Proleptic Lecturer
University of Nottingham Oct 2021 – present
Director of Outreach
Research Interests: Foreground mitigation; Epoch of reionization; Cosmology; Radio interferometry and data reduction; Signal processing
My research is centred around research into the Era of the First Stars, contributing to its detection through membership of the LOFAR core EoR team and leading a focus group on foreground removal within the SKA working group. I supervise two PhD students.
Royal Society Dorothy Hodgkin Fellowship
University of Nottingham Oct 2021 – present
Imperial College London Oct 2018 – Oct 2021
Company Director of First Light Outreach Ltd
I am a popular science author and I have written articles for The Guardian, The i Paper, The Big Issue and Astronomy Now. “First Light”, my first popular science book, was published by Bloomsbury in November 2020. I have now signed a deal for two further books. I enjoy public speaking at festivals, schools and on television and radio.
Notable Research Prizes and Major Grants
2023 University of Nottingham Policy Impact and Public Engagement Awards, Best Schools Initiative, shortlisted
2023 Royal Society Public Engagement Programme, £10,000
2020 Women of the Future Award, Shortlisted
2019 Imperial College Julia Higgins Medal for a significant contribution to the support of academic women.
2018 Royal Society Research Enhancement Award, £97,000
2018 Royal Society Dorothy Hodgkin Fellowship (accepted), £635,000
2018 STFC Ernest Rutherford Fellowship (declined)
2018 Royal Society Athena Medal and Prize, £5000
2017 L’Oréal Women in Science Fellowship, Highly Commended, £1000
Freelance Science Journalism
First Light: Switching on Stars at the Dawn of Time, Bloomsbury Sigma, Out Now!
- Between the frontier and the abyss: the birth of the universe, the future of space exploration, and beyond. Book review, Physics World, October 2022 https://physicsworld.com/a/between-the-frontier-and-the-abyss-the-birth-of-the-universe-the-future-of-space-exploration-and-beyond/
- Authored article in The Guardian regarding Earendel, the farthest star, April 2022 https://www.theguardian.com/science/2022/apr/10/how-hubble-astronomers-saw-earendel-star
- How Vera Rubin broke barriers and convinced the astronomy community that dark matter exists. Book review. November 2021. https://physicsworld.com/a/how-vera-rubin-broke-barriers-and-convinced-the-astronomy-community-that-dark-matter-exists/
- Authored Article in the i Paper, an excerpt from First Light: https://inews.co.uk/news/science/first-stars-world-bodies-emma-chapman-astrophysicist-explained-795458
- Authored Article in Science Focus on Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin, Dec 2020: https://www.sciencefocus.com/space/the-life-changing-and-long-lasting-influence-of-cecilia-payne-gaposchkin/
- Physics World Blog Contribution: http://blog.physicsworld.com/2017/07/28/bias-stereotyping-and-harassment-what-women-battle/#more-14619
- Contribution to “More universities must confront sexual harassment” editorial in Nature 547, 379 (27 July 2017) doi:10.1038/547379a
Recent Media Appearances
- KERA Think Podcast (US national radio talk show), April 2023
- BBC University Challenge, December 2022
- Guardian Masterclasses: The First Billion Years, November 2022
- BBC Sky at Night, November 2022
- The Astroholic Explains Podcast, September 2022
- Leonard Lopate at Large – WBAI Radio – NYC, June 2022
- BBC Cornwall, July 2022
- BBC Science Focus Instant Genius Podcast, May 2022
- The Naked Scientists Podcast, May 2022
- BBC Radio London, CERN Reactivation interview, April 2022
- BBC Inside Science, April 2022, Seeing Ancient Stars
- BBC Radio Nottingham, April 2022, Seeing Ancient Stars
- German ZDF TV, Women in STEM Special, interviewee, March 2022,
- BBC ‘Science’s Greatest Mysteries’ interviewee
- BBC ‘Universe’/NOVA ‘Universe Revealed’, feature interviewee, Oct 2021
- Guest on Radio 4 Today Programme, Harassment and Bullying in Science, July 2021
- NPR Cool Science Podcast, May 2021
- Royal Astronomical Society Supermassive Podcast, Feb 2021
- Guest on BBC Radio 4 Inside Science discussing astronomy stories of the year
- Guest on Irish TechNews, Future Proof, Times Radio, Dec 2020
- The Times Podcast, Dec 2020
Recent Science Outreach Talks
- Guest Speaker at Robin Ince’s Nine Lessons and Carols for Curious People, Kings Place London, December 2022
- Education in Action, A-Level Physics Day (audience of 900), Warwick and London, December 2022
- British Astronomical Association Radio Astronomy Group Christmas Lecture, December 2022
- CosmoQuest Conference, Book reading and ‘First Stars’ panel, October 2022
- ‘The Garden’, October 2022
- Falmouth Book Festival, July 2022
- Goonhilly Science/Music/Book Festivall, July 2022
- University of Nottingham public lecture, ‘First Stars’, June 2022
- University of Stanford public lecture, ‘First Stars’, April 2022
- Nature Masterclasses: Networking – major contributor and interviewee
- Open University Space Society, July 2021
- Edinburgh Science Festival, A reading of First Light, July 2021, https://www.sciencefestival.co.uk/event-details/first-light-switching-on-stars-at-the-dawn-of-time-with-emma-chapman
- York Science Festival, June 2021 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zq_bbQyD94E
- American Natural History Museum, New York, May 2021
- Physics Today (US publication) Webinar, April 2021
- AstroFest 2021, March 2021
- Skeptics in the Pub, February 2021
- Royal Institution talk on the First Stars, audience of 700, Nov 2020
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmhR_ttQ9-E
- Royal Museums Greenwich, In conversation with…, Nov 2020 https://www.rmg.co.uk/membership/conversation-dr-emma-chapman-first-light-switching-on-stars-dawn-time
- … [See attached CV for full list]
- New Scientist Live, “First Stars”, September 2018, largest audience of the day. https://www.newscientist.com/video/2184799-emma-chapman-the-first-stars-in-the-universe/
- Cheltenham Science Festival, Panel Member, “Beyond Light: The Future of Astronomy”, June 2018
Research Presentations
30+ invited talks, 4 invited reviews. Recent invited talks:
- University of the Western Cape, South Africa, October 2022
- University of Stanford, April 2022
- University of Manchester Annual Schuster Lecture, February 2022
- University of Nottingham, November 2021
- University of Sussex, November 2021
- ASTRON, Groningen, Netherlands, June 2021
- University of Cambridge, March 2021
- University of Oxford, February 2021
Dr Emma Chapman 