Dr. Jayne Birkby

Biography

Jayne Birkby is a Professor of Astrophysics at the University of Oxford and a Fellow of Brasenose College. She specializes in Exoplanetary Science and has received her PhD in Astrophysics from the University of Cambridge. Before her current appointment, she held postdoctoral scholarships at Leiden University and was a NASA Sagan Fellow at Harvard University. She also served as an Assistant Professor at the University of Amsterdam. Birkby is recognized for her ERC Starting Grant and leads a project titled 'exoZoo: High definition time-resolved studies of exoplanet atmospheres - a new window into the extreme diversity of the exoplanet zoo'. In 2021, she was awarded the Philip Leverhulme Prize in Physics and was a finalist for the 2024 Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists in the UK. Her research group focuses on the observation and study of exoplanet atmospheres, utilizing the world's largest telescopes and the highest resolution instruments to determine the composition and dynamics of the atmospheres of these distant worlds. Her interests extend to connecting exoplanet studies with chemistry, geology, and biology, as well as understanding the incredible diversity of the exoplanet population.

Research Interests

Experience