Skip to content

People

Dr Erminia Calabrese

Dr Erminia Calabrese

Lecturer
STFC Ernest Rutherford Fellow
Astronomy Instrumentation Group
and Astronomy Group

School of Physics and Astronomy

Email:
calabresee@cardiff.ac.uk
Telephone:
+44 (0)29 2087 5031
Location:
N/0.27, Queen's Buildings, 5 The Parade, Newport Road, Cardiff, CF24 3AA

I am a cosmologist using observations of the relic light from the Big Bang, the cosmic microwave background (CMB), to constrain the properties of the Universe.

Here at Cardiff, I am an STFC Ernest Rutherford Fellow and Lecturer working between the Astronomy & Astrophysics and the Astonomy Instrumentation groups.

Career Overview

  • 2017-date    STFC Ernest Rutherford Fellow and Lecturer - Cardiff University (UK)
  • 2016-17       STFC Ernest Rutherford Fellow - University of Oxford (UK)
  • 2015-16       Lyman Spitzer Jr. Fellow - Princeton University (USA)
  • 2014-15       Beecroft Fellow - University of Oxford (UK)
  • 2011-14       PDRA in astrophysics and cosmology - University of Oxford (UK)

College Positions

  • 2013-17       Junior Research Fellow at Wolfson College, Oxford (UK)
  • 2011-17       Research Member at the Exeter College, Oxford (UK)

Education

  • 2008-11     PhD  in Astronomy - Sapienza, Universita` di Roma (Ita)
  • 2006-08     Master  (MSc) in Astronomy and Astrophysics - Sapienza, Universita` di Roma (Ita)
  • 2003-06     Bachelor  (BSc) in Physics and Astrophysics - Sapienza, Universita` di Roma (Ita)

Awards

  • 2018    Gruber prize in cosmology as a member of the Planck team
  • 2018    Royal Astronomical Society Group Achievement Award for the Planck Team
  • 2016    STFC Ernest Rutherford Fellowship
  • 2012    Junior Research Fellowship (non-stipendiary), Wolfson College, Oxford

  • 2011    Tito Maiani prize for thesis in physics

Professional services

  • Refereeing
    • Reviewer for PRD, PRL, JCAP, ApJ, MNRAS, A&A
  • Speaking Engagement
    • I get regular invitations to give seminars, colloquia and conference/workshop talks. Over the last 7 years I have spoken at Rome, Tenerife, Royal Astronomical Society-London, Stockholm, Florence, Louvain, Kings College London, Leiden, EPFL-Lausanne, UCL-London, Liverpool, Cardiff, Portsmouth, Sussex, Cambridge, Queen Mary-London, Crete, Oxford, Imperial College-London, Durham, Manchester, Amsterdam, Bielefeld, Heidelberg, SISSA-Trieste, and Bonn in Europe; and BNL/Brookhaven, Ann Arbor-Michigan, Cornell, IAS-Princeton, and Chicago in the USA.
  • Memberships of Scientific Societies
    • 2016-date     Member of the Cosmology and Astrophysics Network for Theoretical Advances and Training Actions (CANTATA) supported by the European Cooperation in Science and Technology
    • 2015-date     Member of the International Astronomical Union
  • Committees 
    • 2018-19     PhD admission committee, Cardiff Astronomy
    • 2017-19     Co-organiser of the LiteBIRD:Europe meetings 
    • 2017          PhD admission committee, Oxford Astrophysics
    • 2016          Co-organizer (committee of 6 people) of Symposium on “CMB polarization foregrounds” at EWASS 2016, Athens, Greece
    • 2016          LOC member of the LSST DESC Collaboration meeting, Oxford
    • 2016          Co-organiser of the Astrophysics journal club, Oxford
    • 2014          Co-organizer of the ACT Collaboration meeting, Oxford
    • 2012-13     Co-organiser of the cosmology seminars, Oxford

    • 2013          LOC member of the “Synergetic Science with Euclid and the Square Kilometre Array” workshop, Oxford

  • Outreach
    • 2019          Talk at the Cardiff Sixth Form College for A-level students
    • 2018          Interviews for Nature Astronomy and New Scientist magazine 
    • 2018          Panel member at "Beyond Einstein: The Future of Physics", the Cheltenham Science Festival, UK
    • 2017          Panel member at "The Universe: What Don't We Know", the Cheltenham Science Festival, UK
    • 2015-17     Interviews for Symmetry Magazine and New Scientist UK
    • 2011-15     Stargazing Oxford
    • 2013          Royal Societry Summer Science Exhibition, London

2019

2018

2017

2016

2015

2014

2013

2012

2011

2010

2009

2008

My research combines theoretical work with statistical data analysis to answer fundamental questions about the Universe. I lead work on characterising multi-frequency CMB microwave data, on combining data from satellite and ground-based experiments, and on extracting the underlying primordial CMB signal carrying the imprint of the physics of the early Universe, leading to state-of-the-art constraints on neutrino physics, inflation, dark matter and dark energy physics.

I am a member of many CMB experiments: I am a long-standing science member of the Atacama Cosmology Telescope, a Scientist of the Planck mission, and a full member of the Simons Observatory for which I lead pipeline development for characterizing small-scale data and serve on the Theory and Analysis Committee. I am a full member of the proposed, Japanese-led LiteBIRD mission for which I also serve as UK National coordinator and European Deputy Spokesperson for LiteBIRD-Europe.

I am also a full member of the LSST Dark Energy Science Collaboration, and a member of the Euclid Collaboration, looking at how to combine low-redshift data with the CMB.

  • Gayathri Eknath, PhD student at Cardiff (2018-date) -- characterization and cosmological interpretation of CMB data from the Atacama Cosmology Telescope.
  • Christiane Lorenz, PhD student at the University of Oxfrod (2016-date) -- constraining neutrino physics and dark energy with low- and high-redshift data.

During 2013-2017 I have served as Advisor for graduate students at Wolfson College, Oxford.

Areas of expertise