Dr Edward Gillen

Edward Gillen

Reader in Astrophysics

School of Physical and Chemical Sciences
Queen Mary University of London
www.qmul.ac.uk/spcs/staff/academics/profiles/egillen.html
Centre for Fundamental Physics

Research

Exoplanets, Stars, Planetary system evolution, Origin and prevalence of life, Astrophysics

Interests

My primary research interests focus on understanding the evolution, diversity and habitability of planetary systems, which I pursue using a variety of ground- and space-based observatories. Within these overarching themes, some areas of particular interest include:
- Detecting and characterising transiting exoplanet systems at different evolutionary stages (from young to mature).
- Observationally calibrating stellar (and hence planetary) evolution using stellar rotation, activity and eclipsing binaries.
- Assessing the potential habitability of exoplanets by characterising their stellar environments to probe origin of life scenarios and exploring the possibility of detecting biosignatures.

I completed my PhD at the University of Oxford in 2015 and then worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Cambridge. In 2018, I was awarded a Winton Exoplanet Fellowship, which I held initially at Cambridge before moving it to Queen Mary in 2020 to take up a lectureship position.

I am a member various international research and space mission consortia, such as the Next Generation Transit Survey (NGTS), Atmospheric Remote-sensing Exoplanet Large-survey (ARIEL) and PLAnetary Transits and Oscillations of stars (PLATO).