Dr Kevin Pimbblet

Professor Kevin Pimbblet

Director of DAIM; Professor

Faculty and Department

  • Faculty of Science and Engineering
  • Data Science AI and Modelling Centre (DAIM)

Qualifications

  • PhD / DPhil (Durham University)

Summary

Kevin is an experienced British-Australian observational astronomer and applied data scientist, having worked in multiple research intensive institutions across two continents.

He read his PhD at the University of Durham (Collingwood College) and, following more than a decade in Australia, returned to the UK in 2014. He is the inaugural Director of the Centre of Excellence for Data Science, AI and Modelling (DAIM) at the University of Hull.

His core research interests cover a number of modern astrophysical topics and issues in the umbrella areas of extra-galactic astronomy and astrophysics, large-scale structure of the Universe and cosmology, along with allied and applied sciences.

Recent outputs

View more outputs

Journal Article

A catalogue of complex radio sources in the Rapid ASKAP Continuum Survey created using a Self-Organising Map

Alam, A., Pimbblet, K., & Gordon, Y. (2025). A catalogue of complex radio sources in the Rapid ASKAP Continuum Survey created using a Self-Organising Map. Publications / Astronomical Society of Australia, 42, Article e013. https://doi.org/10.1017/pasa.2024.133

The Galaxy Zoo catalogues for Galaxy and Mass Assembly (GAMA) survey

Holwerda, B. W., Robertson, C., Cook, K., Pimbblet, K., Casura, S., Sansom, A. E., Patel, D., Butrum, T. A., Glass, D. H. W., Kelvin, L. S., Baldry, I. K., De Propris, R., Bamford, S., Masters, K., Stone, M. B., Hardin, T., Walmsley, M., Liske, J., & Adnan, S. M. (2024). The Galaxy Zoo catalogues for Galaxy and Mass Assembly (GAMA) survey. Publications / Astronomical Society of Australia, 41, Article e115. https://doi.org/10.1017/pasa.2024.109

Can ChatGPT pass a physics degree? Making a case for reformation of assessment of undergraduate degrees

Pimbblet, K., & Morrell, L. (2025). Can ChatGPT pass a physics degree? Making a case for reformation of assessment of undergraduate degrees. European Journal of Physics, 46(1), Article 015702. https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6404/ad9874

A search for H i absorption in distant star-forming galaxies with ASKAP-FLASH -I. Selection and analysis of the radio sample

Eden, S. L., Sadler, E. M., Pimbblet, K. A., Mahony, E. K., & Yoon, H. (2025). A search for H i absorption in distant star-forming galaxies with ASKAP-FLASH -I. Selection and analysis of the radio sample. Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 536(1), 387-407. https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stae2581

Presentation / Conference Contribution

A Single Shot Multi-Head Gender, Age, and Landmarks Detection using Shared Convolution Features

Khan, G., Pimbblet, K., Wertheim, K., & Ahmed, W. (2024, August). A Single Shot Multi-Head Gender, Age, and Landmarks Detection using Shared Convolution Features. Presented at 2024 29th International Conference on Automation and Computing (ICAC), Sunderland, United Kingdom

Research interests

The following gives an indication of the research interests that Kevin has. Please feel free to get in contact if you are interested in a PhD in these areas or allied areas.

- Galaxy evolution, formation, and environment over cosmologically significant timescales

- Applied AI and machine learning, data science

- Stellar populations inside galaxies and their response to their physical environment, star formation in galaxies, and active galactic nuclei

- Clusters and superclusters of galaxies, their kinematics, constituents, and growth, brightest cluster galaxies (cD galaxies), and dwarf galaxies

- The large-scale structure of the Universe, including filaments of galaxies that stretch between galaxy clusters, voids, and topology

- Large, wide-field, and deep spectroscopic and imaging surveys of the sky, detailed spectroscopic and imaging analysis

