Dr Mattia Negrello

Biography

QUALIFICATIONS:

2006: Ph.D. in Astrophysics
Institute: International School for Advanced Studies (ISAS/SISSA) of Trieste, ITALY
Supervisors: Prof. De Zotti Gianfranco, Dr Magliocchetti Manuela
Thesis: “Clustering at high redshift: the sub-millimeter and radio views”

2002: Degree in Physics (110/110 cum laude)
Institute: University of Padova, ITALY
Supervisors: Prof. Matarrese Sabino, Prof. Moscardini Lauro
Thesis: “Models for the clustering of QSOs and their application to the 2dF QSO redshift catalogue”

Academic positions

Aug. 2018 - now:
Position: Senior Lecturer  in Astrophysics/Cosmology
Institute: School of Physics and Astronomy, Cardiff University, UNITED KINGDOM

Oct. 2015 - now:
Position: Lecturer in Astrophysics/Cosmology and Marie Sklowdoska-Curie Fellow
Institute: School of Physics and Astronomy, Cardiff University, UNITED KINGDOM

Dec. 2011 - Sept. 2015:
Position: Research Fellow of the National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF)
Institute: Astronomical Observatory of Padova, ITALY

Nov. 2006 - Nov. 2011:
Position: Post-doctoral Research Assistant
Institute: The Open University, Milton Keynes, UNITED KINGDOM

July 2002 - Sept. 2002:
Position: Pre-doctoral Fellow
Institute: Department of Astronomy of the University of Padova, ITALY

Committees and reviewing

• Deputy of the Director of the Postgraduate Research Studies for the Astronomy sector
• Member of the School Board, Postgraduate Staff/Student Panel
• Supervisor of PhD students
• co-Supervisor of PhD students

Publications

Teaching

Module Organizer of "PX3146/PXT212: Cosmology", 3yr module (10 credits)

Lab supervisor for "PX1150: experimental physics", 1yr module, (20 credits)

Third and fourth year project supervisor

Research interests

I work in the field of extragalactic astronomy, with focus on the topic of galaxy formation and evolution. I am interested in particular on the early evolutionary phases of elliptical and lenticular galaxies, usually referred to as early-type galaxies (ETGs).

ETGs represent an excellent laboratory to test theories of galaxy formation and evolution. In fact, ETGs are the most massive and the oldest galaxies in the Universe. These properties suggest a “top-down” scenario of galaxy formation in which massive galaxies formed first (cosmic downsizing), at variance with what expected from the standard bottom-up scenario of dark matter structure formation. Moreover, ETGs harbor a supermassive black hole (SMBH) at their center, reminiscent of an active galactic nucleus (AGN) phase. Tight relations between the mass of the SMBH and the properties of the ETG stellar component indicate a past mutual interaction between the black hole growth and the build up of the mass in stars. By studying ETGs in their early evolutionary phase I aim at understanding the mechanisms behind the cosmic downsizing and the interplay between black hole accretion and star formation.
Since both star formation and black hole accretion are characterized by severe dust obscuration around the peak of their cosmic evolution (at z~1–3), I investigate the formation of ETGs mainly by means of observations at mid-/far-infrared to millimeter wavelengths, where the optical/UV light from stars and active galactic nuclei (AGN) is reprocessed by dust.

Over the last years I have been looking for sub-mm bright proto-ETGs which are gravitationally lensed in order to exploit the increase in spatial resolution offered by lensing to study the sub-kpc properties of these galaxies. In 2010 I have validated a simple and efficient method to find these rare events in wide area sub-millimeter/millimeter surveys, which granted me a publication in the Science journal.

I am a member of the executive commitee of the Herschel Astrophysical Terahertz Large Area Survey (H-ATLAS) and one of the two coordinators of the working group on gravitational lensing within H-ATLAS.

Supervision

Past projects