Suzanne Aigrain (born 1979) is a

Professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...

Astrophysics Astrophysics is a science that employs the methods and principles of physics and chemistry in the study of astronomical objects and phenomena. As one of the founders of the discipline said, Astrophysics "seeks to ascertain the nature of the h ...

at the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

and a

Fellow A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

All Souls College, Oxford All Souls College (official name: College of the Souls of All the Faithful Departed) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Unique to All Souls, all of its members automatically become fellows (i.e., full members of t ...

. She studies

exoplanet An exoplanet or extrasolar planet is a planet outside the Solar System. The first possible evidence of an exoplanet was noted in 1917 but was not recognized as such. The first confirmation of detection occurred in 1992. A different planet, init ...

s and stellar variability.

Early life and education

Aigrain grew up in

Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Par ...

, France, and was educated at the

Lycée Pierre-de-Fermat The Lycée Pierre-de-Fermat, also referred to simply as Pierre-de-Fermat, is a public Lycée, located in the ''Parvis des Jacobins'' in Toulouse, in the immediate vicinity of the Place du Capitole; It occupies a large space in the city center inc ...

. She studied physics at

Imperial College London Imperial College London (legally Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom. Its history began with Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria, who developed his vision for a cu ...

and graduated in 2000. During her undergraduate studies she was an intern at the

Exploratorium The Exploratorium is a museum of science, technology, and arts in San Francisco, California. Characterized as "a mad scientist's penny arcade, a scientific funhouse, and an experimental laboratory all rolled into one", the participatory natur ...

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

. She spent sixth months at the

European Space Agency , owners = , headquarters = Paris, Île-de-France, France , coordinates = , spaceport = Guiana Space Centre , seal = File:ESA emblem seal.png , seal_size = 130px , image = Views in the Main Control Room (1205 ...

before joining the Institute of Astronomy, Cambridge for her doctoral studies, earning a PhD in 2005 for work on planetary transits and stellar variability.

Career and research

Aigrain was a postdoctoral research associate in the Institute of Astronomy from 2004. In 2007 Aigrain joined the

University of Exeter The University of Exeter is a public university , public research university in Exeter, Devon, England, United Kingdom. Its predecessor institutions, St Luke's College, Exeter School of Science, Exeter School of Art, and the Camborne School of Min ...

as a lecturer. She was appointed a

in 2010. She leads the Stars & Planets group at Oxford Astrophysics, studying exoplanets and their stars. She uses the

Hubble Space Telescope The Hubble Space Telescope (often referred to as HST or Hubble) is a space telescope that was launched into low Earth orbit in 1990 and remains in operation. It was not the first space telescope, but it is one of the largest and most versa ...

, the

Very Large Telescope The Very Large Telescope (VLT) is a telescope facility operated by the European Southern Observatory on Cerro Paranal in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile. It consists of four individual telescopes, each with a primary mirror 8.2 m across, ...

and CoRoT satellite. In 2011 she hosted a meeting with the

Institute of Physics The Institute of Physics (IOP) is a UK-based learned society and professional body that works to advance physics education, research and application. It was founded in 1874 and has a worldwide membership of over 20,000. The IOP is the Physica ...

and

Royal Astronomical Society (Whatever shines should be observed) , predecessor = , successor = , formation = , founder = , extinction = , merger = , merged = , type = NGO ...

to discuss recent discoveries in exoplanets, attended by Giovanna Tinetti and

Jocelyn Bell Burnell Dame Susan Jocelyn Bell Burnell (; Bell; born 15 July 1943) is an astrophysicist from Northern Ireland who, as a postgraduate student, discovered the first radio pulsars in 1967. The discovery eventually earned the Nobel Prize in Physics in ...

