Accepting PhD Students

PhD projects

I am currently looking for PhD students to take on projects such as measurements of supernova rates in the Dark Energy Survey, discovering supernovae and tidal disruption events in spectroscopic surveys (such as DESI and 4MOST), and studying the light curves and environments of old Type Ia supernovae using space- and ground-based telescopes.

Personal profile

Biography

I am an Associate Professor of Astrophysics at the Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation at the University of Portsmouth, as well as a Research Associate at the American Museum of Natural History and an Honorary Associate Professor at University College London. In 2013, I received my PhD in Physics and Astronomy from Tel-Aviv University. I then held two postdoctoral research positions at The Johns Hopkins University (2013-2014) and New York University (2014-2016), before moving to the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian as an independent National Science Foundation Astronomy and Astrophysics Postdoctoral Fellow (2016-2020).

Research Interests

I study supernovae - the explosions of stars - as well as other transient astrophysical phenomena. I use observations (images and spectra) obtained with ground- and space-based observatories and large-scale spectroscopic surveys (such as SDSS and DESI). I am specifically interested in uncovering the nature of the progenitors of Type Ia supernovae, studying these supernovae when they are several years old, and conducting population studies of supernovae in general. I am also working on discovering and characterizing tidal disruption events - flares caused by stars that are ripped apart by super-massive black holes - and the galaxies in which they occur.

Education/Academic qualification

Ph.D., The Rate and Delay-Time Distribution of Type Ia Supernovae, Tel Aviv University

Award Date: 21 Nov 2013

External positions

Honorary Associate Professor, University College London

1 Sept 2023 → …

Associate, Darwin College

15 May 2020 → …

Visiting Scholar, Institute of Astronomy

1 Oct 2019 → …

NSF Astronomy and Astrophysics Postdoctoral Fellow, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics

1 Oct 201631 Mar 2020

Assistant Research Scientist, New York University

1 Jun 201430 Sept 2016

Assistant Research Scientist, Johns Hopkins University

1 Sept 201331 May 2014

Research Associate, American Museum of Natural History

1 Jul 2013 → …

Keywords

  • QB Astronomy
  • astrophysics
  • supernova
  • transients
  • time domain
  • TDE
  • tidal disruption
  • astronomy
  • physics
  • QC Physics

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Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years

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  • AT 2018dyk: tidal disruption event or active galactic nucleus? Follow-up observations of an extreme coronal line emitter with the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument

    Clark, P., Callow, J., Graur, O., Greenwell, C., Hu, L., Aguilar, J., Ahlen, S., Bianchi, D., Brooks, D., Claybaugh, T., Dawson, K., Macorra, A. D. L., Doel, P., Gontcho, S. G. A., Gutierrez, G., Honscheid, K., Juneau, S., Kehoe, R., Kisner, T. & Kremin, A. & 12 others, Landriau, M., Guillou, L. L., Meisner, A., Miquel, R., Moustakas, J., Pérez-Ràfols, I., Sanchez, E., Schubnell, M., Sprayberry, D., Tarlé, G., Weaver, B. A. & Zou, H., 24 May 2025, In: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 540, 1, p. 871-906

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

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  • The rate of extreme coronal line emitters in the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey LOWZ sample

    Callow, J., Graur, O., Clark, P., Kim, A. G., O'Connor, B., Aguilar, J., Ahlen, S., Bianchi, D., Brooks, D., Macorra, A. D. L., Dey, A., Doel, P., Forero-Romero, J. E., Gaztañaga, E., Gontcho, S. G. A., Gutierrez, G., Kehoe, R., Lambert, A., Landriau, M. & Guillou, L. L. & 13 others, Meisner, A., Miquel, R., Moustakas, J., Prada, F., Pérez-Ràfols, I., Rossi, G., Sanchez, E., Schubnell, M., Seo, H.-J., Sprayberry, D., Tarlé, G., Weaver, B. A. & Zou, H., 1 May 2025, In: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 539, 1, p. 231-245

