Dr. Richard Mcmahon

Biography

Richard McMahon is a professor of Astronomy at the Institute of Astronomy at the University of Cambridge. Over his 25-year career in observational astronomy, McMahon has made significant contributions to understanding the phenomena surrounding supermassive black holes and galaxy formation in the early universe. He is recognized for his role as principal investigator of the VISTA Hemisphere Survey, an ambitious near-infrared sky survey using the ESO VISTA telescope in Chile. McMahon's research has focused on the discovery of high-redshift quasars and active galaxies hosting supermassive black holes, providing insights into star formation rates and the space densities of these ancient formations. Among his notable achievements, he contributed to the groundbreaking finding of the universe’s accelerating expansion, a fundamental shift in the understanding of cosmic evolution. He has been involved in several key projects, including the Dark Energy Survey and the Supernova Cosmology Project, and holds leadership roles in multiple high-performance computing and data-intensive research initiatives. McMahon earned his B.Sc. degree in Physics from Queen's University Belfast, a Postgraduate Certificate in Secondary School Education from the University of Cambridge, and a PhD in Astronomy from the Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge. He has received prestigious awards such as the 2015 Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics and the 2007 Gruber Cosmology Prize for his contributions to cosmology.

Research Interests

Experience

Awards