Academic staff
Dr Clément Bonnerot [cbonnerot at star.sr.bham.ac.uk]
Clément focuses on the theoretical modelling of transient and high-energy phenomena, particularly tidal disruption events, which he studies using a combination of simulations and analytical tools.
Dr Ben Gompertz [bgompertz at star.sr.bham.ac.uk]
Ben's main interests are short gamma-ray bursts and kilonovae, which come from collisions between two neutron stars or a neutron star and a black hole. He combines telescope data from across the electromagnetic spectrum with analytical modelling techniques to probe the physics of jet launch and heavy element creation.
Dr Sean McGee [smgee at star.sr.bham.ac.uk]
Sean's main research interests involve studies of galaxy groups and clusters and the effect these environments have on galaxy evolution, the short timescale evolution of galaxies (e.g. as measured with transients), and the first generation of stars and black holes.
Professor Graham Smith [gps at star.sr.bham.ac.uk]
Graham combines gravitational lensing observations with multi-wavelength and multi-messenger signals to explore a wide range of physics. He leads research that aims to make the first multi-messenger gravitational lensing discovery, and plays leading roles within the Rubin/LSST Science Collaborations and LSST:UK.
Postdoctoral fellows
Dr Matteo Bianconi [mbianconi at star.sr.bham.ac.uk]
Matteo's research focuses on the effect of environment on galaxy evolution including the gravitational and hydrodynamical interactions between galaxies and with the diffuse intracluster medium in galaxy clusters. He also makes leading contributions to the quest to make the first multi-messenger gravitational lensing discovery.
Dimple [dimple at star.sr.bham.ac.uk]
Dimple's primary research focus is on gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), particularly those associated with kilonovae. Her work involves identifying the progenitors of GRBs by analysing prompt emission light curves using machine learning algorithms.
Dr Dan Ryczanowski [danr at star.sr.bham.ac.uk]
Dan researches gravitationally lensed explosive transients, including supernovae and binary compact object mergers. He leads target of opportunity of opportunity observations that aim to detect gravitationally lensed electromagnetic counterparts to gravitationally lensed gravitational wave sources.
PhD Students
Nichola Charlton
Nichola’s PhD research concentrates on modelling the coevolution of explosive transients and their host galaxies.
Simona Pacuraru
Simona's PhD research research concentrates on theoretical studies of tidal disruption events.
Alastair Palmer
Alastair's PhD research focuses on the theoretical study of gravitational wave sources in gaseous environments.
Andres Ponte Perez
Andres' PhD research concentrates on gravitationally lensed explosive transients, including core collapse supernovae.
Paige Ramsden
Paige’s PhD research explores the connections between tidal disruption events and their host galaxies.
Evan Ridley
Evan's PhD research concentrates on observational studies of optical transients, including tidal disruption events.
Luke Williams
Luke’s PhD research focuses on the formation of supermassive black holes and their relationship to cosmic structure.
Makenzie Wortley
Makenzie researches the high energy observational signatures of gamma-ray bursts.
Isabelle Worssam
Isabelle's PhD research concentrates on theoretical studies of gamma-ray bursts.
Recent Alumni
Dr Cressida Cleland (now Postdoctoral Fellow at AstroParticle and Cosmology Laboratory, Paris)
Dr Matt Nicholl (now Reader of Astrophysics at Queen's University Belfast)
Dr Sam Oates (now Assistant Professor at Lancaster University)
Aysha Aamer (now PhD student at Queen's University Belfast)
Xinyue Sheng (now PhD student at Queens' University Belfast)