceland) 2019

Blogs/Popular science

Title Author(s) Website Year
How to Make a Video from Your (Astronomy) Images Jurjen de Jong Towards Data Science 2021
Benford's law and distances to stars Jurjen de Jong Towards Data Science 2020
Google claimt quantumsuprematie: wat is het en wat brengt het ons? Jurjen de Jong Scientias 2019
Hoe het menselijke brein ons inspireerde slimme AI te maken Jurjen de Jong Scientias 2019
De slimme stad: een utopie of een dystopie? Jurjen de Jong Scientias 2019
Kunstmatige intelligentie: heel hip, maar niet per se modern Jurjen de Jong Scientias 2019
Wat is de rol van Japan in de ruimtevaart? Jurjen de Jong Scientias 2019
Gaat China de ruimte domineren? Jurjen de Jong Scientias 2019
Wordt India een concurrent van de andere grote ruimtevaartlanden? Jurjen de Jong Scientias 2019
Nieuwe maanmissie bewijst dat we ruimtevaartland India niet moeten onderschatten Jurjen de Jong Scientias 2019
Galileo: het Europese navigatiesysteem dat GPS van de troon gaat stoten Jurjen de Jong Scientias 2018
Is de Riemann-hypothese echt opgelost? Jurjen de Jong Scientias 2018
De wet van Benford: bizar en nóg onverklaarbaar Jurjen de Jong Scientias 2018
George Lemaître: de 'geestelijk' vader van de Big Bang-theorie Jurjen de Jong Scientias 2018
Draagt kosmische straling bij aan de opwarming van de aarde? Jurjen de Jong Scientias 2018
We gaan op ruimtereis en komen tegen: levensgevaarlijke straling Jurjen de Jong Scientias 2018
Parker Solar Probe: deze nieuwe ruimtesonde gaat de zon aantikken Jurjen de Jong Scientias 2018
Zeilen op fotonen en de zonnewind: hoe werkt dat en wat brengt het ons? Jurjen de Jong Scientias 2018
Hoe gaat de quantumcomputer jouw leven veranderen? Jurjen de Jong Scientias 2018
Klaar voor een revolutie? Hier komt de quantumcomputer! Jurjen de Jong Scientias 2018
De ruimtelift: kan dit geweldige idee werkelijkheid worden? Jurjen de Jong Scientias 2017
Moet de ruimtevaart groener? Jurjen de Jong Scientias 2017
Outreach

In the News

You will find below my appearences in news outlets on various platforms.

Title Platform Role Year
Naukowcy z UJ publikują obrazy radiowe młodego Wszechświata Jagiellonian University Content provider 2021
Ultra-Sensitive Deep Radio Images Reveal Thousands of Star-Forming Galaxies in Early Universe SciTechDaily Content provider 2021
On stars, distances, and tax fraud Astrobites Reviewed 2020
Nooit meer aarzelen om het stotteren na het stotterkamp in Lemele De Stentor Interviewee 2019
Stamily is een internationaal platform voor stotteraars Parool Interviewee 2019
Een lift naar de ruimte: is dat mogelijk? Maak Industrie Nieuws Interviewee 2018
Software

Open source

Below I listed a few public software packages.

Contact

Feel free to send me an email if you want to get in touch.