Rolling Grant Programme in Astrophysics, Planetary Science and Space Instrumentation - 2007-2012

A single rolling grant programme will keep UK astronomers and planetary scientists at the controls of space missions like XMM-Newton and Swift, while also building the next generation of detectors and instruments for future spacecraft. The programme tackles a wide sweep of fundamental questions. In high-energy astrophysics, researchers will study gamma-ray bursts—the most powerful explosions in the universe—and the hot, violent environments around black holes and neutron stars. In planetary science, the team will model X-ray emissions from planets and test novel instruments such as the Life Marker Chip, a device designed to detect signs of past or present life on other worlds. The laboratory work pushes detector technology further, developing improved Charge Coupled Devices for future space telescopes and exploring new concepts in X-ray interferometry and polarimetry. This is primarily curiosity-driven fundamental science. There is no immediate practical application. But the detector and instrumentation work—particularly the development of more sensitive, radiation-hardened imaging sensors—has a track record of spinning off into medical imaging, security scanning, and industrial inspection. The public outreach and knowledge transfer components ensure that discoveries made at the edge of the observable universe do not stay locked inside academic journals.