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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 a 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. I am also interested in the multicultural mythology of the Milky Way.

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 → 14 May 2024

Visiting Scholar, Institute of Astronomy

1 Oct 2019 → …

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

1 Oct 2016 → 31 Mar 2020

Assistant Research Scientist, New York University

1 Jun 2014 → 30 Sept 2016

Assistant Research Scientist, Johns Hopkins University

1 Sept 2013 → 31 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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  • Data Release 1 of the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument

    DESI Collaboration, Alfarsy, R., Canning, R., Findlay, N., Gaztañaga, E., Graur, O., Nadathur, S. & Youles, S., 13 Apr 2026, In: The Astronomical Journal. 171, 5, 34 p., 285.

    Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

    Open Access
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    13 Downloads (Pure)
  • Early results in the search for extreme coronal line emitters with the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument

    Clark, P., Callow, J., Graur, O., Filippenko, A. V., Brink, T. G., Zheng, W., Aguilar, J., Ahlen, S., BenZvi, S., Bianchi, D., Brooks, D., Claybaugh, T., Cuceu, A., Macorra, A. D. L., Dey, A., Doel, P., Forero-Romero, J. E., Gaztañaga, E., Gontcho, S. G. A. & Gutierrez, G. & 27 others, Fawcett, V., Ishak, M., Jimenez, J., Joyce, D., Juneau, S., Kisner, T., Kremin, A., Landriau, M., Guillou, L. L., Manera, M., Meisner, A., Miquel, R., Moustakas, J., Nadathur, S., Percival, W. J., Prada, F., Pérez-Ràfols, I., Rossi, G., Sanchez, E., Schlegel, D., Schubnell, M., Silber, J. H., Sprayberry, D., Tarlé, G., Weaver, B. A., Zhou, R. & Zou, H., 1 Jul 2026, In: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 549, 4, 45 p., stag887.

    Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

    Open Access
    File
    4 Downloads (Pure)
  • JWST Nebular Spectroscopy of SN 2023qov: Circumstellar Dust Emission in a Normal Type Ia Supernova

    Macrie, C. W., Larison, C., Sears, H., Kwok, L. A., Jha, S. W., Dai, M., Johansson, J., Blondin, S., Andrews, M., Auchettl, K., Badenes, C., Barna, B., Bostroem, K. A., Brink, T. G., Davis, K. W., Farah, J. R., Filippenko, A. V., Fox, O. D., Graur, O. & Hall, S. & 25 others, Howell, D. A., Hosseinzadeh, G., Jerkstrand, A., Konyves-Toth, R., Lidman, C., Maeda, K., Maguire, K., Martin, B., Newsome, M., Gonzalez, E. P., Polin, A., Rest, A., Rosenberg, Z., Sand, D., Schwab, M., Siebert, M., Singh, M., Szalai, T., Temim, T., Terwel, J., Tucker, B., Vinko, J., Wang, L., Wang, X. & Zheng, W., 1 Oct 2026, In: The Astrophysical Journal. 1009, 2, 17 p., 241.

    Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

    Open Access
    File
  • JWST Spectroscopy of SN Ia 2022aaiq and 2024gy: Evidence for Enhanced Central Stable Ni Abundance and a Deflagration-to-Detonation Transition

    Kwok, L. A., Liu, C., Jha, S. W., Blondin, S., Larison, C., Miller, A. A., Dai, M., Foley, R. J., Filippenko, A. V., Andrews, J. E., Andrews, M., Auchettl, K., Badenes, C., Brink, T. G., Davis, K. W., Flörs, A., Galbany, L., Graur, O., Howell, D. A. & Kumar, S. & 29 others, Könyves-Tóth, R., LeBaron, N., Macrie, C. W., Maeda, K., Maguire, K., McCully, C., Meza-Retamal, N. E., Gonzalez, E. P., Pakmor, R., Pearson, J., Piro, A. L., Polin, A., Rehemtulla, N., Rojas-Bravo, C., Sand, D. J., Sangkachan, C., Schwab, M., Sears, H., Singh, M., Subrayan, B. M., Taggart, K., Temim, T., Terwel, J. H., Tinyanont, S., Vinkó, J., Wang, X., Wheeler, J. C., Yang, Y. & Zheng, W., 1 Jul 2026, In: The Astrophysical Journal. 1005, 1, 28 p., 52.

    Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

    Open Access
    File
    9 Downloads (Pure)
  • Mapping the nuclear environments of extreme coronal line emitting galaxies

    Kynoch, D., Graur, O., Clark, P., Aguilar, J. N., Ahlen, S., Bianchi, D., Brooks, D., Claybaugh, T., Macorra, A. D. L., Doel, P., Forero-Romero, J. E., Gontcho, S. G. A., Gutierrez, G., Joyce, R., Juneau, S., Landriau, M., Guillou, L. L., Meisner, A., Miquel, R. & Moustakas, J. & 13 others, Panda, S., Percival, W. J., Prada, F., Pérez-Ràfols, I., Rossi, G., Sanchez, E., Schlegel, D., Silber, J., Sprayberry, D., Tarlé, G., Weaver, B. A., Zhou, R. & Zou, H., 1 Oct 2026, In: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 552, 2, 32 p., stag1681.

    Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

    Open Access
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    3 Downloads (Pure)