Short formal biography:

Ray Norris is an astrophysicist at the CSIRO Australia Telescope National Facility. He received an Honours Degree in Theoretical Physics at Cambridge University, UK, and then a PhD at Manchester University, UK. He moved to Australia in 1983 to work for CSIRO Australia Telescope National Facility, where he became Head of Astrophysics in 1994, and Deputy Director in 2000. He currently leads a project to image the faintest radio galaxies and star-forming galaxies in the Universe, to understand how they form and evolve. He also studies the astronomy of Aboriginal Australians, and is an Adjunct Professor in the Dept. of Indigenous Studies at Macquarie University.

Long informal biography (I suggest you don’t use the whole thing – use whichever bits are appropriate):

Ray Norris is an astrophysicist at the CSIRO Australia Telescope National Facility.

As a teenager in England, he loved the lonely windswept hills of Dartmoor, where he’d lie on the ground at night, staring up at the black sky, wondering whether there was anyone out there standing on some distant planet, looking back at our Sun and wondering if there was intelligent life down here. He attended St. Albans School, where he became notorious for his passion for Amateur Radio, and built a small radio-telescope at home operating at a wavelength of 13 cm. A high point of this project was detecting the Apollo 13 spacecraft, listening in to the astronauts' conversations. He then studied at Cambridge, where he received an Honours Degree in Theoretical Physics. He went on to do a PhD and a postdoc at Jodrell Bank, near Manchester, where he tried to use natural interstellar masers to unravel the processes of star formation. He also tackled the problem of whether Stonehenge and other Bronze-age monuments had been built as astronomical observatories (they were, but not very good ones). It was during his PhD that he first experienced the thrill of discovering a new piece of knowledge to add to the sum of human wisdom. He quickly became addicted to that feeling and has spent the rest of his life trying to get regular fixes.

In 1983, Ray and his family fled from the cold and murky Manchester weather to the sunnier climes of Sydney, to help with the design of the Australia Telescope National Facility (ATNF). His research interests gradually moved outwards from star formation to luminous galaxies, and he shouldered an increasing management role. In 1994 he became Head of Astrophysics at the ATNF, and in 2000 became Deputy Director. In 2001 he led the successful bid for Australian astronomy under the Federal Government’s “Major National Research Facilities” (MNRF) program, and then established and was Foundation Director of the Australian Astronomy MNRF. He was awarded an Honorary Research Professorship by the University of Tasmania in 1999, and an Adjunct Professorship by Swinburne University in 2000.

In 2005, he left management to concentrate on research, and is currently leading the Australia Telescope Large Area Survey (ATLAS) project, which is the widest deep radio survey yet attempted, with the goal of imaging the faintest radio galaxies and star-forming galaxies in the Universe, to help understand how they form and evolve. He is also now leading the EMU (Evolutionary Map of the Universe) project, which will use the ASKAP telescope to survey 75% of the sky at an unprecedented sensitivity.

He is also fascinated by the challenge of optimising the transformation of scientific data into knowledge, and ensuring that they are available to all scientists through the data centres and Virtual Observatory, rather than being hidden in some dusty archive. To this end, he initiated the Australian Virtual Observatory Project, is a member of the Executive Committee of  CODATA (the Data Committee of the International Council for Science), President of IAU Commission 5 (Astronomical Data), and a member of the Strategic Committee on Information and Data (SCID) of the International Council for Science.

In 2005 he started to study the astronomy of indigenous Australians, and was stunned by the depth and richness of culture which is largely unappreciated in non-indigenous communities. This study has now become a significant research project. In 2008 he was awarded on Adjunct Professorship in the Dept. of Indigenous Studies at Macquarie University.

He is also a graduate of Sydney Leadership 2000 (an initiative of the Benevolent Society), and regularly contributes to Wikipedia and other publications, particularly on contemporary Aboriginal issues.

He has about 230 academic publications and many media appearances.The best things about his job are:
(a) The excitement of being involved in one of the most exhilarating areas of science. He is astounded by the sheer arrogance of this little human race living on an obscure little planet, who are actually able to deduce the way that the Universe came into being, simply by making observations of the sky.
(b) The variety: He is rarely doing the same thing for very long, and is constantly having to learn new things. His working hours are all over the place, he travels a lot, and he gets to meet some of the most fascinating people alive!

 

Shortened version of the above:

  • Ray Norris is an astrophysicist at the CSIRO Australia Telescope National Facility (ATNF).
  • Born in England, he obtained an MA in theoretical physics at Cambridge, followed by a PhD and postdoc in radioastronomy at Manchester, while also studying the astronomy of ancient standing stones.
  • In 1983, Ray and his family fled the Manchester weather for the sunnier climes of Sydney, joining the ATNF as a research scientist, then Head of Astrophysics, and eventually Deputy Director.
  • In 2005, he left management to research the formation of the first galaxies in the Universe,
  • He also studies the astronomy of Aboriginal Australians. In 2008 he was awarded on Adjunct Professorship in the Dept. of Indigenous Studies at Macquarie University.
  • He has about 230 academic publications and many media appearances.

Other info:

Primary research project: the Australia Telescope Large Area Survey (ATLAS) and its successor: EMU

Other research projects and interests:

·         COLA (Compact Low-power AGN)

·         Aboriginal Astronomy

·         Sydney Aboriginal Rock Engravings

·         Sydney Leadership 2000 (an initiative of the Benevolent Society),

·         Frequent contributor to Wikipedia and other publications

Another obsession: how to optimise the transformation of scientific data into knowledge, resulting in the following activities:

·         Member of the Executive Committee of  CODATA (the Data Committee of the International Council for Science),

·         President of IAU Commission 5 (Astronomical Data),

·         Member of the Strategic Committee on Information and Data (SCID) of the International Council for Science.

Last updated: 18 March 2009
Ray Norris (ray.norris@csiro.au)