Ian Smail

Centre for Extragalactic Astronomy, Durham University

I am an emeritus Professor of Physics in the Department of Physics at Durham University, based in the Centre for Extragalactic Astronomy (CEA) within the Ogden Centre for Fundamental Physics. I was the founding Director of CEA and between 2013-2018 I led the DustyGal programme supported by an ERC Advanced Investigator Grant and a Royal Society Wolfson Merit Award. I was previously a Professorial Fellow supported through a Royal Society University Research Fellowship in the Institute for Computational Cosmology, Durham University. My research concentrates on the evolution of galaxies and the growth of structure in the Universe. I use two approaches to address questions in these fields. Firstly, I work with multiwavelength datasets to gain new insights into galaxy formation and evolution by contrasting the views provided by radiation emitted in different wavebands (in particular those in the near- and far-infrared, submillimeter and radio). The second approach I use exploits gravitational lensing by galaxies and clusters, especially as viewed in imaging with the Hubble Space Telescope, to improve the resolution and sensitivity of observations of distant galaxies. This has also turned out to be a very profitable method for studying the properties of mass concentrations in the Universe. The following pages show a selection of images derived from my research. Information about the thesis projects of the graduate students I have worked with is here.

 
 
 
 
Professor Ian Smail    reverse: ku.ca.mahrud [at] liams.nai
Centre for Extragalactic Astronomy, Department of Physics, Durham University, South Road, Durham DH1 3LE