Dr. Kasia Dutkowska

IPA: /'kaʃa du'tkɔfska/

Astrophysicist | Postdoctoral Researcher at Leiden Observatory

Astrochemistry ・ ISM & Chemical Modeling ・ Shocks ・ Star Formation

Research

Overview
I study the interstellar medium (ISM) of galaxies using astrochemistry as my primary tool. By modeling and observing molecules across different environments, I work to understand what their chemistry reveals about the physical conditions and history of the gas. Much of my research focuses on regions where these conditions are extreme: the Central Molecular Zone of the Milky Way, and the dense, heavily processed ISM of nearby starburst galaxies such as NGC 253 and Arp 220.Current work
I'm a postdoctoral researcher at Leiden Observatory in Prof. Serena Viti's group, where I am one of the developers and maintainers of UCLCHEM, a time-dependent gas-grain chemical code. My current work focuses on two main areas. First is the Milky Way's Central Molecular Zone, a turbulent, molecule-rich region that constantly challenges our understanding of interstellar chemistry. The second involves modeling complex extragalactic regions (currently focused on NGC 253 and Arp 220), where I revisit the "why" and "how" of our methods, and how to make them better. Specifically, I go after problems that require creative approaches, multi-scenario views, and often defy easy categorizations.PhD work
During my PhD, I built "galaxy-in-a-box", a Python-based model that predicts molecular emissions from active star formation in galaxies. Ultimately, I wanted to explore the era when the Universe formed most of its stars (Cosmic Noon, ~10-11 billion years ago), understand how star formation contributes to galactic emission, and see if we could identify new tracers of these processes. The project bridges theory and observations without relying on heavy simulations, offering a more direct way to interpret molecular feedback.

• Beyond research →

Publications

FIRST AUTHOR
4. The Curious Case of HCO⁺: Extreme Abundances Under Extreme Condtions
Dutkowska, K.M., Jia, B., Viti, S., et al.
Submitted to Astronomy & Astrophysics3. Chemical templates of the Central Molecular Zone. Shock and protostellar object signatures under Galactic Center conditions
Dutkowska, K.M., Vermariën, G., Viti, S., et al. 2025
Astronomy & Astrophysics, Volume 703, A462. Star-formation-rate estimates from water emission
Dutkowska, K.M. & Kristensen, L.E. 2023
Astronomy & Astrophysics, Volume 674, A951. Water emission tracing active star formation from the Milky Way to high-z galaxies
Dutkowska, K.M. & Kristensen, L.E. 2022
Astronomy & Astrophysics, Volume 667, A135

CO-AUTHOR
10. UCLCHEM 4.0: An open source gas-grain astrochemistry simulation framework
Vermariën, G., et al. (incl. Dutkowska, K.M.) 2026
Submitted, RAS Techniques and Instruments9. Sulphur within the extreme environment of the central molecular zone of NGC 253: a chemical modelling approach
Bouvier, M., Dutkowska, K.M., et al. 2026
Submitted, Astronomy & Astrophysics8. ACES VII: Compact Continuum Source Catalog of the Central Molecular Zone
Wallace, J., et al. (incl. Dutkowska, K.M.) 2026
Submitted, The Astrophysical Journal7. ALMA Central molecular zone Exploration Survey (ACES) III: Molecular line data reduction and HNCO and HCO+ data
Walker, D.L., et al. (incl. Dutkowska, K.M.) 2026
In press, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society6. ALMA Central Molecular Zone Exploration Survey (ACES) II: 3mm continuum images
Ginsburg, A., et al. (incl. Dutkowska, K.M.) 2026
In press, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society5. ALMA Central Molecular Zone Exploration Survey (ACES) I: Overview
Longmore, S.N., et al. (incl. Dutkowska, K.M.) 2026
In press, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society4. One-dimensional and time-dependent model for complex organic molecules in molecular cores
Tram, L. N., Viti, S., Dutkowska, K.M., et al. 2026
Astronomy & Astrophysics, Volume 708, A923. Circumnuclear eccentric gas flow in the Galactic Center revealed by ALMA CMZ Exploration Survey (ACES)
Sofue, Y., et al. (incl. Dutkowska, K.M.) 2025
Publications of the Astronomical Society of Japan, psaf0722. The Galactic Center arms inferred from the ALMA CMZ Exploration Survey (ACES)
Sofue, Y., et al. (incl. Dutkowska, K.M.) 2025
Publications of the Astronomical Society of Japan, psaf0341. A Broad Line-width, Compact, Millimeter-bright Molecular Emission Line Source near the Galactic Center¹
Ginsburg, et al. (incl. Dutkowska, K.M.) 2024
The Astrophysical Journal Letters, Volume 968, Issue 1, L11

OTHER
1. The Leiden/ESA Astrophysics Program for Summer Students (LEAPS0
Bellotti S., Sellek A., Sharda, P., Dutkowska K.M., Chrimes A., and Röttgering H. 2025
In press, Astronomy Education Journal

¹The article was chosen for a Research highlight in Nature:
An object in space is emitting microwaves — and baffling scientists
Nature, Volume 630, 533 (2024)

All personal information is limited to publicly available professional data.

Press

As part of the ACES collaboration, I led one of the first publications focused on chemical modeling of the Central Molecular Zone (2025). The survey, the largest ALMA mosaic ever made of the inner few hundred light-years of the Milky Way, was featured in an official ESO press release, along with Dutch media coverage that highlighted our contribution and included my perspective on the work.

Official ESO press release: Largest image of its kind shows hidden chemistry at the heart of the Milky Way
Dutch feature focusing on the chemical modeling work behind the survey: ALMA onthult verborgen chemische processen in het hart van de Melkweg - english translation available at the Leiden University website
I was also interviewed for a NRC article about it: Kijken naar het onzichtbare licht in het centrum van de Melkweg

A little bit earlier, our MUBLO paper from 2024 also had some media coverage:
• Daily Mail
• Popular Mechanics
• Metro(Image on the right was taken from Ginsburg et al. 2024)

Pop-science writing

I’ve recently started dabbling in science communication by writing short, accessible pieces on astrochemistry. Each one highlights a different aspect of the molecular Universe.Current articles:
・The Galactic Cocktail You Never Knew Existed

Beyond work

When I'm not wearing my scientist hat, I spend time on activities that slow time down rather than speed it up. Well, most of the time.I've been a street photographer for years now (a remnant of my earlier life studying filmmaking in London). Aside from that, I'm deep into curating music, which basically means I spend hours building playlists and discovering records. But don't ever ask me about my favorite genre. I love music, not a subset of it - so you'll get five answers, not one (and even those could change in a day, depending on whatever's awed me).

I am also a runner. I'm still not very good at it, but everyone starts somewhere, right? I find it meditative, freeing, and grounding in a way few other things are. The last big things I wanted to mention here are coffee and baking.Coffee turned out to be a genuine passion of mine. I'm not on the extremely nerdy side of it, but it's something that keeps me genuinely inspired. After my last cup of the day (I do try to be responsible and remember caffeine's half-life), I'm often already excited about what coffee I'll start the next morning with.

As for baking (and hunting down really good bakeries), I really, really enjoy it. Even when I'm tired, I'll still find time to make bread. There's just something oddly satisfying about working with dough and cakes. I also raised my own sourdough in 2026, named Bob, and it's still going strong.Anyway, most of these hobbies are, one way or another, about slowing down. Except running. Running is just hard.