Profile

Photo:

Sandra Raimundo

    • About Me:

      I am originally from Portugal but I live in Southampton now. I am an astrophysicist and lecturer at the University of Southampton. In my free time I like to practice martial arts, hike and camp out in nature. I also love to read and to pet dogs and cats.

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      I grew up in Portugal but have lived in different countries because of my job. I studied in the UK and then worked in Italy, Denmark and the United States before returning to the UK. In my free time I like to do sports. Martial arts and combat sports are my favourite, I train Krav Maga, boxing and kickboxing. During my holidays I like to take my tent and do mountain hiking. I enjoy the quiet and being out in nature. I love pets and my goal for the next year is to adopt one (or maybe two!) dogs.

    • My pronouns are:

      she/her

    • My Work:

      I am an astrophysicist and I study supermassive black holes. These are huge black holes that live in the centre of galaxies. I use large telescopes to find and study these black holes.

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      Black holes are very difficult to find because they are dark. However, they are very exotic and interesting so we want to study them as much as possible. What I do in my work is to use telescopes to observe what happens around black holes. Using our knowledge of physics and maths I use those observations to find out the properties of the black holes themselves, such as how big they are.

    • My Typical Day:

      I usually get to work at 9am. During the morning I mostly work on my computer to study images from telescopes and write my theories and results. I have lunch with my colleagues and then in the afternoon I meet with my research team and I spend time thinking about new ideas. Usually at around 6pm I go to the gym and then home.

    • What I'd do with the prize money:

      I would use the prize money for myself and two other astrophysicists to meet face to face with GCSE students in Hampshire. I want students to see that anyone can be a scientist (you don’t have to be of a particular gender, ethnicity or social status). During these ‘Meet a Scientist’ sessions students would be able to ask us questions about our work or career. The money would also be used to print laminated pictures of black holes and galaxies to do games with students where they would have to guess where the black holes are. We could meet with around 10 different schools in a year.

    CV

    • Education:

      • I went to school in my home town of Peniche in Portugal. For A-levels I studied Physics, Maths and Chemistry.
      • I went to University in Lisbon, in Portugal, and I studied Physics
      • I studied for a PhD in Astronomy at the University of Cambridge in the UK

    • Qualifications:

      1. University degree in Physics
      2. PhD in Astronomy

    • Work History:

      • Astrophysics researcher at the International School for Advanced Studies (Trieste, Italy)
      • Astrophysics researcher at the Niels Bohr Institute (Copenhagen, Denmark)
      • Astrophysicist researcher and Marie Curie Fellow at the University of California Los Angeles (Los Angeles, USA)
      • Astrophysicist and Lecturer at the University of Southampton

       

    • Current Job:

      Astrophysicist and Lecturer

    • Employer:

      University of Southampton

    • My Interview

      • How would you describe yourself in 3 words?

        black hole astrophysicist

        What did you want to be after you left school?

        Astrophysicist

        Were you ever in trouble at school?

        No

        If you weren't doing this job, what would you choose instead?

        Neuroscientist

        Who is your favourite singer or band?

        It is difficult to choose just one! Fleetwood Mac, Billie Eilish, Depeche Mode

        What's your favourite food?

        Tiramisu

        If you had 3 wishes for yourself what would they be? - be honest!

        1) Know all the answers to all my questions; 2) Time travel; 3) Go to space

        Tell us a joke.

        What's a boomerang that does not come back? It's a stick