Archive for the Biographical Category

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Galaxies and Black Holes in the First Billion Years

Posted in Biographical, The Universe and Stuff with tags , , , , , on September 1, 2025 by telescoper

Trying to catch up on recent developments in galaxy formation? I can heartily recommend an excellent review article on the subject by Richard Ellis which you can find on the arXiv here. The abstract reads:

 I present written notes from three lectures given at the 54th Saas-Fee Advanced Course of the Swiss Society of Astrophysics and Astronomy in January 2025 entitled “Galaxies and Black Holes in the First Billion Years as seen by the JWST”. I focused my lectures on progress in studies of cosmic reionisation, the properties of galaxies in the reionisation era, topics related to the redshift frontier and the search for Population III stars. The lectures were given to graduate students in astrophysics and cover both pedagogical material as well as observational results from the first two and half years of JWST science operations. The pace of discovery with JWST is, of course, rapid and so my lectures discuss long-term goals, analysis methods and their assumptions and limitations in the hope that the underlying material will retain value in the near future. In this written version, the visual material is that presented at Saas-Fee in January 2025 but I have provided updates on progress from the literature up to August 2025. The material is aimed at early career researchers and should not be considered as a scholarly review of the entire JWST literature on high redshift galaxies.

It’s quite a long article (65 pages) but nicely written and well worth reading, as it is full of information about recent advances as well as historical insights. Talking of which, there’s a picture on page 41 taken at a meeting in Durham in 1988 called The Epoch of Galaxy Formation that I attended while I was still a graduate student:

Richard Ellis himself is in the front row, left of centre with light-coloured trousers, checked shirt and hands in pockets. I’m in the picture too, but I’ll leave it up to you to find me!

A poll was held among the delegates at that meeting about various questions to do with galaxy formation. The majority opinions revealed by these votes nearly all turned out to be utterly wrong! That’s progress, I guess…

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Government of Ireland Postgraduate Scholarships & Postdoctoral Fellowships

Posted in Biographical, Maynooth with tags , , on August 31, 2025 by telescoper
Close Up of Highlighting Specific Word Research in a Dictionary

While I remember, and before I get caught up in start-of-term things, I thought I would pass on news that two calls administered by Research Ireland will open on September 11th. These are the Government of Ireland Postgraduate Scholarships and the Government of Ireland Postdoctoral Fellowships. These are open to applications from candidates anywhere in the world.

You can find information about the Postgraduate Scholarships here and the Postdoctoral Fellowships here. The postdoctoral positions are for one or two years; postgraduate positions are for 2 years (Research Masters) or 4 years (PhD).

The application deadline is 23rd October 2025 and positions of both types are to start on 1st September 2026. You will need to contact possible supervisors at your planned host institute in advance of application so there isn’t much time.

Anyone interested in applying to hold one of these positions in Maynooth is welcome to contact me privately for advice or assistance. Given my rapidly approaching retirement, however, I am not able to act as nominated supervisor for postgraduate positions. I would happily support an applicant for a postdoctoral fellowship in the area of cosmology. There are of course many other potential supervisors both at Maynooth and elsewhere.

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It’s That Time of Year Again

Posted in Biographical, Education, Maynooth with tags , , , on August 31, 2025 by telescoper

Today is the last day of August, which, according to my calculations, means that tomorrow is the first day of September. Last week the kids started to go back to school and some of course started for the first time. I think the schools vary in the timetable for new arrivals and returning students, but they’re basically all operating fully from tomorrow, Monday 1st September.

Universities start back a little later, though this also varies. In Maynooth, Orientation Week (for new students) begins on September 15th, and lectures commence for all years on September 22nd, which happens to be the day of the Autumnal Equinox. My first lecture of the new academic year is on that day. I don’t know how many students I’ll have in my class yet. It’s a 4th-year class, and those students don’t register for modules until Friday 12th September, at the end of a week that begins with new students starting to enrol on Monday 8th September.

The first week of September will therefore be a bit quieter in the University than in the local schools. Next week sees a number of conferring ceremonies at which students who completed their studies with the examinations in May will receive their degrees. That includes a number of Physics students, who will graduate on Wednesday 3rd September. Unfortunately, when I tried to register to attend the ceremony, a few weeks ago, I was unable to because it was booked up so I’ll have to send my congratulations virtually. In any case, Conferring ceremonies at Maynooth are not what they used to be. Instead of the atmospheric surroundings of the Aula Maxima, they are now held in the soulless environnment of a lecture theatre. Instead of a nice buffet reception afterwards the graduates used to get, they now get a cup of tea in a paper cup and (if they’re lucky) a very small Danish pastry. It’s quite embarrassing actually. I wouldn’t be surprised if, in future, graduands were told to being their own sandwiches and a thermos flask. Anyway, a PhD student of mine will attend a conferring ceremony at the end of October. I’ll have to ensure I register on time for that one as I will be reading out the title of her thesis. Our first cohort of MSc students will graduate then too.

