Professor Tamara Davis - Astrophysicist, Faculty of Science - Careers

Professor Tamara is an award winning astrophysicist.

"Working at UQ I get to share in the respect and trust that is afforded to researchers working at top universities. Having the resources of such a large institution behind you allows you to think big, and makes grand plans feasible."

When did you originally join UQ and what motivated you to join?

In 2008 I came to UQ to join a project called the WiggleZ Dark Energy Survey that was being led by Prof Michael Drinkwater. It was the world-leading project making the largest ever map of the distribution of galaxies in the universe, and using these to figure out how the expansion of the universe has changed over the last 7 billion years or so. Excitingly the expansion appears to be speeding up… contrary to our expectation that gravity should be pulling everything together and therefore slowing it down. My career has been based on trying to figure out what the “dark energy” is that is causing that acceleration, and UQ has been a great place for me to do that.

What keeps you at UQ and what does the future hold for you at UQ?

UQ has been very supportive of my research and it has been enormous fun building up my research group here and growing the astrophysics group in general. The support UQ gives for people applying for grant funding is exceptional. I had an Australian Research Council Future Fellowship here, and now I have a Laureate Fellowship, which is helping me build a great team to answer some really big conundrums in cosmology. I’m looking forward to continuing that growth and building upon our collegial friendly atmosphere so it’s a fun place to work.

What do you do and why is it important?

I study cosmology, which means I study the universe as a whole. I use the natural experiments that go on up in space — exploding stars, merging galaxies, supermassive black holes — to understand physics at its most extreme, so we can better understand how physics works here on Earth. In addition to learning more about physics, and more about how the universe evolved to make humans on this little planet we call Earth, there’s lots of other benefits to this kind of work. For one thing, it involves working in big international teams, and the good will that is fostered during these types of projects across cultures is extremely valuable. Another aspect is the excellent training our students and postdocs get in computing, analysis, and problem solving, which can then get applied in many industries. Finally, the inspiration it gives to young students helps get more people interested in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Maths (STEM), and having a well-educated workforce in these areas is key to a booming economy.

What makes UQ an employer of choice for women?

A lot of attention is paid to equity issues here, and I’ve been pleased to be part of the faculty Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion committee that designs and implements initiatives to help women in STEM. There’s still a long way to go, but it is great to be at an institution where improving the field is seriously on the mind of the management and they are willing to put effort into helpful initiatives.

More specifically, why should women in STEM subjects consider working at UQ?

Women in STEM should consider working at UQ for the same reason they might work in research anywhere. Research is an incredibly fun, rewarding, and flexible profession. You can study something you find fascinating, and often get to make your own hours. It’s also very competitive, and can be challenging, but at the same time incredibly rewarding. There’s never been a better time to be a woman in STEM!