After her PhD Watts moved to
Washington, D.C. to work as a postdoctoral fellow at
Goddard Space Flight Center. She then received a fellowship at the
Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics in Munich. In 2008 Watts joined the
Anton Pannekoek Institute for Astronomy. Her research lies at the intersection of
theoretical physics and
astrophysics. Working with Tod Strohmayer she identified the hidden structure of a neutron star; a 1.6 km crust made of material so dense a teaspoon would weigh 10 million tonnes. In 2014 she received an ERC Starter Grant worth €1,500,000 to study the physics of neutron star explosions. She is involved in the development future high-energy space telescopes. For the Chinese-European Enhanced X-ray Timing and Polarimetry mission, she is chair of the Dense Matter Science Working Group. She is also chair of Network 3 for NOVA, the
Netherlands Research School for Astronomy. She served on the European Cooperation in Science & Technology committee. Watts has contributed to
Times Higher Education and
Vice. == References ==