Warrick Ball PhD

• PhD in Astronomy, University of Cambridge, 2012
• MSc in Astrophysics, University College London, 2008
• BSc (Hons) in Theoretical Physics, University of Cape Town, 2006

Warrick Ball completed a BSc (Hons) in Theoretical Physics at the University of Cape Town in 2006. He went on to an MSc in Astrophysics at University College London, which he completed in 2008. He then moved to the Institute of Astronomy at the University of Cambridge for his PhD, which he finished in 2012. He was a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Göttingen until the end of 2016, after which he came to the University of Birmingham.

• Y3 Group Studies (Asteroseismology)
• Y3 The Life and Death of Stars
• Y3 & Y4 Critiques

Warrick’s current research focus is implementing methods to match models to data that will be produced by ESA’s PLATO space observatory. He has already worked extensively on the problem of fitting stellar models to asteroseismic data and is known in particular for his work on mitigating the known biases caused by improper modelling near the stellar surface.

Before he was involved in asteroseismology, Warrick worked on modelling exotic objects known as “quasi-stars”: black holes embedded in and accreting from giant-like envelopes of gas. Along the way, he undertook some highly theoretical work on why stars evolve into red giants.