Exoplanets

We study planets that orbit other stars, searching for them and characterising their types, compositions and atmospheres. Our research aims to understand the conditions on these planets, how they form and evolve over time, and the potential habitability of other worlds. Our work uses state of the art telescopes, both in space and on the ground. See also research on planetary remnants around white dwarfs.

Research news, job opportunities and possible PhD projects are shared part of the main Astronomy and Astrophysics group webpages.

List of Academic Staff

List of Research Staff

List of Postgraduate staff

List of former group members

Academic Staff

Name	Email & Links	Research Interests
David ArmstrongLink opens in a new window (associate professor) (UKRI Frontier Research Grant fellow)	D.J.Armstrong@	Machine learned planet validation Stellar variability classification Planets in the Neptunian desert Tellurics / greenhouse gas monitoring
Daniel BaylissLink opens in a new window (associate professor)	d.bayliss@	Gas giants around low mass stars Planet-Metallicity correlation Long period (cool) transiting planets Phase curves for non-transiting systems Brown dwarfs sCMOS devices Atmospheric scintillation
Heather CeglaLink opens in a new window (associate professor) (UKRI Future Leaders Fellow)	h.cegla@	Stellar variability Planet confirmation and characterisation (including radial velocities) Star-planet spin-orbit obliquities / dynamical histories
Siddharth GandhiLink opens in a new window (assistant professor)	Siddharth.Gandhi@	Exoplanet atmospheres Atmospheric modelling & retrievals JWST & ground-based observations of transiting and directly imaged planets
Kevin HengLink opens in a new window (honorary professor)	kevin.heng@
Grant KennedyLink opens in a new window (associate professor (Royal Society University Research Fellow)	g.kennedy@	Debris Discs Exocomets Protoplanetary Discs Planet-disc interactions
Farzana MeruLink opens in a new window (associate professor) (Royal Society Dorothy Hodgkin Fellow)	f.meru@	Protoplanetary Discs Planet Migration Dust Coagulation Planet Formation
Rebecca NealonLink opens in a new window (assistant professor) (UKRI Stephen Hawking fellow)	Rebecca.Nealon@	Protoplanetary discs Planet disc interactions Warped and misaligned discs Black hole discs
Don PollaccoLink opens in a new window (professor)	d.pollacco@	Exoplanets in globular clusters Young planets Long-period planets The Digital Telescope
Dimitri VerasLink opens in a new window (associate professor) (STFC Ernest Rutherford Fellow)	D.Veras@	Planetary theory Planetary systems around giant branch and white dwarf stars Debris discs
Richard WestLink opens in a new window (associate professor)	richard.west@	Transiting exoplanet surveys (NGTS / PLATO) sCMOS detectors GPU-based data processing
Peter WheatleyLink opens in a new window (professor)	p.j.wheatley@	Long-period planet discovery with NGTS XUV irradiation and evaporation of exoplanets Transmission spectroscopy of exoplanet atmospheres

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Research Staff

Name	Email & Links	Research Interests
David AndersonLink opens in a new window (research fellow)	David.R.Anderson@
David BrownLink opens in a new window (senior research fellow)	d.j.a.brown@ For PLATO-related enquiries use psmoffice@	PLATO space mission Circumbinary planets Spin-orbit alignment in exoplanetary systems Tides in Hot Jupiter systems Ages of exoplanet host stars Satellite megaconstellations (See the Centre for SDALink opens in a new window)
Lauren DoyleLink opens in a new window (research fellow)	lauren.doyle@	Stellar activity (i.e., flares and spots) Exoplanet detection and characterisation Effects activity can have on exoplanet detection and habitability Magnetic fields
Samuel GillLink opens in a new window (research fellow)	Samuel.Gill@	Binary star and exoplanet modelling Monotransits in TESS data Low-mass eclipsing binaries Scheduling, reducing, and intepreting NGTS observations Spectroscopy of exoplanet host stars
Maria de Juan OvelarLink opens in a new window (research fellow)	Maria.Dejuanovelar@	Protoplanetary Discs Planet formation and dust evolution in PPDs Observational diagnostics for PPDs Radiative transfer Imaging polarimetry
Minjae KimLink opens in a new window (research fellow)	minjae.k.kim@	Debris Discs Cometary Dust (67P) Small Bodies of the Solar System
Vedad KunovacLink opens in a new window (research fellow)	Vedad.Kunovac @	Spin-orbit alignments Neptune-desert statistics Low-mass eclipsing binaries Astrometric wide companions
Marina Lafarga MagroLink opens in a new window (research fellow)	marina.lafarga-magro@ [websiteLink opens in a new window]	High-resolution spectroscopy of cool stars Radial velocity computation, cross-correlation function Stellar variability, activity indicators, line-by-line analysis Reloaded Rossiter-McLaughlin technique Exoplanet atmospheres Light curve automatic vetting and validation
James McCormacLink opens in a new window (senior research fellow)	j.j.mccormac@	Detrending of exoplanet photometry Satellite orbits via optical parallax Eclipsing white dwarfs
Vatsal PanwarLink opens in a new window (research fellow)	vatsal.panwar@	Characterising exoplanet atmospheres Understanding the impact of stellar acitivity on these measurements Gas giants & rocky lava worlds Low-resolution spectroscopy of exoplanet atmospheres
Paul A. StrømLink opens in a new window (assistant professor)	paul.strom@	PLATO space mission Exocomets Single and unusual transits
Thomas WilsonLink opens in a new window (senior research fellow)	thomas.g.wilson@	Transit and RV observations with CHEOPS, HARPS-N, and TESS Exoplanet internal structure characerisation Planet-star composition links in the Milky Way thick disk/halo PLATO Ground-based Observing Programme

