News

Dr Andrew Winter has been awarded £1.8 million grant from the Royal Society's University Research Fellowship (URF) programme. He will join Queen Mary's School of Physical and Chemical Sciences in April and lead a groundbreaking project investigating the influence of neighbouring stars on planetary system formation.

"The observed exoplanet population is surprisingly diverse, with many planetary systems starkly different from our own Solar System," explains Dr Winter. "Understanding these differences is a key problem of contemporary astronomy. In collaboration with the planet formation community at Queen Mary, we will explore a fundamental, often-ignored sculptor of planetary systems: neighbouring stars. The external environment of young stars appears to be critically important for the planet formation process, but we do not yet understand how this influences the observed planet population. Linking planet properties to their birth environment has the potential to significantly shift our understanding of exoplanet origins, and our own place in the universe."

The Royal Society URF grant will provide Dr Winter's research team with £1.8 million over eight years, enabling them to employ cutting-edge methods, such as hydrodynamic simulations, to investigate the connection between the large-scale processes of star formation and the smaller-scale mechanisms of planet formation. Collaborations with leading research institutions, including the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy (MPIA) and Milan's INAF Observatory, will enhance the project's reach and impact.

Expressing his enthusiasm about joining Queen Mary and starting the project, Dr Winter said, "I am very excited to join the team, where there is already a lot of exciting ongoing research on both planet formation and finding new exoplanets, offering great opportunities for future synergies."