. She has expressed her concerns about the detection of planets using the

radial velocity The radial velocity or line-of-sight velocity, also known as radial speed or range rate, of a target with respect to an observer is the temporal rate of change, rate of change of the distance or Slant range, range between the two points. It is e ...

method to detect exoplanets; such as instrumental precision, stellar activity, patchy observations and limitations of other models. She was part of the

European Southern Observatory The European Organisation for Astronomical Research in the Southern Hemisphere, commonly referred to as the European Southern Observatory (ESO), is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental research organisation made up of 16 mem ...

(ESO) discovery of the Earth sized planet close to

Alpha Centauri Bb Alpha Centauri Bb (α Cen B b) was a proposed exoplanet orbiting the K-type main-sequence star Alpha Centauri B, located 4.37 light-years from Earth in the southern constellation of Centaurus, but there has not been enough evidence to support ...

, but played an even closer role in the study that disproved the planet's existence in 2016. Aigrain and her group use

Bayesian inference Bayesian inference is a method of statistical inference in which Bayes' theorem is used to update the probability for a hypothesis as more evidence or information becomes available. Bayesian inference is an important technique in statistics, a ...

to correct for instrumental systematics while robustly preserving real astrophysical signals. She has played a leading role in the Kepler (K2) mission, correcting for its systematic noise and discovering many transiting planets. Aigrain has studied

hot Jupiter Hot Jupiters (sometimes called hot Saturns) are a class of gas giant exoplanets that are inferred to be physically similar to Jupiter but that have very short orbital periods (). The close proximity to their stars and high surface-atmosphere temp ...

s and other Jupiter-like planets. She has looked at the potential to use transit surveys to study stellar clusters. Her research has been funded by the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC). In 2019 Algrain was awarded a

European Research Council The European Research Council (ERC) is a public body for funding of scientific and technological research conducted within the European Union (EU). Established by the European Commission in 2007, the ERC is composed of an independent Scientific ...

Consolidator Grant to study exoplanets. Aigrain is interested in public engagement and regularly delivers popular science lectures. She spoke about

s on ''

In Our Time In Our Time may refer to: * ''In Our Time'' (1944 film), a film starring Ida Lupino and Paul Henreid * ''In Our Time'' (1982 film), a Taiwanese anthology film featuring director Edward Yang; considered the beginning of the "New Taiwan Cinema" * ''In ...

'' in 2013., and has taken part in

Pint of Science Pint of Science is an annual science festival that aims to communicate contemporary scientific developments to the public by bringing scientists to pubs, cafés and other public places to share their research and findings. It is mainly organised ...

. In 2018 she spoke at the

Oxford Playhouse Oxford Playhouse is a theatre designed by Edward Maufe and F.G.M. Chancellor. It is situated in Beaumont Street, Oxford, opposite the Ashmolean Museum. History The Playhouse was founded as ''The Red Barn'' at 12 Woodstock Road, North Oxfor ...

, accompanying the play ''One Small Step''. In November 2018 she was part of the

Kings Place Kings Place is a building in London’s Kings Cross area, providing music and visual arts venues combined with seven floors of office space. It has housed the editorial offices of ''The Guardian'' newspaper since December 2008 and is the for ...

''Bach, the Universe and Everything'' performance. She is a member of the

International Astronomical Union The International Astronomical Union (IAU; french: link=yes, Union astronomique internationale, UAI) is a nongovernmental organisation with the objective of advancing astronomy in all aspects, including promoting astronomical research, outreac ...

. She writes non-fiction with

Philippe Aigrain Philippe Aigrain (15 July 1949 – 11 July 2021) was a French computer scientist, activist and researcher. He was one of the directors of the Software Freedom Law Center in New York City and a cofounder of the French non-profit La Quadrature ...

, as well as writing her own poetry.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aigrain, Suzanne 1979 births Living people Women astrophysicists Women space scientists Alumni of Imperial College London Alumni of the University of Cambridge Lycée Pierre-de-Fermat alumni Scientists from Toulouse Academics of the University of Oxford Women planetary scientists Planetary scientists