Profile
David Sobral
Super-massive black holes can be as bright as entire galaxies
My CV
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Education:
– Alfredo da Silva Secundary School, Barreiro, Portugal (GSCEs + A-levels 2004)
– University of Lisbon, BSc in Physics with Astronomy and Astrophysics 2007
– University of Edinburgh, PhD in Astrophysics, 2011 -
Qualifications:
High School diploma – Portugal;
BSc in Physics with Astronomy and Astrophysics – University of Lisbon;
PhD in Astrophysics – University of Edinburgh
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Work History:
I did my BSc in Physics at the University of Lisbon in 2007 and obtained my PhD in 2011 at the University of Edinburgh. I moved to the Netherlands to take a NOVA fellowship, followed by a 250,000 EUR Veni fellowship at Leiden Observatory. At the end of 2013 I moved to Lisbon with a 5-year starting grant. In January 2016, I joined Lancaster University’s brand new Observational Astrophysics group as a Lecturer in Astrophysics, and I am a Reader in Astrophysics since August 2018.
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Current Job:
Reader (Associate Professor) in Astrophysics at Lancaster University
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About Me:
Astronomer/Astrophysicist. Dreamer, galaxy discovered. Telescope-aided-time-traveller. Loves to question literally everything and to take the road never taken.
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Read more
I am an Astrophysicist who wanted to study literature, Portuguese and English (and then Theoretical Physics) and that loves sports, particularly volleyball and football. I also enjoy reverse-engineering food and being creative at all sorts of tasks, which sometimes leads to “interesting” burnt cakes or pizzas – but, hey, Science! I love music, poetry and theatre and meeting outstanding people with different passions and interests that can inspire us to be better. I love the beach, the Sun, blue skies and clear night skies, yet somehow I have chosen to live and work in Scotland, England and in the Netherlands for most of the past 10 years.
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I use lots of incredibly large telescopes on the ground and in space to observe the extragalactic Universe (beyond our own galaxy, the spectacular Milky Way). I capture information that reaches the Earth (and space) in the form of high energy photons like X-rays, but also all the way through to the coldest temperatures traced by infrared and radio. My research advances our understanding of how galaxies like our own formed and evolved from the primitive Universe till today. Some of my most famous discoveries include measuring the decline of the cosmic star-formation history over the last 11 billion years and discovering the brightest distant galaxies, including the world-famous galaxy COSMOS Redshift 7 (CR7), among many other discoveries to do with the roles of nature and nurture in galaxy evolution. I have been lucky to have had some of my discoveries covered by the media world-wide (e.g. New York Times, TIME, BBC, CNN) reaching lots of people and allowing me to further explore my passion for Science outreach and for explaining what I do in simple terms. I am definitely very passionate about sharing Science, Astronomy and Physics with the general public. I have done talks in various countries, appearing in the media, designing and implementing master-classes or by writing opinion articles in national newspapers and magazines. I also love teaching at Lancaster University, mentoring the next generation of amazing scientists, and giving young people fantastic research opportunities form a young age, so they can do brilliant discoveries by themselves!
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My Typical Day:
Is anything but typical! It may involve giving lectures to over 100 brilliant Lancaster University students, writing Python scripts to solve some of the Universe’s puzzles with data from the best telescopes in the World, mentoring and helping some of my amazing students, discovering new galaxies, giving outreach talks, putting together youtube videos, travelling to Hawaii, Chile or La Palma to observe, or just reading about the fantastic work done by Astronomers all over the World.
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Is anything but typical! Sometimes I start it by teaching maths, other times Astronomy. Many times I start it by chatting science with my students or collaborators, and trying to figure out what new data implies for distant galaxies. Other days I get to talk with students, young and not so young, or travel to schools and art museums to give outreach talks. I particularly love it when I “have to” go to Hawaii, Chile or La Palma to observe on the largest telescopes in the World, or go to conferences throughout the World to present new results and discoveries and discuss them with the best Scientists. From coding to writing papers, from teaching to mentoring and supervising, from being creative or persevering on a really hard problem, my typical day is brilliant because it is never typical or dull, particularly when it’s full of Science!
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What I'd do with the prize money:
Get the XGAL-DYI activities (https://xgalweb.wordpress.com/xgal-dyi-make-your-own-discoveries/) to many more students and curious people world-wide – so more people can use real data from the best telescopes to understand how discoveries are made and then do their own discoveries. Oh, and do more of these activities and youtube videos!
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My Interview
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How would you describe yourself in 3 words?
Extragalactic time-traveller
What did you want to be after you left school?
Writer
Were you ever in trouble at school?
Nothing major
Who is your favourite singer or band?
Snow Patrol
What's your favourite food?
Thai or Indian
If you had 3 wishes for yourself what would they be? - be honest!
Go to space, travel through a worm-hole and not die, live in Hawaii
Tell us a joke.
Two atoms bump into each other. One says “I’ve lost an electron.” “Are you sure?” “Yes, I’m positive.”
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