Professor Dumas will also take over as head of the STFC Royal Observatory Edinburgh (ROE) site where the UK ATC is based, alongside The University of Edinburgh’s Institute for Astronomy.
Wealth of experience
Professor Dumas has a strong background in managing large, complex astronomy projects.
He previously served as the Head of Operations and an Observatory Scientist for the Thirty Meter Telescope International Observatory currently planned for Hawaii.
Prior to this role, he directed the science operations at the European Southern Observatory’s Paranal Observatory in Chile and worked with NASA on several space missions.
Christophe also has considerable research experience with a focus on the formation of our solar system and its early chemistry. In recognition of his contributions to this field, binary asteroid 17246, a member of the Koronis family, is named after him.
Exciting new challenges
Professor Christophe Dumas, the new Director at UK ATC, said:
I am thrilled to join STFC to lead the UK ATC site in Edinburgh and look forward to working with the internationally renowned team at ROE in developing the next generations of cutting-edge instruments that will explore our close and distant Universe.
It will be a fantastic challenge to follow the path of Gillian Wright’s extraordinary leadership.
Continuing pioneering work
Christophe will follow in the footsteps of Professor Gillian Wright CBE who has been the Director at UK ATC since 2012, overseeing some of the largest most innovative projects in international astronomy.
These include:
- developing multiple instruments for the Very Large Telescope at the Paranal Observatory, such as the K-band Multi Object Spectrograp (KMOS), Enhanced Resolution Imager and Spectrograph and NIX (ERIS-NIX) and Multi-Object Optical and Near-infrared Spectrograph (MOONS)
- leading the European contribution to the Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI), one of four scientific instruments on board the James Webb Space Telescope
Leading future breakthroughs
Professor Mark Thomson, STFC Executive Chair, said:
I am delighted that Professor Dumas has agreed to bring his unique scientific leadership experience and deep understanding of astronomical research and development to UK ATC.
UK ATC is one of the world’s most prestigious astronomical research institutions, set to play an important role in breakthroughs like the first light of the Extremely Large Telescope and the launch of the European Space Agency’s LISA mission to uncover the mysteries of the universe in the coming years.
Professor Dumas is perfectly placed to build on UK ATC’s impressive legacy and ensure the successful completion of these research programmes as well as the launch of exciting new efforts to explore the cosmos.
Top image: Credit: Christophe Dumas