Scientific and technical expertise
- Small-scale physics in galaxies: gas dynamics, star formation, disk stability and internal evolution
- Links between a galaxy and its cosmological environment: galaxy interactions, gas and dark matter accretion from filaments
- Structure of the Milky Way, measurements of stellar ages (asteroseismology)
- IFU observations of nearby galaxies
- Cosmological and galactic-scale simulations running and analysis
- Advanced statistical methods for data analysis (e.g., Hamiltonian Monte Carlo)
Research experience
2022 - now : Reader in Astrophysics, Liverpool John Moores University
2017 - 2022 : Senior Lecturer, Liverpool John Moores University
2015 - 2017 : Postdoctoral fellow at the MPIA in Hans-Walter Rix's group
2013 - 2015 : Humboldt Fellow, hosted at the MPIA by Hans-Walter Rix.
2010 - 2013 : Postdoctoral Research Associate, Swinburne University, in Darren Croton’s group.
2017 - 2022 : Senior Lecturer, Liverpool John Moores University
2015 - 2017 : Postdoctoral fellow at the MPIA in Hans-Walter Rix's group
2013 - 2015 : Humboldt Fellow, hosted at the MPIA by Hans-Walter Rix.
2010 - 2013 : Postdoctoral Research Associate, Swinburne University, in Darren Croton’s group.
Education
2007 -2010 : PhD student, CEA Saclay, “Galaxy formation: internal mechanisms and cosmological processes”, supervised by Frédéric
Bournaud.
2006 - 2007 : Master’s degree in Astrophysics, Paris-Sud University, Orsay
2003 - 2005 : Undergraduate studies in Fundamental Physics, Paris-Sud University, Orsay.
2003 - 2006: Student at Ecole Centrale Paris (French engineering school, or "Grande Ecole").
Bournaud.
2006 - 2007 : Master’s degree in Astrophysics, Paris-Sud University, Orsay
2003 - 2005 : Undergraduate studies in Fundamental Physics, Paris-Sud University, Orsay.
2003 - 2006: Student at Ecole Centrale Paris (French engineering school, or "Grande Ecole").
PhD student supervision
2023-2026: Main supervisor for PhD student Sara Zahoor
2018-2022: Main supervisor for PhD student Joaquin Garcia de la Cruz
2017-2021: Main supervisor for PhD student Charlotte Donohoe-Keyes
2017-2021: Main supervisor for PhD student Meghan Hughes
2017-2023: Co-supervisor for PhD students Scarlett Royle (main supervisor: Steve Longmore), K-Ryan Hinds (main supervisor: Dan
Perley), Flo Wragg (main supervisor: Sebastian Kamann), Alex Cooke (main supervisor: Rob Grand), Katherine Ormerod
(main supervisor: Renske Smit)
2012-2017: At Swinburne University, associate supervisor for PhD students Adam Stevens (main supervisor: Darren Croton) and Anna
Sippel (main supervisor: Jarrod Hurley)
2018-2022: Main supervisor for PhD student Joaquin Garcia de la Cruz
2017-2021: Main supervisor for PhD student Charlotte Donohoe-Keyes
2017-2021: Main supervisor for PhD student Meghan Hughes
2017-2023: Co-supervisor for PhD students Scarlett Royle (main supervisor: Steve Longmore), K-Ryan Hinds (main supervisor: Dan
Perley), Flo Wragg (main supervisor: Sebastian Kamann), Alex Cooke (main supervisor: Rob Grand), Katherine Ormerod
(main supervisor: Renske Smit)
2012-2017: At Swinburne University, associate supervisor for PhD students Adam Stevens (main supervisor: Darren Croton) and Anna
Sippel (main supervisor: Jarrod Hurley)
Teaching experience
2023: Received a Teaching Excellence Award (for "Individual Excellence"), LJMU, Faculty of Engineering and Technology
2020-now: Physics of Galaxies. Module leader. LJMU/University of Liverpool joint degree, 3rd year.
2022-now: Astrophysical concepts: galaxies and cosmology. LJMU, MSc in Astrophysics by distance learning.
2020: Introduction to Astronomy. Module leader, LJMU/University of Liverpool joint degree, 1st year.
2017-2022: Practical Astrophysics I. Module leader, LJMU/University of Liverpool joint degree, 2nd year.
2007-2010 : Teaching Assistant at Paris-Sud University (Orsay): 64 hours per year for 3 years.
2020-now: Physics of Galaxies. Module leader. LJMU/University of Liverpool joint degree, 3rd year.
