Profile
Roan Haggar
My CV
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Education:
I went to school in Gravesend in Kent, then to Durham University
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Qualifications:
GCSEs in Maths, English and Science (plus others!), A-levels in Maths, Further Maths, Physics and Chemistry, and a MPhys degree in Physics. Currently working towards a PhD in Physics
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Work History:
Before going to university, I delivered newspapers when I was a teenager — everyone has got to start somewhere! Whilst I was at university I spent short periods working for a company building radiation detectors, and also in the physics department at my university looking at dark matter particles, before deciding to settle on astrophysics.
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Current Job:
PhD student
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About Me:
I’m an astrophysicist who researches large groups of galaxies. When I’m not thinking about space, I’m usually either rock climbing or playing guitar (but not both at the same time!).
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I live in Nottingham with two other astrophysicists, so we spend a lot of time talking about science! When not doing that, I’m usually either out climbing something with them, or in my back garden trying to make friends with my neighbour’s cats. I also like cooking, especially curries, which are my favourite food.
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As an astrophysicist, I get excited by anything to do with space. I’m interested in galaxies, which are huge, beautiful objects made of stars. I’m particularly interested in large groups of galaxies, called galaxy clusters. I try to work out when these clusters formed, what happens to galaxies if they get sucked into a cluster, and how the clusters grow and change over time.
However, galaxy clusters change very slowly, sometimes taking billions of years, which makes it hard to see how they change! To solve this problem, I use computer simulations. To do this, I build galaxy clusters inside my computer, which I can then fast-forward and rewind to see how they change. This then tells us how real galaxy clusters change, without having to wait billions of years!
I’m lucky enough to work at the University of Nottingham, which is a great place to be a scientist. The surroundings are nice and green, with a lovely lake to take relaxing walks round after lunch, and some nice big fields to do some stargazing in at night! I also work with other scientists who live in places all over the world, like Spain, Scotland, USA and Australia.
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My Typical Day:
I spend most of my time either speaking with other scientists to come up with new ideas, or trying to understand what’s going on in my computer simulations.
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I work in a large group of scientists, so I spend a lot of my day talking with them. Having conversations with other scientists is very useful, as it lets us combine our ideas and come up with new ways to work together to solve our problems. Often we realise that we’re both trying to answer similar questions about galaxies, and it’s much easier to answer these questions together.
Other than that, I spend a lot of time working on my computer, trying to understand my galaxy cluster simulations. These have a huge amount of data, so my job is to go through this and try to work out what’s actually going on! I work in an office with several other scientists, which also helps us work together, and makes it even more fun!
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What I'd do with the prize money:
Help to buy new equipment and develop new activities for the University of Nottingham’s inflatable planetarium project, which I help manage. We have also recently developed some new online activities, so I would like to provide some materials for schools to help us deliver these.
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My Interview
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How would you describe yourself in 3 words?
Food and physics
What did you want to be after you left school?
I wasn't sure, it took me a while to decide!
Were you ever in trouble at school?
Only a little bit...
Who is your favourite singer or band?
Hard to decide... maybe The Cure?
What's your favourite food?
A nice spicy curry
If you had 3 wishes for yourself what would they be? - be honest!
I only need one -- to have an unlimited tube of Pringles!
Tell us a joke.
What's the point in decimals?
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