Staff Scientist at ASTRON, the Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy. I lead a research group working on nanohertz gravitational‑wave astrophysics, novel radio‑astronomy instrumentation, and the AI pipelines that make precision pulsar timing possible at scale.
Nanohertz gravitational waves offer a unique window into the population of supermassive black hole binaries formed during galaxy mergers, with the potential of revealing signatures of new physics from the earliest moments of cosmic history. I lead research at the forefront of nanohertz gravitational‑wave astronomy, developing novel methods to detect and characterise the gravitational‑wave background.
I co-founded the Gamma-ray Pulsar Timing Array, which remains the only independent pathway to detecting the background outside of radio. I also co-led the European PTA noise analysis that contributed to the first compelling evidence for the background in 2023. My work spans pulsar timing instrumentation (MeerKAT commissioning), Bayesian inference frameworks (TempoNest), data processing pipelines (meerpipe), and interstellar medium modelling. I hold a permanent staff position at ASTRON and lead a growing research group supported by over ~€2M in competitive funding, comprising a European Research Council Starting Grant and an NWO-I Veni fellowship.
Centre for Astrophysics and Supercomputing, Swinburne University of Technology. Melbourne, Australia.
Thesis: Timing Properties Across the Pulsar Population.
Advisors: Prof. M. Bailes, Prof. S. Johnston, Dr. W. van Straten, A/Prof. R. Shannon, Dr. S. Oslowski.
Anna University, India.
ASTRON, The Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy.
Leading the only research group in the Netherlands working on nanohertz gravitational‑wave astrophysics. Collaborating closely with ASTRON instrumentation and software engineers on several interdisciplinary projects that span the observatory.
Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy, Bonn, Germany.
Co-led the European PTA noise analysis team of roughly 30 researchers. Contributed directly to the landmark gravitational‑wave background evidence published in 2023. Co-founded the Gamma-ray Pulsar Timing Array in 2022.
Raman Research Institute, Bangalore, India; and Swinburne University of Technology, Australia.
Over €2M in competitive research funding as Principal Investigator, together with two international awards recognising the gravitational‑wave background result.
| Year | Award or grant | Role | Amount | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | ERC Starting Grant (project GIGA) | PI | ~€1,700,000 | 5 years |
| 2022 | NWO-I Veni Fellowship | PI | ~€300,000 | 3 years |
| 2024 | Dutch Supercomputing Grant (SURF) | PI | 5M+ compute hours | 2 years |
Regular invitations to speak at institutions across the Netherlands and internationally on ongoing research topics in pulsar timing and gravitational‑wave astrophysics. Highlights below.
I currently supervise a growing research group at ASTRON and have co-supervised PhD theses at MPIfR. Group alumni are already moving into leadership roles in international collaborations, and one former postdoc has secured a permanent academic position.
Direct supervision of 2 MSc students, 2 PhD students, and 2 postdoctoral researchers. One former postdoc has secured a permanent academic position. Group members hold leadership positions in IPTA noise modelling and gravitational‑wave background search teams.
Co-supervised components of 2 PhD theses at the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy. Mentored several students beyond formal supervisory capacity.
Designed and delivered lectures for IPTA student weeks, the African Pulsar Timing Community, and Max Planck IMPRS schools for international PhD students. Delivered the South African Pulsar Timing Workshop in 2021 with practical, reproducible exercises.
Active engagement in the strategic direction of the pulsar timing community, in Dutch national science policy for the SKA, and in organising international meetings and refereeing.
I develop and maintain TempoNest, a Bayesian pulsar timing inference package that is widely used in the pulsar timing community. I also maintain meerpipe, the MeerKAT data analysis pipeline that has processed more than 30,000 observations of 1,500+ pulsars, the largest pulsar data release to date.
Developed VR-based outreach applications for ASTRON visitors and school students over 2023 and 2024.
Co-leading a ~€15M funding proposal to upgrade the Westerbork radio dishes into a national facility for radio astronomy. The upgrade will provide critical synergies with the Deep Synoptic Array and hands-on training opportunities for the next generation of radio astronomers and engineers.
Co-leading the development of a novel phased-array feed telescope design in collaboration with Breakthrough Listen and ASTRON, targeted at wide-field surveys for pulsars and transient science.