Dr Kaisey Mandel, the interdisciplinary University Lecturer on Astrostatistics at the Institute of Astronomy, KICC, and the Statistical Laboratory of the Department of Pure Mathematics and Mathematical Statistics, has been awarded a prestigious Consolidator Grant from the European Research Council.

Dr Mandel's research focuses on utilising exploding stars called Type Ia supernovae to measure cosmological distances for tracing the history of cosmic expansion. Dr Mandel leads a project to develop state-of-the-art statistical models and advanced, data-driven techniques for analysing observations of these supernovae in optical and near-infrared light to determine more precise and accurate distances. Applying these novel methods to supernova data from the Hubble Space Telescope, new ground-based surveys, and, in the near future, the Vera Rubin Observatory's Legacy Survey of Space and Time, Dr Mandel and his team will pursue new and improved constraints on the accelerating expansion of the Universe and the nature of dark energy.

The funding is part of the EU’s current research and innovation programme, Horizon 2020. Dr Mandel is one of five researchers at the University of Cambridge who have won consolidator grants from the European Research Council, Europe’s premiere funding organisation for frontier research.

The ERC Consolidator Grants are awarded to outstanding researchers of any nationality and age, with at least seven and up to 12 years of experience after PhD, and a scientific track record showing great promise.

The research projects proposed by the new grantees cover a wide range of topics in physical sciences and engineering, life sciences, as well as social sciences and humanities.