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Five Years at Home in Maynooth

Posted in Biographical, Covid-19, Maynooth with tags , , , , on August 26, 2025 by telescoper

I’ve received a number of bills and renewal notices of various kinds over the last few weeks, indicating the anniversary of me completing the purchase of, and moving into, my house in Maynooth. In fact it was five years ago today that I wrote a blog post occasioned by the fact that I’d collected the keys to this property, though it wasn’t until the following weekend that I actually stayed overnight here for the first time.

I was very lucky to be able to able to buy this property in what turned out to be a short window in the Covid-19 lockdown restrictions in the Summer of 2020. There were plans to return to on-campus teaching in September with drastic restrictions on the number of students in each venue. That plan was subsequently changed and then changed again to move almost all teaching back online, and then again to move again into a “Level 5” lockdown.

I was Head of Department back then. My memories of that time were immense levels of stress and frustration, constantly having to change our teaching arrangements with very little support from the University as well as shouldering a full teaching load. In order for the institution to carry on functioning, all teaching and support staff to do huge amounts of unpaid overtime while the institution built up a massive financial surplus. I could say more about the callous indifference to staff and students alike shown at that time by one particular member of The Management, but I think I had better save it for when I’ve retired.

Given the enormous workload I had then, it was to be almost another year before I had time to collect most of my belongings from my house in Cardiff and longer still before I managed to sell it and pay off the mortgage I took out to buy my house here. All this was much more complicated than I expected when I moved to Ireland!

Anyway, many of the things I’d planned to do when I moved here still aren’t done. I bought some old furniture from the previous owner with the intention of replacing it with new, for example, but I somehow never got round to that. Nor have I replaced the old windows, gutters, etc, yet…

One thing I have done is change the refuse collection. When I moved in I took over a contract with  Bord na Móna (literally “The Turf Board”), a company set up in 1946 to supply peat as a form of fuel but now diversified into other activities such as collecting and disposing waste. Over the last year the service provided by this company has degenerated to the point of complete unreliability. When I looked around for a replacement I found that Bord na Móna was also significantly more expensive than its competitors. Earlier this summer, therefore, I swtiched to a company called Greyhound which so far seems much better organized and is about 2/3 the price. That meant I had two sets of wheelie bins cluttering up my garden for about two months until Bord na Móna got around to removing theirs.

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Fifty Years of The Rocky Horror Picture Show

Posted in Biographical, Film, LGBTQ+ with tags , , on August 17, 2025 by telescoper

Since I seem to be having a weekend dominated by feelings of nostalgia, I thought I would comment on a nice article I read yesterday about The Rocky Horror Picture Show, a cult film which got its first cinematic release fifty years ago in 1975. You can find the article here.

Here is a the original theatrical trailer:

The Rocky Horror Picture Show is redolent with nostalgia for my days in Brighton in the Eighties. For a time I lived in a shared house not far from the Duke of York’s Picture House which had fairly frequent late-night showings of Rocky Horror, but it wasn’t just a question of going to see the film. It was obligatory to dress up like the characters, join in the dancing, squirt water pistols to recreate the rain, throw rice during the wedding scene, etc.

The first time I went it took me ages to find an outfit resembling that of Dr. Frank-N-Furter, the mad scientist played by Tim Curry in the film. I eventually found suitable lingerie items in shops but failed when it came to the shoes. I couldn’t find stilettos in a size 11 anywhere. That’s probably just as well as I don’t think I’d have been able to walk in them anyway. I settled for a pair of Doctor Martens boots. I had longer hair in those days so a bit of gel did the trick for that, and a friend did the make-up for me. I had to shave my legs to wear the fishnet stockings too. I rather enjoyed dressing up, going to the show and, especially, the after-party…

I never got into the habit of cross-dressing, and haven’t got the figure for it now, but I am not at all ashamed to admit that I think some guys look very hot in lipstick and lingerie.

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The Tower Records Experience

Posted in Biographical, Music with tags , , , , on August 16, 2025 by telescoper

I lived in London from late 1990 until the very end of 1998. One of my favourite places for shopping in those days was the excellent Tower Records. There were two stores then, but I only ever visited the one at Number 10 Piccadilly as it was very conveniently placed to skive off from meetings of the Royal Astronomical Society at Burlington House, which is just round the corner.

