Supervisor: Maximilian Stritzinger

Stellar mass black holes are incredible objects, that when better understood will provide an understanding of several core astronomical subjects, such as the history of chemical enrichment, as well the ionization, of the universe. 
This talk discusses the different methods and instrumentation, that can lead to the a large increase in the number of known black holes in the Milky Way. We find here that the most promising methods utilize the dynamical interaction of black holes with its luminous companion in binary systems.
We will discuss the discrepancies of the predicted number of black holes expected in recent surveys and the actual number found. 
This will provide an introduction to the observational biases and formation physics that affect the discoveries of black holes.