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 was the inaugural Director of the Centre of Excellence for Data Science, AI and Modelling (DAIM) at the University of Hull and now Head of the School of Digital and Physical Science (covering Computer Science, Mathematics, Physics, and DAIM).
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.
Journal Article
The First Large Absorption Survey in H i (FLASH): II. Pilot Survey data release and first results
Yoon, H., Sadler, E. M., Mahony, E. K., Aditya, J. N. H. S., Allison, J. R., Glowacki, M., Kerrison, E. F., Moss, V. A., Su, R., Weng, S., Whiting, M., Wong, O. I., Callingham, J. R., Curran, S. J., Darling, J., Edge, A. C., Ellison, S. L., Emig, K. L., Garratt-Smithson, L., German, G., …Westmeier, T. (2025). The First Large Absorption Survey in H i (FLASH): II. Pilot Survey data release and first results. Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia, 42, Article e088. https://doi.org/10.1017/pasa.2025.10046
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
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
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
Engineering & Physical Sciences Research Council
Grant
£98,000.00
Started
1 January 2024
Status
Ongoing
Project
iCASE PhD Studentship with QinetiQ
Funder
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
£124,722.54
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
Science & Technology Facilities Council
Grant
£704,947.20
Started
1 April 2018
Status
Complete
Project
STFC Introductory Astronomy School - 2021
Funder
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
£32,692.01
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
£29,358.78
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