Vik Dhillon ORCID iD icon

Professor of Astrophysics

Astrophysics Research Cluster
School of Mathematical & Physical Sciences
University of Sheffield
Sheffield S3 7RH
United Kingdom



vik.dhillon at sheffield.ac.uk

  
Affiliated Researcher

Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias
38205 La Laguna
Tenerife
Spain

 

 


I am a Professor of Astrophysics and Head of the Astrophysics Research Cluster (ARC) in the School of Mathematical & Physical Sciences at the University of Sheffield, and an Affiliated Researcher at the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) on Tenerife. Prior to moving to Sheffield in 1998, I worked at the Royal Greenwich Observatory, first at Herstmonceux/University of Sussex, then on La Palma, and finally in Cambridge. I was awarded the Royal Astronomical Society Jackson-Gwilt Medal in 2013. From 2014-2019, I was an ERC Advanced Grant holder. I am currently an editor of the RAS Techniques and Instruments journal (RASTI), and a member of ESO Council.

My primary research interests are in the field of close binary stars, in which at least one stellar component is a white dwarf, neutron star or black hole. This work has led me and my collaborators to develop a series of high-speed cameras, ULTRACAM, ULTRASPEC and HiPERCAM, as well as a robotic telescope on La Palma, pt5m. I am also interested in observing gravitational-wave sources in the Universe discovered by the LIGO Scientific Collaboration, most likely emitted by close binary stars. My effort in this area is currently focused on GOTO, a wide-field survey telescope we have developed on La Palma and in Australia that is searching for electromagnetic counterparts to gravitational-wave transients.