Tue 21 Oct 13:00: The architecture of planetary systems: from physical models to AI
Present-day astronomical facilities allow detecting and characterizing Earth twins, provided we know where to search. In this context, understanding the correlations between properties of planets in the same system, also called the architecture of planetary systems, can provide valuable guidance to optimize observational campaigns. In this talk, I will present models of planetary system formation, the so-called ‘Bern model’, and how they can be used to train generative AI models. I will conclude by presenting an example of predictions made by these new physically informed AI models.
- Speaker: Professor Yann Alibert (Bern)
- Tuesday 21 October 2025, 13:00-14:00
- Venue: Ryle seminar room + ONLINE - Details to be sent by email.
- Series: Exoplanet Seminars; organiser: James Rogers.
Tue 21 Oct 13:00: The architecture of planetary systems: from physical models to AI
Present-day astronomical facilities allow detecting and characterizing Earth twins, provided we know where to search. In this context, understanding the correlations between properties of planets in the same system, also called the architecture of planetary systems, can provide valuable guidance to optimize observational campaigns. In this talk, I will present models of planetary system formation, the so-called ‘Bern model’, and how they can be used to train generative AI models. I will conclude by presenting an example of predictions made by these new physically informed AI models.
- Speaker: Professor Yann Alibert (Bern)
- Tuesday 21 October 2025, 13:00-14:00
- Venue: Ryle seminar room + ONLINE - Details to be sent by email.
- Series: Exoplanet Seminars; organiser: James Rogers.
Mon 01 Dec 16:00: TBD
TBD
- Speaker: Lyndsay Fletcher (Glasgow)
- Monday 01 December 2025, 16:00-17:00
- Venue: MR14 DAMTP and online.
- Series: DAMTP Astrophysics Seminars; organiser: Loren E. Held.
Mon 24 Nov 16:00: TBD
TBD
- Speaker: TBD
- Monday 24 November 2025, 16:00-17:00
- Venue: MR14 DAMTP and online.
- Series: DAMTP Astrophysics Seminars; organiser: Loren E. Held.
Mon 17 Nov 16:00: Title to be confirmed
Abstract not available
- Speaker: David Hughes (Leeds)
- Monday 17 November 2025, 16:00-17:00
- Venue: MR14 DAMTP and online.
- Series: DAMTP Astrophysics Seminars; organiser: Loren E. Held.
Mon 10 Nov 16:00: TBD
TBD
- Speaker: Daniel Price (Monash University)
- Monday 10 November 2025, 16:00-17:00
- Venue: MR14 DAMTP and online.
- Series: DAMTP Astrophysics Seminars; organiser: Loren E. Held.
Mon 03 Nov 16:00: TBD
TBD
- Speaker: Alex Russell (St. Andrews)
- Monday 03 November 2025, 16:00-17:00
- Venue: MR14 DAMTP and online.
- Series: DAMTP Astrophysics Seminars; organiser: Loren E. Held.
Mon 27 Oct 16:00: TBD
TBD
- Speaker: Nicolás Cuello (INAB Grenoble)
- Monday 27 October 2025, 16:00-17:00
- Venue: MR14 DAMTP and online.
- Series: DAMTP Astrophysics Seminars; organiser: Loren E. Held.
Mon 20 Oct 16:00: TBD
TBD
- Speaker: Jérémie Vidal (ENS Lyon)
- Monday 20 October 2025, 16:00-17:00
- Venue: MR14 DAMTP and online.
- Series: DAMTP Astrophysics Seminars; organiser: Loren E. Held.
Mon 13 Oct 16:00: TBD
TBD
- Speaker: Florence Marcotte (INRIA, Nice)
- Monday 13 October 2025, 16:00-17:00
- Venue: MR14 DAMTP and online.
- Series: DAMTP Astrophysics Seminars; organiser: Loren E. Held.
