Dr. Matthew Allen
Education
Cardiff University (2012-2016) – PhD in Astrophysics
Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) funded research PhD in Astrophysics, entitled ‘The study of sub-millimetre galaxies with the Herschel Space Observatory’.
Cardiff University (2007-2011) – MPhys Astrophysics – Awarded 2:1
Combined BSc and MSc in Astrophysics. Modules include Computing, Practical Mathematics, Advanced Mathematics, Galaxy Evolution, Quantum Mechanics and Astronomical Techniques. Supervisor Professor Derek Ward-Thompson.
Secondary School (2000-2007)
A Levels – Mathematics, Physics, ICT.
AS Levels – Business Studies.
GCSEs – Maths, Science, English, History, ICT, German, Business Studies.
Employment and Postgraduate History
Science Made Simple and Faulkes Telescope Project (2016-present) – Science Communicator
- Development of educational resources to be used in workshops and distributed to schools.
- Educational app development, including virtual reality, augmented reality and 360-degree virtual tours. This includes app design, building, marketing and publishing.
- Design, creation, delivery and evaluation of school workshops.
- Grant writing – successfully awarded 2 public engagement grants from the Royal Astronomical Society and 2 public engagement grants from the Institute of Physics. This includes management of said grants, development, budget management and evaluation.
- Project management – managing a Science and Technology Facilities Council ‘Large Award’ grant.
- Writing regular blog posts and news stories for Science Made Simple and Faulkes Telescope websites.
- Teacher CPD delivery.
- Basic website design and building.
- Marketing and promotional material design and printing liaison.
- Social media account creation and maintenance.
- Event organisation.
Cardiff University (2012-2016) – PhD in Astrophysics
- PhD entitled ‘Studying sub millimetre galaxies with the Herschel Space Observatory’.
- Analysing astronomical images.
- Development of computer code (FORTRAN, Python) to analyse data.
- Statistical analysis of results.
- Experience working with LaTeX and Word to write up scientific work.
- Event organisation, including the inaugural Physics Early Career Research Conference and the UCMMT conference 2015.
European Space Agency (2011-2012) – Young Graduate Trainee
- 1 year fixed contract graduate trainee scheme, based in Leiden, Netherlands.
- Testing of software and algorithms on board the Gaia Satellite (FORTRAN).
- Development of simulated astronomical data.
UKAstroNut (2013 – present) – Founder
- Multimedia communication platform focused on developing and publishing science themed articles through YouTube, smartphone Apps and social media.
Honours and Awards
- Winner of the inaugural Elsevier Researchers Choice Communication Award, 2015. Awarded in recognition of excellence in science communication.
- Cardiff University, Bessy Jones Postgraduate Bursary. Awarded for outstanding postgraduate research, 2015.
- Cardiff University, Speaking of Science – People’s Choice, Oral Presentation, 2014.
- Cardiff University Physics, Josephson prize. Awarded for outstanding contribution to outreach and public engagement, 2014.
- Institute of Physics, 3 minute wonder, finalist.
Meetings and Conferences
- National Astronomy Meeting, 2015. Presentation on ‘Virtual Reality in Astronomy Outreach’.
- National Astronomy Meetings 2013 & 2014.
- Robotic Telescope conference, 2016. Presentation on the Faulkes Telescope Project.
Skills
Public Engagement
- History of successful grant awards – 2 public engagement grants from the Royal Astronomical Society and 2 from the Institute of Physics since 2015.
- Design, creation, delivery and evaluation of educational school workshops.
- Extensive experience engaging with the public and students at high profile public events, including Cheltenham Science Festival and the Big Bang Fair.
- Numerous public talks, several as an invited speaker.
- Several appearances in the media, both in radio interviews and invited written articles.
- Extensive experience in blog writing.
- Experience of running a YouTube channel, providing science themed videos to over 750 subscribers.
- Self funded media training.
Educational app development and coding
- 3 years experience developing apps and software for educational purposes, including virtual and augmented reality.
- Five published apps on the Google Play Store.
- Experience in website maintenance and content creation in HTML.
- Extensive experience using WordPress platform
- Experience utilising API’s with Python.
Project and Event Management
- Running four public engagement grants as the principal investigator.
- Managing a large (£100k) public engagement grant from the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC).
- Supporting organiser for the ‘Museum After Dark’ event in Cardiff 2016.
- Science Cafe Cardiff organising committee 2014-2016.
Computer skills
- Accomplished in Microsoft Office Suite, including Word, Excel, Powerpoint and Publisher.
- Accomplished using Windows, iOS and Unix systems.
- Accomplished using graphical editing software, including GIMP and Photoshop.
- Accomplished using WordPress and Google Sites.
- Accomplished using video editing software Adobe Premier.
- Experienced using MailChimp, Eventbrite and Google Analytics.
- Accomplished using social media platforms for the promotion of engagement organisations, events and news.
Media
- ‘Aspiring Noddy Holders take note – scientist cracks formula for sure-fire Christmas hit’, Daily Express – December 2013.
- Several live appearances on BBC Radio Wales, discussing Astronomy and Space related news stories.
- Winner of the BBC Radio Wales Christmas science quiz 2014.
Academic Publications
Detecting stars, galaxies, and asteroids with Gaia. J.H.J. de Bruijne, M. Allen, S. Azaz, A. Krone-Martins, T. Prod’homme, D. Hestroffer. 2015.
H-ATLAS/GAMA: Quantifying the Morphological Evolution of the Galaxy Population Using Cosmic Calorimetry. Stephen Eales, Andrew Fullard, Matthew Allen, et al. 2015.
The Herschel-ATLAS: a sample of 500μm-selected lensed galaxies over 600 square degrees. M. Negrello, S. Amber, A. Amvrosiadis, Z.-Y. Cai, A. Lapi, J. Gonzalez-Nuevo, G. De Zotti, C. Furlanetto, S. Maddox, M. Allen, et al. 2016.