Professor Karl Glazebrook named ARC Laureate Fellow
In Summary
- Distinguished Professor Karl Glazebrook FAA, awarded ARC Laureate Fellowship
- $2.8 million fellowship will transform our understanding of the early Universe
- Professor Glazebrook will use the new James Webb Space Telescope to observe galaxy formation 13 billion years ago
Director of the Centre for Astrophysics and Supercomputing, Distinguished Professor Karl Glazebrook FAA, has been awarded an Australian Research Council (ARC) Laureate Fellowship.
Professor Glazebrook’s $2.8 million fellowship will transform our understanding of the early Universe using the new James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) to observe galaxy formation.
The fellowship was announced yesterday by Minister for Education Simon Birmingham.
Professor Glazebrook is a world leader in the field of observational cosmology and galaxy evolution and joins Professor Matthew Bailes as one of two ARC Laureate Fellows at Swinburne.
Swinburne is the only university in Australia to boast two Australian Laureate Fellows in astronomy at the same time and one of only eight universities in Australia to win this prestigious award in this round.
“I was thrilled to receive this news, this is a project I am extremely passionate about and support at this level will allow Australian astronomers to make astounding advances,” Professor Glazebrook says. “I have been overwhelmed by the messages of support and congratulations from my friends and colleagues around Swinburne, and around the country.”
Professor Glazebrook says we are entering the golden age of astronomical data.
“New ground based optical and radio telescopes will soon be producing Petabytes of imaging and millions of spectra every year.
“This fellowship will transform our understanding of the early Universe using the successor to the Hubble Space Telescope, the giant 6.5 metre James Webb Space Telescope, which will see things no telescope has seen before,” Professor Glazebrook says.
Artist’s impression of the James Webb Space Telescope. Credit: NASA
“Launching in early 2021, the JWST will observe the dawn of galaxy formation 13 billion years ago, a time that is currently shrouded in obscurity. By viewing the Universe at infrared wavelengths it will show us things never before seen by any other telescope.
“The fellowship will allow us to build a JWST Discovery Centre here at Swinburne and get a first look at the surprises in the early Universe to be uncovered.”
Professor Glazebrook will develop astronomical data analysis tools built on new methodologies that will enable new discoveries from future telescopes, and train young researchers in these techniques.
New ARC Training Centre
Minister Birmingham also announced the new ARC Training Centre in Surface Engineering for Advanced Materials (SEAM), led by Swinburne Distinguished Professor Chris Berndt, to be awarded $6,654,410 over five years.
“This fantastic achievement builds on our ARC Training Centre in Biodevices, launched in 2015, and the ARC Centre of Excellence for Gravitational Wave Discovery, launched in 2017,” says Swinburne Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research and Development) Professor Aleksandar Subic.
“The ARC funding demonstrates our growing capacity and reputation for research excellence, nurtured through our engagement with industry, business and society.”