It wasn’t just the huge selection of records, tapes and CDs across all musical genres but also the extremely helpful and knowledgeable staff. I always found their advice very helpful and often left with many more things than I intended to buy when I went in.

Tower records was acquired by the Virgin Group in 2003 and the store in Piccadilly closed down completely in 2009. I haven’t been past the site recently, but I think it is vacant and awaiting redevelopment.

The reason for mentioning this is that Tower Records is alive and well and living in Dublin. There are two stores in the city but I’ve only ever been to the larger one in Dawson Street. It’s not as big as the one in Piccadilly, but it does have a very good selection of music (including a large section of classical music) and very friendly staff. It also has a wide range of hifi equipment, including turntables for those of us who have a vinyl collection. It also has an online service. The last thing I ordered from them was delivered to my house in Maynooth the next day at no charge.

It brought back a lot of memories when I first went inside as it has the same old yellow and red signage and very much the same vibe as the old London store; you can see some interior pictures here. Tower Records (Ireland) is highly recommended for those who are nostalgic for the old Tower Records (London) as well as those who just want to visit a proper, independent, music store. I hope it not only survives but prospers.

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Loose Ends of the Academic Year…

Posted in Biographical, Education, Maynooth with tags , , , , , , , , , on August 13, 2025 by telescoper

I know most people outside academia thing university staff are on a long holiday between June and September, but that’s not the case. This week we have been trying to sort out some of the loose ends of Academic Year 2024/5 before we start on planning for 2025/6. The matters to be dealt with include undergraduate, taught postgraduate, and research posgraduate.

To start with I’ve had to mark my undergraduate repeat (resit) examinations. The grades need to be checked and uploaded before the appropriate examination board meeting next week. That will resolve a number of progression issues, as well as hopefully allowing some students to retrieve credit from their final year and thus be allowed to graduate.

Another set of tasks related to our taught MSc students. They submitted their dissertations on Monday which now need to be read and graded before another examination board (next Monday). They also have to do their presentations, which take place this Friday (15th August).

The following week, the School leaving certificate results come out, at which point we’ll start to get some idea of how many students we will have entering the first year in September.

Today I heard that my PhD student Aoibhinn, who passed her viva voce examination way back in May, has had her thesis corrections formally approved. She now has to submit a bound copy of the thesis along with an electronic version thereof by September 6th at the latest. Then her degree has to be approved by the Faculty of Science & Engineering (on September 16th) followed by Academic Council on (29th September). Assuming those formalities are observed, she can receive her doctorate at one of the conferring ceremonies at the end of October.

Another thing I heard today is that Aoibhinn has been awarded a prestigious research fellowship from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation but she needs her degree certificate before she can start. That’s a stricter policy than elsewhere, but it is Germany. It’s a bit frustrating, but that particular loose end will definitely be tied soon enough, after which Aoibhinn will be off to Germany for two years. Fortunately the start date of the fellowship is flexible. Congratulations to Aoibhinn!

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National Famine Way

Posted in Biographical, History, Maynooth with tags , , , , , on August 9, 2025 by telescoper

Yesterday evening on my way out for a meal I got talking to a couple of people who asked for directions. It turned out that they were on the National Famine Way which, to my shame, I hadn’t heard about. When I got home I looked up the website and decided to put it on my list of things to do. The question is whether I can fit it in before term starts near the end of September…

In a time filled with tales of hunger and hearbreak, the National Famine Way commemorates just one example of the cruelty inflicted on Ireland’s poor. No fewer than 1490 starving tenants of the Mahon estate at Strokestown were evicted from their homes then marched along the Royal Canal to Dublin, escorted by the Bailiff responsible for the evictions. At Dublin they travelled by steamer to Liverpool and then crossed the Atlantic on an assortment of coffin ships bound for Canada, about a third of them dying on the way. This was called “assisted emigration”.

The sorrowful journey of the emigrants is marked by 32 pairs of bronze sculptures of children’s shoes on the National Famine Way walking trail.  There is a pair at Maynooth harbour, though I’ve never noticed it.

The 165km historical trail from Roscommon to Dublin weaves mostly along the Royal Canal , which passes through Maynooth. The trail starts in Strokestown Park at the National Famine Museum and ends at the Famine statues in Dublin Docklands, close to EPIC The Irish Emigration Museum, Dublin. On foot it’s a relatively gentle but long six days of walking, which will give me a chance to exercise my old knees as well as staying overnight few places along the way giving me the opportunity to see a bit more of Ireland. Being alongside the Royal Canal it’s very flat so, although it’s a reasonable distance each day, it shouldn’t be too strenuous.

