Paul Shellard is Professor of Cosmology at the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics (DAMTP) in the University of Cambridge. He is Director of the Stephen Hawking Centre for Theoretical Cosmology and also the Cambridge Centre for Doctoral Training in Data Intensive Science. His primary research is on early universe cosmology and inflation, with a special focus on the confrontation with observations from the cosmic microwave background (CMB), galaxy surveys and gravitational waves. He has contributed to over 200 research papers. His work frequently relies on developing new high performance computing techniques, notably used with the Planck satellite CMB data. He also has a keen interest in the public understanding of science, most recently coordinating the “Universe Unravelled” documentary series for the Discovery+ streaming platform. Prof Shellard completed a science degree at the University of Sydney and then his PhD in Cambridge under the supervision of Prof Stephen Hawking. In 1985 he was awarded a Research Fellowship at Trinity College Cambridge and then in 1987 undertook a postdoctoral fellowship at the MIT Department of Physics. Returning to Cambridge, he held an PPARC (STFC) Advanced Research Fellowship until joining the DAMTP faculty in 1995. Paul is married to Sophia and has four children.