Wed 08 Oct 10:00: JWST's View of Star Formation and Mass Growth in Early Galaxies Special Seminar
JWST ’s NIR Cam has transformed our understanding of galaxy structure in the early Universe through unprecedented spatial resolution and sensitivity. Deep wide and medium-band photometry enables precise rest-UV and optical SED constraints, revealing both opportunities and challenges for stellar population modeling.
I will present recent work on the galaxy stellar mass function and total stellar mass density evolution at z > 7, followed by spatially-resolved analysis of 200+ galaxies at z > 5. This reveals how internal structure affects integrated stellar mass estimates through ‘outshining’ effects. I will examine systematic uncertainties in high-redshift SED fitting—including IMF , SPS models, SFH parametrizations, and dust laws—and their impact on derived parameters.
Finally, I will discuss moving beyond traditional SED fitting using machine learning approaches, particularly simulation-based inference (SBI), for large-scale Bayesian inference from wide-area surveys. I will present ongoing work making SBI more accessible for fitting photometry and spectroscopy, enabling rapid constraints on stellar, nebular, and AGN properties in high-redshift galaxies.
Special Seminar
- Speaker: Thomas Harvey (University of Manchester)
- Wednesday 08 October 2025, 10:00-11:00
- Venue: Ryle Meeting Room, KICC.
- Series: Kavli Institute for Cosmology Seminars; organiser: Chris Lovell.
Tue 04 Nov 13:00: Title to be confirmed
Abstract not available
- Speaker: Dr Paula Izquierdo (Warwick)
- Tuesday 04 November 2025, 13:00-14:00
- Venue: Ryle seminar room + ONLINE - Details to be sent by email.
- Series: Exoplanet Seminars; organiser: James Rogers.
Tue 04 Nov 13:00: Title to be confirmed
Abstract not available
- Speaker: Dr Paula Izquierdo (Warwick)
- Tuesday 04 November 2025, 13:00-14:00
- Venue: Ryle seminar room + ONLINE - Details to be sent by email.
- Series: Exoplanet Seminars; organiser: James Rogers.
Tue 21 Oct 13:00: Title to be confirmed
Abstract not available
- Speaker: Professor Yann Alibert (Bern)
- Tuesday 21 October 2025, 13:00-14:00
- Venue: Ryle seminar room + ONLINE - Details to be sent by email.
- Series: Exoplanet Seminars; organiser: James Rogers.
Tue 21 Oct 13:00: Title to be confirmed
Abstract not available
- Speaker: Professor Yann Alibert (Bern)
- Tuesday 21 October 2025, 13:00-14:00
- Venue: Ryle seminar room + ONLINE - Details to be sent by email.
- Series: Exoplanet Seminars; organiser: James Rogers.
Tue 28 Oct 13:00: Title to be confirmed
Abstract not available
- Speaker: Professor Hilke Schlichting (UCLA)
- Tuesday 28 October 2025, 13:00-14:00
- Venue: Ryle seminar room + ONLINE - Details to be sent by email.
- Series: Exoplanet Seminars; organiser: James Rogers.
Tue 28 Oct 13:00: Title to be confirmed
Abstract not available
- Speaker: Professor Hilke Schlichting (UCLA)
- Tuesday 28 October 2025, 13:00-14:00
- Venue: Ryle seminar room + ONLINE - Details to be sent by email.
- Series: Exoplanet Seminars; organiser: James Rogers.
Tue 07 Oct 13:00: Clouds across exoplanetary regimes: from hot gas giants to habitable rocky exoplanets
The study of exoplanets has moved from an era of detection to an era of atmospheric characterisation, driven by the launch and commissioning of JWST as well as improvements in ground-based observational facilities. This era of characterisation will involve both deep studies of individual high signal-to-noise exoplanet atmospheres as well as shallow and broad studies of exoplanet atmospheric demographics. In this talk, I will describe how we can leverage both of these characterisation methods alongside 3D models to study exoplanet atmospheres. I will specifically describe the application of detailed 3D GCMs including the impact of clouds on the circulation and emergent properties of hot gas giant and potentially habitable rocky exoplanets. I will describe how the climate dynamics of temperate rocky exoplanets determine how planetary, atmospheric, and host star properties impact their potential for habitability. I will finish by describing the extent to which habitable conditions on rocky exoplanets may be discerned with future observations.
