Coming from Swinburne University, Professor Brad Gibson joined the University’s Centre for Astrophysics on the 1st February 2006. He has been appointed the new Chair in
Theoretical Astrophysics, and is charged with overseeing the development of a new, vibrant, program of computational and theoretical astrophysics.
“My research is actually fairly cross-disciplinary, ranging from computational simulations of the formation of the structure of the Universe and our own Milky Way Galaxy, to observations of galactic debris in the neighbourhood of the Sun, to sociological analyses of the field of astronomy.” says Brad “In conjunction with my new position, I will be appointing three new research staff in this most marketable of fields in the physical sciences.”
Brad received his PhD from the University of British Columbia in 1995, after developing a software package capable of simulating the formation and evolution of the most massive galaxies in the Universe. For much of his PhD tenure, Brad was resident at the University of Oxford, during which his lifelong ties to the United Kingdom were established. Prior to this, Brad designed and built the world’s first Liquid Mirror Telescope and Observatory. After postdoctoral appointments at The Australian National University and the University of Colorado, Brad was appointed Head of the Cosmology & Galaxy Formation Group at Swinburne University, in Melbourne Australia. During his five years there, he built Australia’s most recognised computational astrophysics programs and was awarded the University most prestigious Research Excellence Award; his numerous PhD students and postdoctoral fellows have been rewarded with the most prestigious prizes and fellowships in the field, as testament to the care and attention he puts into student training. With over 130 refereed publications and 4000 citations to his work since the completion of his PhD in 1995, Brad’s appointment is a timely one as the UK higher education institutions prepare for the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise.
“The opportunity to return to the UK and contribute to the development of one of the country’s youngest, most vibrant, research Centres, was one I simply could not pass up.” Brad adds, “While opportunities elsewhere in the ‘traditional powers’ existed, it took only a few days visiting UCLan‘s Centre for Astrophysics for me to realise I had found a home. The Centre boasts a friendly, supportive research infrastructure, without compromising at all on its promise of undertaking internationally-competiive research. I am extremely excited by the thought that I will be playing a part in building something special. I sincerely hope that any and all undergraduates at UCLan who have an interest in pursuing research and education opportunities aimed at understanding the origin of our Universe and the structure within it, seek me out upon my arrival. My door is always open to students, and if I can facilitate their interest in exploring astronomy and astrophysics through my large network of international contacts, I am always happy to help.”