Honorary Professor of Physical Sciences Michael J Church Ph. D., B. Sc., F.R.A.S.

• Permanent Title of Professor: State Professorship - award of the Polish State Committee for Titles and Awards awarded by the President of Poland
• Fellow Royal Astronomical Society, elected 1998
• Ph D in Plasma Physics, University of Birmingham, 1975
• B Sc (Hons) in Physics, University of Birmingham 1968

Professor of Physical Sciences Michael J Church was awarded the degree of Ph D in 1975 in the field of plasma physics. In 1989, in the department of Electron Physics and Space Research he worked on the Spacelab 2 mission in which an X-ray telescope was flown on-board the Space Shuttle.

He was Visiting Professor at the Institute of Space & Astronautical Science (ISAS), Japan (1995), Royal Society Visitor at ISAS (1996-99),  invited member of the Beppo-SAX core programme (1997-99); Visiting Astronomer, Laboratory for High Energy Astrophysics, Greenbelt MA (1997); Visiting Astronomer, Space Science division of ESTEC, Holland (1997-2000). In 2000, he became by invitation Professor in High Energy Astrophysics at the Jagiellonian University, Cracow; Professor in the Astronomical Observatory, Cracow (2001-2008); Visiting Professor of the Jagiellonian University (2009-10).

In 2009 he was awarded the permanent title of State Professor by the President of Poland for scientific achievement.

• Lecture Course: the Interstellar Medium
• Lecture Course: the Solar Terrestrial Environment
• Critiques: Year 3 and Year 4

• Supervision of Ph D students in High Energy Astrophysics 1995 onwards

RESEARCH THEMES 

Low mass X-ray Binaries; absorption dipping in X-ray Binaries; physical models of low mass X-ray binaries including the Z-track sources, the Atoll sources and launching of relativistic jets.

• Visiting Professor, Institute for Space and Astronautical Science, Japan
• Visiting Lecturer in High Energy Astrophysics, the Jagiellonian University, Cracow (2000-2010)
• Professor, Astronomical University, Cracow (2000-2008)
• Visiting Professor, Jagiellonian University (2009-10)
• Involved in more than 30 applications for observations with satellite observatories. Member of the Beppo-SAX core programme on the dipping sources
• Supervision and training of Ph D students in the Jagiellonian University, Cracow, 2005 - present