Samuel Wright

I joined UCL's CDT in Data Intensive Science because it presented a great opportunity to learn more about machine learning and data science, while combining an industry element with Astrophysics.

Project title: Non-LTE Molecular Spectroscopy for Exoplanet Atmospheres

Research Group: Astrophysics

Supervisor(s): Prof Sergey Yurchenko & Dr Ingo Waldmann

Introduction: 

I completed my undergraduate studies at UCL, graduating in 2017 with a first class MSci degree in Physics. My final year master's project was in particle physics, using machine learning to improve the classification of particles in CERN's ATLAS detector; to do this I took my first step into data intensive science by employing convolutional neural networks. After graduation, I joined Citigroup's global markets division in London where I worked in trading across a variety of asset classes and financial product types. I then joined UCL's CDT in Data Intensive Science because it presented a great opportunity to learn more about machine learning and data science, while allowing me to combine an industry element with my Astrophysics research interest: the study of Exoplanet atmospheres. This is a new and fascinating field which is moving at a fast pace and one to which I have greatly enjoyed contributing. 

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Project description:  

My PhD project investigates Exoplanet atmospheres, specifically looking at the composition of atmospheres at points where the molecules are not in local thermodynamic equilibrium (non-LTE). The aim is to gain a more detailed understanding of the molecules (e.g. water or methane) which are present in Exoplanet atmospheres. I use large custom molecular data sets coupled with Bayesian inference methods to analyse data collected from the Hubble and James Webb space telescopes in the context of these non-LTE effects. In addition, I also model Exoplanet transmission and emission spectra and simulate observations for space based instruments to evaluate the potential spectral detectability of these effects. 

First year group project: Babylon-2

Placement: SpaceLux

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