- Astronomical image processing, automated classification

- Astrophysics and physics education

- Random number generation, statistics, statistical methods, and game theory

Lead investigator

Project

Funder

Grant

Started

Status

Project

Office for Students PG Conversion Course Funding

Funder

Office for Students

Grant

£500,000.00

Started

1 September 2023

Status

Ongoing

Project

EMO-GP: Emission Mechanisms of Giant Pulses

Funder

STFC Science & Technology Facilities Council

Grant

£446,691.00

Started

1 April 2024

Status

Ongoing

Project

Cosmic Chronometers in t he GAMA fields

Funder

The Royal Astronomical Society

Grant

£1,200.00

Started

23 June 2020

Status

Complete

Project

A ram pressure stripping toy model for jellyfish galaxies

Funder

The Royal Astronomical Society

Grant

£1,200.00

Started

1 July 2021

Status

Complete

Project

Additional scholarship funding for MSc in AI and Data Science

Funder

Office for Students

Grant

£60,000.00

Started

1 January 2023

Status

Complete

Project

Undergraduate Bursary: Star Formation Quenching Efficiency in Filaments of Galaxies

Funder

The Royal Astronomical Society

Grant

£1,200.00

Started

1 July 2018

Status

Complete

Co-investigator

Project

Funder

Grant

Started

Status

Project

iCASE PhD studentship with QinetiQ (via Newcastle University)

Funder

EPSRC Engineering & Physical Sciences Research Council

Grant

£98,000.00

Started

1 January 2024

Status

Ongoing

Project

iCASE PhD Studentship with QinetiQ

Funder

EPSRC Engineering & Physical Sciences Research Council

Grant

£42,000.00

Started

1 January 2024

Status

Ongoing

Project

Harnessing responsible use of technology for social and economic development in Burkina Faso: supporting community-led cultural heritage data governance through digital/AI literacy

Funder

British Academy

Grant

£124,722.00

Started

1 June 2024

Status

Ongoing

Project

Experiencing human-wildlife conflict management through playful learning

Funder

British Ecological Society

Grant

£3,460.00

Started

1 December 2024

Status

Ongoing

Project

Astrophysics at the University of Hull

Funder

STFC Science & Technology Facilities Council

Grant

£704,947.00

Started

1 April 2018

Status

Complete

Project

STFC Introductory Astronomy School - 2021

Funder

STFC Science & Technology Facilities Council

Grant

£49,315.00

Started

1 April 2021

Status

Complete

Project

National Data Strategy Pilot Funding

Funder

Office for Students

Grant

£32,692.00

Started

1 October 2021

Status

Complete

Project

Postgraduate conversion courses in AI and Data Science

Funder

Office for Students

Grant

£550,000.00

Started

1 April 2020

Status

Complete

Project

AKT: Predictive Manufacturing Optimization using Neural Networks (PROMINN)

Funder

Innovate UK

Grant

£29,358.00

Started

25 March 2024

Status

Complete

Project

Vital Knowledge Exchange Visits: Bolstering Ongoing Collaborative Responsible AI Projects at IIT-M and UoH

Funder

University of Hull

Grant

£7,500.00

Started

1 February 2024

Status

Complete

Postgraduate supervision

Observational astronomy and astrophysics, with a particular focus on galaxies, galaxy evolution, galaxy formation, stellar populations of galaxies, AGN, galaxy clusters, and large-scale structure of the Universe.

Completed PhDs

- Charlotte Wilkinson (2015-2019)

- Yjan Gordon (2015-2018)

- Amelia Fraser-McKelvie (2013-2017)

- Jacob Crossett (2012-2017)

- Dane Kleiner (2012-2017)

- Nic Bonne (2011-2015)

- David Palamara (2010-2015)

- Tim Dolley (2010-2015)

- Richard Beare (2010-2014)

- Brendan Griffen (2008-2009)

- Russell Jurek (2005-2009)

- Peter Firth (2005-2008)

- Isaac Roseboom (2004-2007)

Current PhD supervisions

- Mikkel Kristensen

- Mikkel Lindholmer

- Lawrence Bilton

- Oliver Bartlett

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