2022-now: Astrophysical concepts: galaxies and cosmology. LJMU, MSc in Astrophysics by distance learning.
2020: Introduction to Astronomy. Module leader, LJMU/University of Liverpool joint degree, 1st year.
2017-2022: Practical Astrophysics I. Module leader, LJMU/University of Liverpool joint degree, 2nd year.
2007-2010 : Teaching Assistant at Paris-Sud University (Orsay): 64 hours per year for 3 years.
Grants
2023: STFC Astronomy Small Award "How do bulgeless galaxies form?" (funding a postdoc for 3 years)
2022: STFC Center for Doctoral Training in Data Intensive Science, LIV.INNO, as Co-Investigator
2020: ISSI/ISSI-BJ International Team funding to host meetings in Bern and Beijing on “Population-Dynamical Archaeology of
Galaxies”, as Co-Investigator
2018: Lorentz Center workshop “Weighing stars from birth to death” (£5200 from the Lorentz Center in Leiden), as co-chair
2013: Humboldt Fellowship for 24 months
2014: Organizing the Gaia Challenge II at the MPIA
2011: PI, grant to fund a 2-month scholarship for a summer student and two collaborative trips to Europe
2007: CFR grant, competitive scholarship awarded by the CEA
2022: STFC Center for Doctoral Training in Data Intensive Science, LIV.INNO, as Co-Investigator
2020: ISSI/ISSI-BJ International Team funding to host meetings in Bern and Beijing on “Population-Dynamical Archaeology of
Galaxies”, as Co-Investigator
2018: Lorentz Center workshop “Weighing stars from birth to death” (£5200 from the Lorentz Center in Leiden), as co-chair
2013: Humboldt Fellowship for 24 months
2014: Organizing the Gaia Challenge II at the MPIA
2011: PI, grant to fund a 2-month scholarship for a summer student and two collaborative trips to Europe
2007: CFR grant, competitive scholarship awarded by the CEA
Computing and observing time allocations
2022: Co-I, GECKOS, 317h VLT/MUSE (Large Programme) observations of 35 nearby edge-on disk galaxies
2018 Co-I, 6h VLT/MUSE-AO observations of inner bars in nearby galaxies
2016 : Co-I, 9h VLT/MUSE observations of edge-on galaxies to study the formation of thick disks
2015 : Co-I, 36h VLT/MUSE observations of the central regions of 18 face-on nearby galaxies (TIMER)
2015 : PI, 17h VLT/MUSE observations of edge-on galaxies to study the formation of thick disks
2014 : PI, 10 nights (+10 buffer nights) at Calar Alto to obtain IFU observations of edge-on galaxies and study the formation of thick disks
2012 : PI, 280 000 CPU hours on NCI vayu supercomputer for project "Modelling the Accretion of Dwarf Galaxies and Their Globular Clusters"
2011 : Co-I, 9 million CPU hours on TGCC Curie supercomputer for project "MHD turbulence in the Interstellar Medium: Linking Star Formation and Galaxy Dynamics"
2007 - 2001 : Co-I on numerous smaller time allocations on CCRT (Mercure, Platine, Titane), CINES (jade) and IDRIS (Brodie) supercomputers
2018 Co-I, 6h VLT/MUSE-AO observations of inner bars in nearby galaxies
2016 : Co-I, 9h VLT/MUSE observations of edge-on galaxies to study the formation of thick disks
2015 : Co-I, 36h VLT/MUSE observations of the central regions of 18 face-on nearby galaxies (TIMER)
2015 : PI, 17h VLT/MUSE observations of edge-on galaxies to study the formation of thick disks
2014 : PI, 10 nights (+10 buffer nights) at Calar Alto to obtain IFU observations of edge-on galaxies and study the formation of thick disks
2012 : PI, 280 000 CPU hours on NCI vayu supercomputer for project "Modelling the Accretion of Dwarf Galaxies and Their Globular Clusters"
2011 : Co-I, 9 million CPU hours on TGCC Curie supercomputer for project "MHD turbulence in the Interstellar Medium: Linking Star Formation and Galaxy Dynamics"
2007 - 2001 : Co-I on numerous smaller time allocations on CCRT (Mercure, Platine, Titane), CINES (jade) and IDRIS (Brodie) supercomputers
International project involvement and leadership
- I am the science coordinator of GECKOS, a new VLT/MUSE Large Programme (317 hours of observing time, from Oct 2022 to Oct 2024). We will gather deep observations of 35 edge-on disc galaxies out to large galactocentric radii, to reveal the variation in key physical processes that govern their assembly and evolution. The GECKOS team consists of ~55 researchers from Europe, Australia, China, and the USA, and gathers a wide range of expertise, including experts in numerical simulations, dynamical models, and chemical evolution models.
