Southampton astronomer explores evolution of the universe with international schools in Rome

University of Southampton astronomer Dr Francesco Shankar took pupils on an interactive journey around massive galaxies and black holes in a series of inspirational lectures in Rome.

Francesco, an Associate Professor in Southampton’s Astronomy Group, introduced the junior year pupils to physics models and presented his own area of research in galaxy evolution.

The international visit included lectures at St Stephen’s School, the American Overseas School of Rome and Marymount International School, before a special seminar with high school and university students at the British Council in Rome.

“It is always a touching experience to return to where I first discovered my passion for physics, and I hope this visit has gone some way to inspiring young people to follow our fascinating and rewarding subject,” Francesco says. “It was great to see the enthusiasm of students across the city. We’re already exploring next steps for future engagement in Italy and I hope that more experts from our University can share their knowledge at similar events in the future.”

Over one hundred prospective physicists took part in group activities as part of the short lecture series, which spanned from Tuesday 27th February to Thursday 1st March.

The British Council seminar, which was open to all school and university students in the area, offered the audience a basic understanding of how galaxy classification is quantitatively carried out by astronomers, before outlining some of the scenarios behind the the formation of various morphological types of galaxies and their central supermassive black holes.

Francesco started his career with a PhD from the International Advanced Studies Institute (SISSA) in Trieste, Italy, and developed global expertise in his field through stints at Ohio State University in the USA, the Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics in Germany and the Observatoire de Paris in France. He is now a Second Year Director of Studies in Southampton’s Department of Physics and Astronomy and is leading research into the theoretical modelling of galaxies, their central supermassive black holes and their host dark matter haloes.

Find out more about undergraduate and postgraduate study at the University of Southampton through the Physics and Astronomy website. Further requests for international lectures from Southampton astronomers are welcome and can be arranged through global@southampton.ac.uk.