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Professor Stephen Smartt is a leading astrophysicist at the University of Oxford, specializing in the study of black holes and the physics of transient astronomical events. He serves as the Director of the Hintze Centre for Astrophysical Surveys, where he focuses on processing data from large sky survey projects such as the ATLAS project, funded by NASA. This project aims to scan the entire visible sky every 24 hours and involves real-time data processing to link discoveries with galaxy star catalogues, which triggers multi-wavelength follow-up observations with facilities in Europe and beyond. Professor Smartt is also a founding member of ENGRAVE, a European initiative aimed at optimizing the use of the Very Large Telescope (VLT) for the follow-up of gravitational wave sources. His research includes investigating the electromagnetic counterparts of gravitational wave events, particularly those from merging neutron stars, utilizing telescopes such as Pan-STARRS. His contributions to astrophysics, particularly in the realm of sky surveys and stellar transients, are well recognized, and he is currently holding a Royal Society Research Professorship for the term 2024-2028.
Department of Politics and International Relations - Higher Level English requirement.