Dr Keir Rogers

I am a theoretical and observational cosmologist working as a UKRI STFC Ernest Rutherford Fellow at Imperial College London. I am researching what is the origin, contents and future fate of our Universe and how this is connected to the fundamental particles and fields that make up us and everything around us. Modern cosmology tells us that 95% of the Universe today comprises mysterious dark matter and dark energy. I am particularly working on understanding these dark components through how they affect the structure of the cosmos. This means I have the pleasure of working in international teams with data from the major astronomical telescopes on the Earth and in space: the Vera C. Rubin Observatory, the Euclid space telescope, the Simons Observatory and the Atacama Cosmology Telescope. In order to detect the dark Universe in the extraordinary images from these telescopes, I develop and apply advanced artificial intelligence (AI) methods to analyse the tens of billions of stars and galaxies that we observe.

I grew up in the Roman capital of Britain, Colchester, and previously studied and worked at the University of Oxford, University College London, Stockholm University and the University of Toronto. I passionately believe that academia should represent the wider population and that the public should share in the wonders of the Universe that we are helping to reveal. Through the Speakers for Schools programme, I want to demystify what is being a scientist and, in particular, highlight technical skills and careers in AI and space science that exist in physics and astronomy.