- Speaker: Professor Tad Komacek (Oxford)
- Tuesday 07 October 2025, 13:00-14:00
- Venue: HOYLE LECTURE THEATRE + ONLINE - Details to be sent by email.
- Series: Exoplanet Seminars; organiser: James Rogers.
Tue 07 Oct 13:00: Clouds across exoplanetary regimes: from hot gas giants to habitable rocky exoplanets
The study of exoplanets has moved from an era of detection to an era of atmospheric characterisation, driven by the launch and commissioning of JWST as well as improvements in ground-based observational facilities. This era of characterisation will involve both deep studies of individual high signal-to-noise exoplanet atmospheres as well as shallow and broad studies of exoplanet atmospheric demographics. In this talk, I will describe how we can leverage both of these characterisation methods alongside 3D models to study exoplanet atmospheres. I will specifically describe the application of detailed 3D GCMs including the impact of clouds on the circulation and emergent properties of hot gas giant and potentially habitable rocky exoplanets. I will describe how the climate dynamics of temperate rocky exoplanets determine how planetary, atmospheric, and host star properties impact their potential for habitability. I will finish by describing the extent to which habitable conditions on rocky exoplanets may be discerned with future observations.
- Speaker: Professor Tad Komacek (Oxford)
- Tuesday 07 October 2025, 13:00-14:00
- Venue: HOYLE LECTURE THEATRE + ONLINE - Details to be sent by email.
- Series: Exoplanet Seminars; organiser: James Rogers.
Programme Coordinator for Impulse (Part Time, Fixed Term)
The Maxwell Centre, hosted by the Cavendish Laboratory, is the hub for academia-industry interactions. It serves several departments across the Schools of Physical Sciences and Technology, bringing in external partnerships with industry. The Maxwell Centre offers Impulse, a 3 - month hybrid programme followed by alumni Masterclasses, mentoring and pitch event as a catalyst for both entrepreneurship and intrapreneurship, with a sharp focus on the development of high-potential technology innovation into a commercial proposition and prioritising "high potential" business cases. Since 2017, Impulse alumni have raised over £300M in funding and investments.
We are now inviting applications for the role of Programme Coordinator to support the Impulse Programme team, based at the Maxwell Centre. The role will undertake administrative and operational responsibilities to ensure the smooth, efficient, and successful implementation of the Impulse programme. The Programme Coordinator will lead project coordination, oversee the planning and detailed execution of logistics, and effective administration of the programme. This position involves working within a small Impulse team and the Maxwell Centre, as well as working collaboratively in the delivery of the programme with short-term staff, external consultants, liaising with academic â„ professional stakeholders from the departments of the University and over 200 entrepreneurs, investors, business experts, and innovation community.
We are seeking a highly organized, dynamic, and effective communicator who liaises with participants and entrepreneurial contributors to address logistics, support marketing and social media engagement, and assist with newsletter coordination while providing administrative support as needed. Excellent attention to detail and a proactive approach are essential to ensuring an excellent experience for all programme stakeholders. The successful candidate should be open to learning, capable of planning, organizing, and prioritizing programme tasks - including marketing activities - to meet short-term and long-term objectives. The ability to remain calm under pressure, be flexible, and troubleshoot solutions is required to accommodate project delivery around the busy and changing schedules of all stakeholders involved.
The appointment is available immediately, with initial funding until 31 July 2026, renewable subject to funding.
Click the 'Apply' button below to register an account with our recruitment system (if you have not already) and apply online.
Informal enquiries are welcome and can be sent via email to Neil Baxter, Programme Manager at impulse@maxwell.cam.ac.uk
Please quote reference KA47475 on your application and in any correspondence about this vacancy.
The University actively supports equality, diversity and inclusion and encourages applications from all sections of society.
The University has a responsibility to ensure that all employees are eligible to live and work in the UK.