Steven G. Murray

Steven G. Murray

Senior Lecturer

Stellenbosch University

Professional Summary

I am a Senior Lecturer at the Stellenbosch University School of Physics in Stellenbosch, South Africa. My research interests are in 21cm cosmology, cosmological structure formation, Bayesian statistical analysis, and creating useful open-source software for scientific applications.

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Education

PhD in Astrophysics

University of Western Australia

BSc (Honours) in Physics

University of Western Australia

BSc in Mathematics

University of Queensland

Interests

21cm Cosmology Bayesian methods Open-source scientific software and practices

Experience

  1. Marie Sklodowska-Curie Fellow

    Scuola Normale Superiore
    My MSCA fellowship project ‘FORWARD’ focused on developing Bayesian methods of understanding the full, correlated error budget of 21cm experiments like HERA, EDGES and the SKA.

  2. Research Scientist

    Arizona State University
    At ASU, I worked with the HERA interferometer and the EDGES global signal experiment, as well as leading development of the 21cmFAST simulation package. For HERA, I helped lead the Validation team, designing and running some of the most sophisticated instrumental simulations in the world. For EDGES, I have developed a new robust analysis pipeline to help confirm the potential first-ever detection of Cosmic Dawn.

  3. Postdoctoral Researcher

    Curtin University
    At ICRAR-Curtin, I worked within the EoR group, developing theoretical models in the context of the Murchison Widefield Array (MWA). I contributed to models of the ionosphere, as well improving statistical models of bright foregrounds.

Education

  1. PhD in Astrophysics

    University of Western Australia
    Thesis: “Next-Generation tools for next-generation surveys”. Supervised by Prof. Chris Power and Prof. Aaron Robotham.
    View Thesis

  2. BSc (Honours) in Physics

    University of Western Australia

  3. BSc in Mathematics

    University of Queensland
Skills & Hobbies
Technical Skills
Python
Bayesian Statistics
Hobbies
Piano
Reading Fantasy
Rugby League
Awards
Astronomy and Astrophysics Grant
National Science Foundation, USA ∙ September 2022
PI of project “Probing Cosmic Dawn with End-to-End Forward Models”. $445,607 USD over 3 years.
Astronomy and Astrophysics Grant: Collaborative
National Science Foundation ∙ September 2022
Institutional PI on “Collaborative Research: Exploring reionization and the cosmic dawn through cross-correlations.”. $82,359 over 3 years.
NASA Astrophysics Theory (ATP) Grant
NASA ∙ September 2022
Co-PI on project “A new window into galaxy physics and environments during cosmic dawn through cross-correlations” $473k USD over 3 years.
Marie Sklodowska-Curie Fellowship
European Commission ∙ July 2022
Awarded a prestigious MSCA fellowship to conduct research at Scuola Normale Superiore in Pisa, Italy.
Languages
100%
English
20%
Afrikaans
20%
Italian