Professor Paul Callanan - Head of School

1 Jun 2023

(Image taken during a visit to ESO facilities in Paranal in Chile in April 2023)

We would like to congratulate and welcome Professor Paul Callanan as Head of School of Physics from 1st June 2023.

Paul was awarded his PhD in 1987 from University College Galway and the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies. After a post-doctoral research position in Oxford,  Paul was awarded a Hubble Fellowship which he took to the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (Cambridge, Massachusetts). Paul joined UCC as a College Lecturer in 1996. His research interests involve studies of interacting binary stars, including  X-ray binaries, cataclysmic variables and pulsars, from the radio to the X-ray parts of the electromagnetic spectrum.

Paul has served on review and advisory committees for National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), European Space Agency (ESA) and European Southern Observatory (ESO). He led the successful bid for Ireland to join the European Southern Observatory in 2018. 

Paul is also an enthusiastic advocate for outreach and public engagement in science and has been actively involved in various outreach activities and initiatives, aimed at promoting science education and awareness amongst the public and inspiring the next generation of physicists.

“I am delighted to take up this leadership role in the School of Physics” says Paul,”at a very exciting time of its development, especially in the context of the School’s central role in the UCC-Futures Quantum and Photonics research initiative”.

"The School of Physics is an integral part of the College of SEFS and a key driver of our focus on excellence in research and our academic programmes" said Professor Sarah Culloty, Head of College of Science, Engineering and Food Science.

We would also like to take this opportunity to thank Professor John McInerney for his many contributions to the Physics Department over the last 30 years and for his leadership.