Standing in the core of the MWA

I am a Dutch-Australian radio astronomer based at ASTRON, Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy, where I am Head of the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) Science group. I specialise in studying stars and exoplanets at radio wavelengths, which provides information about how magnetic fields are generated on such bodies. Such information is important for helping assess whether certain planets have favourable conditions for life as we know it. I am also an Associate Professor at the Anton Pannenkoek Institute, University of Amsterdam.

I completed my PhD in astrophysics at The University of Sydney in 2017. My PhD was focussed on understanding radio galaxy evolution and developing the Murchison Widefield Array (MWA), a SKA precursor. My main supervisors were Professor Bryan Gaensler (University of California, Santa Cruz) and Professor Ron Ekers (CSIRO). I was also the de Bruyn fellow at ASTRON, and a Veni Fellow and adjunct Assistant Professor at Leiden University.

I have given astronomy and general science talks to a range of audiences, including school students, amateur astronomy clubs, professional astronomers, and the general public (to both Dutch and international audiences). I believe that it is the responsibility of a tax-payer funded scientist to be a science communicator to the public, so if you need an astronomer or scientist to present a talk please do not hesitate to get in contact with me.

If you are prospective student, please do reach out about what projects I have on offer in my group. We are rapidly expanding and there is lots of interesting questions and datasets to be explored -- especially associated with determining radio periodicity in star-planet interactions, dynamo models, searching for stellar and sub-stellar objects at the lowest frequencies. I also study transient and variable phenomena, SETI, massive star evolution, and just about anything else in astronomy that radio might be able to cast an interesting light on.

Outside of science, my interests vary from reading, politics, independent cinemas (films and projection devices), running, rugby league, the gym, video games, and drinking too much beer/wine/whisky.

Curriculum Vitae

Short CV of my professional life.

Publications

A list of all the scientific publications I have authored and co-authored on NASA ADS.

Teaching Materials

Some teaching materials I have produced.

Students I have supervised

Below is a list of students that I have formally supervised/supervising and where they are now (as of October 2025).

2024 - present   A. Colclasure (University of Amsterdam), PhD Student
2023 - present   D. Konijn (University of Groningen), PhD Student (Co-supervised with Dr H. Vedantham)
2022 - present   S. Bloot (University of Groningen), PhD Student (Co-supervised with Dr H. Vedantham)
2022 - present   T. Wing (University of Groningen), PhD Student (Co-supervised with Dr H. Vedantham)
2023 - 2024   S. Jongman (Leiden University), Masters Student
2023 - 2024   L. Jansen (Leiden University), Masters Student
2023 - 2024   P. Rooijakkers (Leiden University), Masters Student
2023 - 2024   A. Rijkers (Leiden University), Masters Student
2022 - 2023   F. Ballieux (Leiden University), Masters Student, now doing a PhD at Leiden University
2022 - 2023   E. Benitez Walz (Leiden University), Masters Student, now doing a PhD at the University of Groningen
2018 - 2022   K. Ross (University of Curtin), PhD Student (Co-supervised with Dr N. Hurley-Walker), now staff at Australian SKA SRC
2021 - 2022   M. Slob (Leiden University), Masters Student, now completing a PhD at Leiden
2021 - 2022   E. van Dijk (Leiden University), Masters Student, now completing a PhD at Leiden University
2021 - 2022   R. Keers (Leiden University), Masters Student, now completing a PhD at the University of Göttingen
2020 - 2021   S. Bloot (Leiden University), Masters Student, now completing a PhD at University of Groningen
2020 - 2021   V. van Rooijen (Leiden University), Masters Student, now a high school mathematics teacher
2020 - 2021   P. Jol (Leiden University), Masters Student, now completing a PhD at Northumbria University
2019 - 2020   K. Veken (Leiden University), Masters Student, Data Engineer at Capegmini
2019 - 2020   S. Toet (Leiden University), Masters Student, Junior scientist at TNO
2019   I. Davis (University of Mexico), ASTRON Summer Student, now completing a PhD at Caltech
2018 - 2019   M. Keim (Leiden University), Masters Student, now completing a PhD at Yale University
2018   A. Tuson (University of Manchester), ASTRON Summer Student, now a postdoctoral researcher at NASA GSFC / UMBC
2017 - 2018   C. Bozon (University of Amsterdam), Bachelor Project, now at BCG

What rubbish am I reading now?

Latest update from Goodreads on the current book I am reading.

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Contact

ASTRON
Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy
Oude Hoogeveensedijk 4
7991 PD Dwingeloo
The Netherlands
+31 6 2929 7915
callingham@astron.nl