Dr Philip Wiseman awarded prestigious Ernest Rutherford Fellowship from the Royal Society

The University is delighted to announce that Dr Philip Wiseman, a physics and astronomy researcher, has been awarded the esteemed Ernest Rutherford Fellowship. This prestigious award recognises and supports the most promising early-career researchers in the UK, enabling them to advance their careers and make groundbreaking discoveries in their fields.

Dr Wiseman's research focuses on unravelling the mysteries of cosmic explosions, the most energetic events in the universe. These explosions signal the deaths of stars and the growth of supermassive black holes. Recent telescope surveys have revealed a handful of exceptionally bright and long-lasting flares emanating from these black holes, unlike anything previously observed. The cause and nature of these flares remain a puzzle. 

Through the Ernest Rutherford Fellowship, Dr Wiseman will embark on a mission to identify and analyse hundreds of these gigantic flares. He will utilise data from advanced telescopes to measure their properties, including temperature, size, and chemical composition. This comprehensive analysis aims to shed light on these flares' origin and impact on the galaxies in which they reside. 

Dr Wiseman's research extends beyond black hole flares, encompassing supernovae, the spectacular explosions of stars. He is particularly interested in understanding the variations in brightness observed in certain white dwarf supernovae, depending on the type of galaxy they occur in. By leveraging innovative simulation techniques and data from the same powerful telescopes, he strives to uncover the root cause of this phenomenon and its implications for our understanding of the universe's composition. 

Dr Wiseman's academic journey began with an MPhys degree from Durham University, followed by a PhD from the Max-Planck-Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics in Germany. In 2017, he joined the University of Southampton for a postdoctoral research position and became a leading researcher. He actively contributes to the Dark Energy Survey and the 4MOST collaboration. 

The University congratulates Dr Wiseman on this well-deserved recognition. His research holds immense potential to revolutionise our understanding of the universe's most violent phenomena.