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Monash Astrophysics

Image of NGC 7331 — NGC 7331, one of the nearby galaxies studied by the extragalactic astrophysics group to understand the spectral energy distributions of all galaxies.

Monash astrophysicists use observations and computational modelling to understand the Universe and the celestial objects within it. Their research spans much of astrophysics, including: star and planet formation, stellar evolution, nucleosynthesis and Galactic chemical evolution, the Sun and solar systems, galaxies, white dwarfs, neutron stars, and black holes, neutrinos and gravitational waves, supernovae and gamma-ray bursts.

Many research projects are conducted using major computational and observational facilities located around the globe. Working with these research supervisors, Monash students have gained new insights into the nature of celestial objects and have published their research in major scientific journals.

	Head of Group Professor Paul Lasky	Gravitational Waves (LIGO and Pulsar Timing) Neutron Stars Gamma ray bursts General Relativity and Strong-field gravity
	Professor Csaba Balazs	Particle astrophysics Dark matter properties Charged cosmic rays (Extra-)Galactic gamma rays Cosmic matter-antimatter asymmetry Particle cosmology Inflation models Dark energy model
	Associate Professor Michael Brown	Galaxy evolution Active galactic nuclei Star formation within galaxies Wide-field astronomical surveys Galaxies and dark matter Large-scale structure
	Dr Simon Campbell	Observational and computational stellar astrophysics; Evolution and nucleosynthesis of low-mass stars; Multidimensional fluid dynamics; Chemical abundance problems in globular clusters High-resolution stellar spectroscopy Asteroseismology
	Associate Professor Andrew Casey	Chemical tagging the Milky Way; The relationship between planets and their host stars; Extremely metal-poor stars and the high redshift universe; Machine learning applications to big data problems
	Dr Thavisha Dharmawardena	Milky Way and nearby universe The lifecycle of baryonic matter in the universe Multidimensional Astrocartography Interstellar Medium Star formation and End-stage stellar evolution Machine learning and data-driven astronomy
	Associate Professor Duncan Galloway	Structure and properties of neutron stars Thermonuclear X-ray bursts and pulsations in neutron-star binaries Searches for gravitational waves Astrophysical transients with next-generation wide-field telescopes
	Professor Alexander Heger	Cosmic explosions Massive and supermassive stars First generations of stars Transport processes in stars Neutron stars and black holes Origin of elements Nucleosynthesis and Galactic chemical evolution Supernovae, gamma-ray bursts and X-ray bursts Dynamics of multiple stars and planets
	Professor Amanda Karakas	The evolution and nucleosynthesis of AGB stars The effect of reaction rate uncertainties on stellar nucleosynthesis Abundances in planetary nebulae and globular clusters The AGB contribution to the chemical evolution of galaxies & globular clusters Pre-solar grains extracted from meteorites Barium stars and related chemically-peculiar stellar systems Circumbinary disks around evolved stars and wind accretion
	Dr Clare Kenyon	Physics and astronomy education Teaching practice specialist First- and second-year physics and astronomy undergraduate subjects Active Galactic Nuclei Gravitational microlensing
	Professor John Lattanzio	Evolution and structure of stars Nuclear astrophysics Mixing in stars Chemical evolution of the Galaxy Observing stellar abundances Numerical hydrodynamics with supercomputers
	Professor Ilya Mandel	Gravitational-wave astrophysics Massive binary evolution Dynamics High-energy astrophysics Black-hole physics Astrostatistics
	Associate Professor Bernhard Mueller	Computational astrophysics Core-collapse supernovae Massive stars Neutrino and gravitational wave astronomy Nucleosynthesis Physics of dense matter Radiation transport
	Dr Rebecca Nealon	Understanding how planets are formed Accretion disc evolution (black hole, white dwarf and protoplanetary) Computational astrophysics applied to dynamic systems Connecting observations and simulations
	Professor Daniel Price	Computational astrophysics Star and planet formation Accretion discs Magnetic fields Turbulence Dust and the smoothed particle hydrodynamics method
	Dr Manisha Shrestha	Core-collapse supernovae Gamma-ray burst Multi-messenger astrophysics Different formation channels for r-process elements
	Professor Eric Thrane	Gravitational waves (aLIGO) Neutrino astrophysics Cosmology

Research Fellows

	Dr Sharan Banagiri	Gravitational waves astrophysics with LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA Gravitational wave detection and inference with LISA Astrostatistics and Bayesian inference Compact objects in the Milky Way
	Dr Alexey Bobrick	Gravitational waves sources Interacting stars and their products Interaction signatures in transients Cluster and field populations
	Dr Gosia Curylo	Supermassive black holes Gravitational Waves Pulsar timing
	Dr Evgeni Grishin	Planetary, stellar, and galactic dynamics Eccentric binaries and triples Gravitational-wave sources Astrophysical and accretion discs Planet formation and evolution Planets in evolved systems and white-dwarf pollution Nuclear transients and tidal disruption events High energy astrophysical and transient phenomena
	Dr Nir Guttman	Gravitational waves Neutron stars Bayesian inference and statistics
	Dr Ryosuke Hirai	Computational astrophysics Massive binary evolution Core-collapse supernova Numerical algorithms High-energy astrophysics
	Dr Bailey Sykes	Full-featured simulations of core-collapse supernovae Numerical methods for (relativistic) hydrodynamics HIgh performance computing Pair-instability and pulsational pair-instability transients