About Dr Jack F. Radcliffe

Radio astronomer building the SKA-ready community while advancing the frontier of very long baseline interferometry.

Profile

Jack Radcliffe is the Science Community Director at the UK SKA Regional Centre (UKSRC) and a research scientist at the University of Manchester, where he leads science support and community engagement to maximise the scientific impact of the SKA Observatory and its pathfinder data. He is also an adjunct lecturer at Curtin University and affiliated with CSIRO. Jack’s technical expertise spans high-resolution radio surveys, calibration innovation, and data-intensive infrastructure that underpins the global VLBI community.

Recognised for bridging science and engineering, Jack chairs the European VLBI Network programme committee, co-chairs the SKAO VLBI Science Working Group, and founded the SKA-VLBI simulations task force. He was previously a senior lecturer at the University of Pretoria and holds an NRF Y1 rating, reflecting an international reputation for high-impact research and community leadership.

Career milestones

  • 2025–present: UKSRC Science Community Director, University of Manchester — leads ~14 FTE across tools, user support, and community engagement for SKA data readiness, and sits on the UKSRC directorate.
  • 2024: UKSRC Research Scientist, University of Manchester — grew the UK SKA Regional Centre, led Team Sapphire (WP3 & 4), and represented the UKSRC on the SKAO science committee.
  • 2024: Senior Lecturer, University of Pretoria — advanced radio astronomy curricula and commensal high-resolution surveys.
  • 2021–2024: Lecturer, University of Pretoria — re-designed the Observational Astronomy course and led grant proposals to scale the astrophysics group.
  • 2019–2021: SARAO Postdoctoral Fellow & Lecturer (part-time), University of Pretoria — pioneered MeerKAT- and VLBI-based studies of galaxy evolution and founded the postgraduate Radio Astronomy course.
  • 2019: Research Associate, University of Manchester — delivered UKRI-backed training for the Development in Africa with Radio Astronomy (DARA) programme.

Education

  • Ph.D. in Astrophysics, University of Manchester & University of Groningen (2014–2019) — thesis: Nowhere to hide: identifying AGN in the faint radio sky.
  • M.Sci. Honours & ARCS in Physics, Imperial College London (2010–2014) — graduated with First Class Honours and Associate of the Royal College of Science distinction.
  • A-levels & GCSEs, Sir John Talbot’s Technology College (2003–2010) — awarded top grades across 16 subjects.

Fast facts

  • 26 peer-reviewed publications, all in high-impact journals; h-index 13, g-index 19, i10-index 13.
  • First author on ~20% of his papers, plus 11 conference proceedings.
  • Lead investigator on flagship VLBI surveys spanning EVN, e-MERLIN, VLA, VLBA, and LBA facilities.
  • NRF Y1-rated researcher with sustained international impact.
  • Leads the UKSRC Team Sapphire engagement programme.
  • Project lead for the Africa-UK Physics Partnership and co-investigator on DARA Phase 3.
  • 51 colloquia, conference, and seminar talks, 21 of them invited; lecturer for seven workshops and organiser of 11 more.
  • ~£15.3M in grants, fellowships, and awards secured or contributed to.

Technical skills

  • Astronomical software: AIPS, ParselTongue, and CASA (expert); ds9, IRAF, and GALFIT.
  • Programming: Python, HTML/CSS, LaTeX, and Bash/Cshell (expert); C++, Fortran, and Java.
  • Operating systems: Linux/UNIX and macOS (expert); Windows.
  • Tooling: git, Docker, Singularity, Slack, and Microsoft Office.
  • Statistical modelling: multivariate modelling with Bayesian MCMC samplers and least-squares methods.
  • Machine learning: CNNs, encoders, and k-means clustering with TensorFlow and scikit-learn.