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  • Ground-based and JWST Observations of SN 2022pul: I. Unusual Signatures of Carbon, Oxygen, and Circumstellar Interaction in a Peculiar Type Ia Supernova

    Siebert, M. R., Kwok, L. A., Johansson, J., Jha, S. W., Blondin, S., Dessart, L., Foley, R. J., Hillier, D. J., Larison, C., Pakmor, R., Temim, T., Andrews, J. E., Auchettl, K., Badenes, C., Barna, B., Bostroem, K. A., Newman, M. J. B., Brink, T. G., Bustamante-Rosell, M. J. & Camacho-Neves, Y. & 62 others, Clocchiatti, A., Coulter, D. A., Davis, K. W., Deckers, M., Dimitriadis, G., Dong, Y., Farah, J., Filippenko, A. V., Flörs, A., Fox, O. D., Garnavich, P., Gonzalez, E. P., Graur, O., Hambsch, F.-J., Hosseinzadeh, G., Howell, D. A., Hughes, J. P., Kerzendorf, W. E., Saux, X. K. L., Maeda, K., Maguire, K., McCully, C., Mihalenko, C., Newsome, M., O'Brien, J. T., Pearson, J., Pellegrino, C., Pierel, J. D. R., Polin, A., Rest, A., Rojas-Bravo, C., Sand, D. J., Schwab, M., Shahbandeh, M., Shrestha, M., Smith, N., Strolger, L.-G., Szalai, T., Taggart, K., Terreran, G., Terwel, J. H., Tinyanont, S., Valenti, S., Vinkó, J., Wheeler, J. C., Yang, Y., Zheng, W., Ashall, C., Derkacy, J. M., Galbany, L., Hoeflich, P., Hsiao, E., Jaeger, T. D., Lu, J., Maund, J., Medler, K., Morrell, N., Shappee, B. J., Stritzinger, M., Suntzeff, N., Tucker, M. & Wang, L., 1 Jan 2024, In: The Astrophysical Journal. 960, 1, 19 p., 88.

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  • Ground-based and JWST Observations of SN 2022pul. II. Evidence from Nebular Spectroscopy for a Violent Merger in a Peculiar Type-Ia Supernova

    Kwok, L. A., Siebert, M. R., Johansson, J., Jha, S. W., Blondin, S., Dessart, L., Foley, R. J., Hillier, D. J., Larison, C., Pakmor, R., Temim, T., Andrews, J. E., Auchettl, K., Badenes, C., Barna, B., Bostroem, K. A., Newman, M. J. B., Brink, T. G., Bustamante-Rosell, M. J. & Camacho-Neves, Y. & 61 others, Clocchiatti, A., Coulter, D. A., Davis, K. W., Deckers, M., Dimitriadis, G., Dong, Y., Farah, J., Filippenko, A. V., Flors, A., Fox, O. D., Garnavich, P., Gonzalez, E. P., Graur, O., Hambsch, F.-J., Hosseinzadeh, G., Howell, D. A., Hughes, J. P., Kerzendorf, W. E., Saux, X. K. L., Maeda, K., Maguire, K., McCully, C., Mihalenko, C., Newsome, M., O'Brien, J. T., Pearson, J., Pellegrino, C., Pierel, J. D. R., Polin, A., Rest, A., Rojas-Bravo, C., Sand, D. J., Schwab, M., Shahbandeh, M., Shrestha, M., Smith, N., Strolger, L.-G., Szalai, T., Taggart, K., Terreran, G., Terwel, J. H., Tinyanont, S., Valenti, S., Vinko, J., Wheeler, J. C., Yang, Y., Zheng, W., Ashall, C., DerKacy, J. M., Galbany, L., Hoeflich, P., Jaeger, T. D., Lu, J., Maund, J., Medler, K., Morrell, N., Shappee, B. J., Stritzinger, M., Suntzeff, N., Tucker, M. & Wang, L., 1 May 2024, In: The Astrophysical Journal. 966, 1, 18 p., 135.

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