Prof. Gary Fuller, PhD

Member of the Global Faculty

Gary Fuller is Professor of Astrophysics at the Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics (JBCA) in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Manchester in the UK.

After graduating in physics from Imperial College, London, he obtained his PhD in astronomy at the University of California, Berkeley before staying in the USA as a research fellow. First, he was at the Harvard-Smithsonian Centre for Astrophysics in Cambridge, Massachusetts then at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory in Tucson, Arizona and later in Charlottesville, Virginia. He returned to the UK to become a faculty member at UMIST, and later, the University of Manchester. Gary’s research interests include the observational study of star formation, particularly at radio to submillimetre wavelengths, including the application of machine learning techniques to observations and models, and developing millimetre/submillimetre instrumentation for astronomy.

He has published over 250 papers on astrophysics and instrumentation. He has supervised over 20 PhD students including co-supervising PhD students at institutions outside the UK. Gary is the principal investigator and lead-scientist of the UK ALMA Regional Centre (ARC) Node which is based in JBCA.  The ARC Node is part of the ESO ALMA Regional Center and supports UK astronomers exploit ALMA, the world’s leading millimetre/sub-millimetre telescope. He also co-leads the Advanced Radio Instrumentation Group (ARIG). ARIG is a cross-department research group in the Departments of Physics & Astronomy and Electrical & Electronic Engineering working on receiver technology, and especially low noise amplifiers, primarily from radio astronomy applications.  In the Department of Physics & Astronomy, Gary has held a range of senior positions including Director of Teaching, Director of Postgraduate Students, Director of External Affairs and Head of Internationalization. Currently he is Head of Internationalisation, Latin America, for the Faculty of Science and Engineering. 

Selected Publications

[1] Anderson, M., “An ALMA study of hub-filament systems - I. On the clump mass concentration within the most massive cores”, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, vol. 508, no. 2, pp. 2964–2978, 2021. doi:10.1093/mnras/stab2674.
[2] Avison, A., “Continuity of accretion from clumps to Class 0 high-mass protostars in SDC335”, Astronomy and Astrophysics, vol. 645, 2021. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201936043.
[3] Awang Iskandar, D. N. F., “Classification of Planetary Nebulae through Deep Transfer Learning”, Galaxies, vol. 8, no. 4, p. 88, 2020. doi:10.3390/galaxies8040088.
[4] Jones, B. M., “The evolutionary status of protostellar clumps hosting class II methanol masers”, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, vol. 493, no. 2, pp. 2015–2041, 2020. doi:10.1093/mnras/staa233.
[5] Yagoubov, P., “Wideband 67-116 GHz receiver development for ALMA Band 2”, Astronomy and Astrophysics, vol. 634, 2020. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201936777.

 
Contribution to UoC:

Gary Fuller works both on the formation of high-mass stars and in astrophysical instrumentation.  He has been a guest of the SFB 956 since December 2020.  Especially close is the collaboration in the field of large statistical studies of clustered star formation, and in the emerging field of polarization studies to characterize magnetic fields.  Another aspect is synergies in the use of machine learning methods for astrophysical data analysis, especially of large data sets. He is closely involved in the supervision of both Master's students and PhD students.  His perspective broadens the view of science, which has been enormously important for students, especially during the Corona period when opportunities to attend conferences were greatly reduced.  Students from Manchester also attend Cologne meetings, which is also an important internationalization component for the students.