Maynooth is the last stop before Dublin, actually, so I’ll be able to stay at home for the night before doing the final stage of 27km. I was a bit worried about getting to the start, in deepest Roscommon, but there is a bus from Maynooth that goes direct to Strokestown where the jouney starts. There are recommendations of places to eat and places to stay on the way so it should be fairly relaxed. At any rate it will certainly be more comfortable than the journey of the poor souls that made the same trip in 1847, at the height of the Great Famine.

P.S. Come to think of it, I might just do the 27km from Maynooth to Dublin one day just to check out if my knees can take it.

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Points of the Compass

Posted in Biographical with tags , , , , , , , , on August 8, 2025 by telescoper

A while ago I posted about the countries that I’ve visited over the years. The result is summarized in this map:

You can see that I haven’t seen that much of the world. In fact the map exaggerates what I have seen, because the only place I have visited in Canada was Toronto (and some places to the West of that); I have visited the USA too, but not Alaska.  Likewise the only bit of Australia I’ve visited is Sydney and environs.

Anyway, I saw a thread on BlueSky yesterday which was asking people what was the furthest places on land they have visited North, South, East, and West. Here are my answers:

  • North. Tromsø (Norway), Latitude 69° 39′ N;
  • South. Cape Town (South Africa), Latitude 33° 55′ S;
  • East. Sydney (Australia). Longitude,  151° 12′ E;
  • West. San Francisco (USA). Longitude, 122° 27′ W.

I was initially tempted to put Nagoya (Japan) as my furthest East, but at a mere 136° 55′ it’s nowhere near as far East as Sydney. I wasn’t sure which of Sydney or Cape Town is furthest South either, but Sydney is just a little further North (33° 52′). I went to Tromsø years ago for an Aurora watch, which was great fun. Other than that my furthest North is Reykjavik (Iceland). Many of my observational astronomy colleagues will have been to Hawaii, which easily beats me in the westerly direction. Others have been to Antarctica, which beats me down under.

So my span is about 270° E-W (maximum of 360°) and about 103° N-S (maximum of 180°). Not that impressive really.

Anyway, should you be so inclined, feel free to add your own extremities via the comments box!

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Lá Saoire i mí Lúnasa

Posted in Biographical, Education, mathematics, Maynooth with tags , , , , on August 4, 2025 by telescoper

Today, Monday 4th August 2024, being the first Monday in August, is a Bank Holiday in Ireland. This holiday was created by the Bank Holiday Act of 1871 when Ireland was under British rule. While the August Bank holiday was subsequently moved to the end of August in England and Wales, it has remained at the start of August in Ireland.

We have had some proper Bank Holiday weather, in the form of Storm Floris. Although the worst of this passed to the West of Maynooth, the winds were powerful enough to blow one of my wheelie bins over.

As I mentioned last week, the first day of August marks the old pagan festival of Lughnasadh, named after the God Lugh, on which is celebrated the beginning of the harvest season. This coincides with the English Lammas Day, one of many Christian festivals with pagan origins. Traditionally this is the start of the harvest season and is celebrated accordingly, with rites involving the first fruit and bread baked from flour obtained from the first corn. It is also one of the cross-quarter days, lying roughly half-way between the Summer Solstice and the Autumnal Equinox (in the Northern Hemisphere).

I’m reminded that this time last year I was still on sabbatical. That seems like ages ago. When I resumed teaching last September I had to teach two modules I’d never taught before: a fourth-year Mathematical physics course on Differential Equations and Complex Analysis and a second-year Engineering Mathematics course. This time should be a bit easier as I get to do both of these again. Over the year I also had a final-year undergraduate project student and an MSc student. Both have been a pleasure to work with. The Masters course lasts a calendar year so that one isn’t quite finished, but the deadline for handing in their dissertation is close, next Monday (11th) in fact.

After I return to work tomorrow the next big item on the agenda is the repeat examination period, which starts on Wednesday August 6th. The fates have conspired to require me to be “on call” for four papers next Saturday (two of my own and two covering for a colleague): three of these are scheduled at 12.30 and the other one at 15.30 so I’l have to be by the phone all afternoon in case any matters arise. I also have three others scattered through the approximately ten days of the examination period.

After the repeat examinations are done, the marks uploaded, and the Examination Board has done its work, the next job will be to prepare for the new intake of students. This year’s Leaving Certificate results will be announced on Friday 22nd August, at which point we’ll see how many students (if any) we have studying Physics next academic year which, if all goes to plan, will be my antepenultimate…

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