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Postgraduate Students

Name	Email & Links	Research Interests
Ioannis ApergisLink opens in a new window (PhD student 2022-present)	Ioannis.Apergis@	Characterisation of CMOS cameras
Alastair ClaringboldLink opens in a new window (PhD student 2022-present)	alastair.claringbold@	Temperater Jupiters JWST observations Chemistry and cloud modelling Detection of prebiosignature molecules
Spandan DashLink opens in a new window (PhD student 2021-present)	Spandan.Dash@	Characterizing exoplanet atmospheres using high resolution spectroscopic data in the infra-red
Ben DaviesLink opens in a new window (PhD student 2023-present)	ben.d.r.davies@	Circumbinary planets
Fintan Eeles-NolleLink opens in a new window (PhD student 2023-present)	Fintan.Eeles-Nolle@	Exoplanets in the Neptunian desert
Vanessa Emeka-Okafor (PhD student 2021-present)	Vanessa.Emeka-Okafo@	Exoplanet atmosphere characterisation Ultra-hot Jupiters Terrestrial planets around M dwarfs High-resolution cross-correlation spectroscopy
Yoshi EschenLink opens in a new window (MSc student 2023-present)	yoshi.eschen@	TESS-PLATO synergy
Amena FaruqiLink opens in a new window (MSc student 2021-2022) (PhD student 2022-present)	Amena.Faruqi@	Planet Formation theory Planet-Disc Interactions Numerical methods
Jorge Fernández FernándezLink opens in a new window (PhD student 2021-present)	Jorge.Fernandez-Fernandez@
Marcelo Aron Fetzner KenigerLink opens in a new window (PhD student 2022-present)	marcelo-aron.fetzner-keniger@	Measurement of greenhouse gases in the Earth's atmosphere
Ginger FrameLink opens in a new window (PhD student 2022-present)	Ginger.Frame@	Stellar variability, particularly from granulation
Andreas HadjigeorghiouLink opens in a new window (PhD student 2020-present)	A.Hadjigeorghiou@	Machine learned exoplanet candidate vetting Statistical validation Positional probabilities
Faith HawthornLink opens in a new window (PhD student 2020-present)	faith.hawthorn@	Exoplanet detection with TESS & NGTS Long-period 'duotransiting' planets Statistical validation
Isobel LockleyLink opens in a new window (PhD student 2023-present)	Isobel.Lockley@	Planets in the Neptunian desert Exoplanet detection and characterisation with TESS and HARPS
Cristina Madurga FavieresLink opens in a new window (PhD student 2023-present)	Cristina.Madurga-Favieres@	Exocomet transit observations with PLATO
Rafael Martinez-BrunnerLink opens in a new window (PhD student 2022-present)	rafael.martinez@	White Dwarf Debris Discs Planet-disc Interactions
Morgan MitchellLink opens in a new window (PhD student 2022-present)	morgan.mitchell@	PLATO TTV performance and yield Photometric surveys of globular clusters
Azib NorazmanLink opens in a new window (PhD student 2020-present)	azib.norazman@	Exocomets Debris Discs Bayesian Nested Sampling Machine Learning Methods
Pratishtha RawatLink opens in a new window (PhD student 2023-present)	Pratishtha.Rawat@	Protoplanetary discs Hydrodynamical simulations Architectures of planetary systems
Taf ZivaveLink opens in a new window (MSc student 2023-present)	Taf.Zivave@	Stellar flares in NGTS

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Former Group Members

Name	Moved to
Eva-Maria AhrerLink opens in a new window (PhD student 2019-2023)	Research Fellow, Max Planck Institute for Astronomy
Matthew BattleyLink opens in a new window (PhD student 2018-2022)	Postdoc, Geneva Observatory
Raphael Bendahan-WestLink opens in a new window (MSc by Research 2021-2022)	PhD Student, University of Exeter [websiteLink opens in a new window]
Joao Bento (PhD student 2008-2012)
Matteo BrogiLink opens in a new window (assistant professor/associate professor 2017-2022)	Associate Professor, University of Turin [websiteLink opens in a new window]
Edward BryantLink opens in a new window (PhD student 2018-2022)	Research Fellow, Mullard Space Science Laboratory [websiteLink opens in a new window]
Cait ClementLink opens in a new window (MSc student)	Communications Officer, IOP Publishing
Patrick Cronin-ColtsmannLink opens in a new window (PhD student 2018-2022)
John Dolan (MSc student 2016-2017)
Emma Foxell (PhD student 2016-2020)
James JackmanLink opens in a new window (PhD student 2016-2020)	Postdoctoral Scholar, Arizona State University [websiteLink opens in a new window]
Simon Joyce (PhD student 2008-2012)
George KingLink opens in a new window (PhD student 2015-2019) (Research fellow 2019-2020)	Research Fellow, University of Michigan
James Kirk (PhD student 2014-2018)
Kristine Lam (PhD student 2014-2018)
Thomas LoudenLink opens in a new window (research fellow)	The Met Office
Will McClean (PhD student 2013-2017)
Catriona McDonald (PhD student 2019-2023)	Research Fellow, University of Cambridge [websiteLink opens in a new window]
Laura Millson (PhD student )	PhD student in the CFSA Link opens in a new windowgroup
Sean O'Brien (MSc student 2020-2021)	PhD student, Queen's University, Belfast [websiteLink opens in a new window]
Ares Osborn (MSc student 2018-2019 (PhD student 2019-2023)
Hugh Osborn (PhD student 2013-2017)
John Rostron (PhD student 2010-2014)
Jessica Spake (MSc student 2014-2015)
Sahl Rowther (PhD student 2018-2022)	Research Associate, University of Leicester [websiteLink opens in a new window]
Rebecca Webb (PhD student )