- I am a core member of TIMER, a survey with VLT-MUSE of 24 nearby barred galaxies, with the main science goal to establish when galactic discs become dynamically mature (ongoing work, 10 papers published so far).
- I have been a member of SDSS-III and SDSS-IV (APOGEE), and of the APOKASC collaboration (combining Kepler asteroseismology data with APOGEE stellar parameters): my main contribution was to design a new method to derive masses and ages for stars (Martig et al. 2016), and I contributed directly to 8 papers.
- Within CANDELS (a large survey of distant galaxies with the Hubble Space Telescope), I was a member of the Theory and Morphology Working Groups, also took part in the visual morphological classifications effort (I contributed directly to 4 papers).
- As an associate member of Atlas3D (an IFU survey of nearby early-type galaxies), I wrote a paper comparing star formation efficiency in models and observations (Martig et al. 2013).
Service activities
At Liverpool John Moores University
2017-now Member of the ARI’s executive committee and management board
2021-now Postgraduate coordinator, and leader of the PhD admissions committee
2021-now Member of the Faculty Research Degree Committee
2017-2020 Member then co-chair of the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion committee
2018-2022 PhD student mentor and member of the PhD oversight committee
Refereeing and National Committees
2009-now Referee for ApJ, MNRAS, and A&A
2021,2022 STFC Consolidated Grant external reviewer
2018, 2021 STFC Ernest Rutherford Fellowships grant reviewer
2020 Isaac Newton Telescope proposal reviewer
2018 DiRAC HPC computing time proposal reviewer
2018, 2019 Royal Astronomical Society Fellowships panel member
PhD examinations
Hiring committees
Organizing committees
2022 SOC member, "Linking the Galactic and Extragalactic”, Sydney
2022 SOC member, "Stellar Bars as Diagnostics of Galaxy Evolution”, Valencia
2022 SOC member “Bulges from high redshifts to the Milky Way”, ESO (online)
2020 SOC member, "Linking the Galactic and Extragalactic”, online
2018 Co-Chair, “Weighing stars from birth to death”, Leiden
2015 Head of the Local Organizing Committee of the "A 3D View on Galaxy Evolution"
conference at the MPIA
2014 Organizing committee of the Gaia Challenge II at the MPIA
2012 Organizing committee of the Early Career Researcher mentoring workshop
2017-now Member of the ARI’s executive committee and management board
2021-now Postgraduate coordinator, and leader of the PhD admissions committee
2021-now Member of the Faculty Research Degree Committee
2017-2020 Member then co-chair of the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion committee
2018-2022 PhD student mentor and member of the PhD oversight committee
Refereeing and National Committees
2009-now Referee for ApJ, MNRAS, and A&A
2021,2022 STFC Consolidated Grant external reviewer
2018, 2021 STFC Ernest Rutherford Fellowships grant reviewer
2020 Isaac Newton Telescope proposal reviewer
2018 DiRAC HPC computing time proposal reviewer
2018, 2019 Royal Astronomical Society Fellowships panel member
PhD examinations
- PhD vivas at LJMU as internal examiner: 2020: Silvia Martocchia and Sebastian Turner, 2021: Robert Poole-McKenzie 2022: Shaun Braun
- PhD vivas as external examiner: 2021, Yirui Zheng (University of St Andrews), 2022, Daniel Mikkola (Lund University), 2023: Firat Touz (UCL)
Hiring committees
- Member of hiring committees for PDRAs at the ARI (twice in 2019, once in 2020) and at the MPIA (once in 2013, twice in 2015)
- Member of hiring committees for PhD students at Swinburne University (2011, 2013), at the MPIA (2016), and at the ARI (2017-now, chair since 2021)
Organizing committees
2022 SOC member, "Linking the Galactic and Extragalactic”, Sydney
2022 SOC member, "Stellar Bars as Diagnostics of Galaxy Evolution”, Valencia
2022 SOC member “Bulges from high redshifts to the Milky Way”, ESO (online)
2020 SOC member, "Linking the Galactic and Extragalactic”, online
2018 Co-Chair, “Weighing stars from birth to death”, Leiden
2015 Head of the Local Organizing Committee of the "A 3D View on Galaxy Evolution"
conference at the MPIA
2014 Organizing committee of the Gaia Challenge II at the MPIA
2012 Organizing committee of the Early Career Researcher mentoring workshop