Ayushi Parmar
Role: Second year PhD student, Department of Physics at Imperial
Subject area: Astrophysics
Nationality: British
I am a second-year PhD student from the UK. I am part of the Astrophysics group in the Department of Physics and my research is broadly on extragalactic studies.
Education
GCSE (or equivalent): Maths, Statistics, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, English Language, English Literature, History, French, Art Textiles, Religious Education. External GCSE in Hinduism
A-level (or equivalent): Physics, Maths, History and AS in Biology
Degrees
• MSci in Astrophysics, Queen Mary University
• PhD in Physics (ongoing), Imperial College London
Detail about Ayushi
My research
My research is on dusty star-forming galaxies which are believed to be very luminous and forming lots of stars but are obscured by dust surrounding them. Currently I am working with a sample of these galaxies to determine whether they are in the local Universe (at low redshifts) or are much further away (at higher redshifts). Studying and understanding these galaxies will help us probe the mechanisms that occurred during the early Universe and how it affects galaxy formation and evolution.
My inspiration
I was in high school when we got to the space section of the syllabus in Physics, I started to really enjoy learning about it and found it very fascinating. It was only then that I found out about astrophysics as a future study and career path and from then on, I was determined to go down this path.
Who is your STEM hero?
Ada Lovelace – often regarded as the first computer programmer. She is an inspiration for seeing the potential of the Analytical Engine and her contribution acted as a foundation leading to the various computer programming languages we have today, especially since it is something I use daily.
Most significant discovery/invention?
Charge-coupled Device (CCD) – it breaks down the elements of an image into pixels and each pixel is converted into an electrical charge which is related to the intensity of light captured by the pixel. It made digital photography possible and is a huge contribution to imaging in astronomy.
Career options after study
- Academia
- Researcher as part of a space mission
- Data scientist
- Science communicator
My hobbies
I love to read. My favourite genres are crime fiction and fantasy. I love listening to music and discovering new genres and I also play the piano and have been learning (and still am) for more than 10 years.