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.

Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals

In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):

  • SDG 16 - Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions

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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  • Apophis: a new European space mission could get up close with a large asteroid that’s set to brush by Earth

    Graur, O., 1 Nov 2024, The Conversation.

    Research output: Contribution to specialist publicationArticle

    Open Access
  • Galaxies

    Graur, O., 6 Aug 2024, MIT Press.

    Research output: Book/ReportBook

  • 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.

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    Open Access
    File
    63 Downloads (Pure)
  • 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.

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    Open Access
    File
    47 Downloads (Pure)
  • Kilonova Seekers: the GOTO project for real-time citizen science in time-domain astrophysics

    Killestein, T. L., Kelsey, L., Wickens, E., Nuttall, L., Lyman, J., Krawczyk, C., Ackley, K., Dyer, M. J., Jiménez-Ibarra, F., Ulaczyk, K., O'Neill, D., Kumar, A., Steeghs, D., Galloway, D. K., Dhillon, V. S., O'Brien, P., Ramsay, G., Noysena, K., Kotak, R. & Breton, R. P. & 34 others, Pallé, E., Pollacco, D., Awiphan, S., Belkin, S., Chote, P., Clark, P., Coppejans, D., Duffy, C., Eyles-Ferris, R., Godson, B., Gompertz, B., Graur, O., Irawati, P., Jarvis, D., Julakanti, Y., Kennedy, M. R., Kuncarayakti, H., Levan, A., Littlefair, S., Magee, M., Mandhai, S., Sánchez, D. M., Mattila, S., McCormac, J., Mullaney, J., Munday, J., Patel, M., Pursiainen, M., Rana, J., Sawangwit, U., Stanway, E., Starling, R., Warwick, B. & Wiersema, K., 1 Sept 2024, In: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 533, 2, p. 2113-2132

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    Open Access
    File
    81 Downloads (Pure)