Research & publications

Opening the faint radio universe with wide-field VLBI, precision calibration, and geodetic infrastructure while sharing results through an open NASA ADS library.

Scientific focus

Jack Radcliffe investigates how faint active galactic nuclei, star-forming galaxies, and transient sources shape galaxy evolution. By combining EVN, e-MERLIN, VLBA, VLA, MeerKAT, and LOFAR observations, he builds panoramic, milli-arcsecond surveys that trace radio emission across cosmic time. His work bridges hardware, software, and science: Jack creates calibration algorithms, pipeline frameworks, and community tools that turn raw interferometric data into reliable, high-resolution catalogues.

Research themes

Wide-field VLBI surveys

Leads flagship programmes such as SWEEPS, EVN-COSMOS, and EMU-VLBI that push VLBI imaging to square-degree scales, measuring AGN demographics at sub-microJy sensitivities.

Calibration innovation

Pioneered multi-source self-calibration (MSSC) and developed the VPIPE workflow to automate distributed correlation, flux recovery, and beam modelling for heterogeneous arrays.

Data-intensive infrastructure

Designs SKA Regional Centre workflows that scale to petabyte-class data, integrating community-driven analysis tools, reproducible pipelines, and training pathways.

Flagship projects as principal investigator

  • 2025 – CLARIS: the Commensal LBA Array Radio Imaging Survey (LBA, 144 hr/year): a standing commensal survey imaging the Southern radio sky at milliarcsecond resolution.
  • 2025 – SWEEPS Pilot (EVN, 232 hr): the Synoptic Wide-field EVN–e-MERLIN Public Survey, establishing commensal observing on the European VLBI Network.
  • 2023 – EMU-VLBI Pilot Survey (LBA, 48 hr): first Southern-hemisphere SKA pathfinder VLBI survey targeting milliarcsecond radio structures.
  • 2022 – A New Window on Radio AGN (e-MERLIN, 400 hr): deep northern-sky campaign combining e-MERLIN, EVN, and LOFAR to map AGN feedback.
  • 2020 – Mapping the EVN Primary Beam (EVN, 12 hr): quantified primary-beam systematics that limit wide-field VLBI surveys.
  • 2017 – MicroJy Variability in GOODS-N (VLA, 10 hr): characterised faint, time-variable radio sources in one of the deepest extragalactic fields.
  • 2016 – EVN-COSMOS & DDT campaigns: rapid-response precision astrometry and beam mapping to enable catalogue-scale VLBI science.

Collaborative science leadership

Jack is a core member of SKA pathfinder collaborations including MIGHTEE, SPARCS, EMU (the Evolutionary Map of the Universe), the SKA Extragalactic Continuum Working Group, and the e-MERGE legacy survey — which alone was allocated 918 hours of e-MERLIN time, the largest of its legacy projects. His calibration and pipeline development underpin joint EVN + e-MERLIN surveys, while his role on the African Millimetre Telescope and LOFAR VLBI collaborations expands SKA science across continents.

Recent highlights

  • Upper limits on radio emission from the K2-18 system, MNRAS (2026) — constrains radio emission from a prominent habitable-zone exoplanet host, extending VLBI techniques to planetary science.
  • Investigating the influence of radio-faint AGN activity on the infrared-radio correlation of massive galaxies, A&A (2026) — disentangles AGN and star-formation contributions to the radio emission of massive galaxies.
  • Synoptic Wide-field EVN–e-MERLIN Public Survey (SWEEPS), MNRAS Letters (2025) — demonstrates how commensal VLBI can deliver milli-arcsecond imaging for SKA pathfinders while strengthening geodetic baselines.
  • Revisiting a flux recovery systematic error..., MNRAS (2024) — quantifies CLEAN-based biases, informing calibration strategies for astronomy and geodesy data products.

Publications & resources

Explore the full catalogue of Jack’s refereed articles, technical reports, and GGOS-Africa briefs via the shared NASA ADS library, with selected highlights below.

Upper limits on radio emission from the K2-18 system

MNRAS (2026)
Deep radio constraints on a headline habitable-zone exoplanet system, led with PhD student Kelvin Wandia.

Access via NASA ADS library

Synoptic Wide-field EVN–e-MERLIN Public Survey (SWEEPS)

MNRAS Letters (2025)
First commensal EVN survey showing how VLBI supports SKA science and geodetic precision.

Access via NASA ADS library

The radio emission from active galactic nuclei

A&A (2021)
Star-formation dominates the radio emission in radio-quiet AGN, reshaping interpretations of faint sources.

Read on NASA ADS

Selected refereed papers

  • Wandia et al. (2026), MNRAS 546, 3 — upper limits on radio emission from the K2-18 system.
  • Peluso et al. (2026), A&A 706, A111 — radio-faint AGN and the infrared-radio correlation of massive galaxies.
  • Herbé-George et al. (2025), MNRAS Letters 537, L49 — SWEEPS commensal VLBI survey for the SKA era.
  • Njeri et al. (2024), MNRAS 528, 6141 — VLBA CANDELS GOODS-North Survey II: wide-field source catalogue comparison.
  • Deane et al. (2024), MNRAS 529, 2428 — VLBA CANDELS GOODS-North Survey I: survey strategy, design, processing, and catalogues.
  • Radcliffe et al. (2024), MNRAS 527, 942 — flux recovery systematics for interferometric imaging.
  • Radcliffe et al. (2021), A&A 649, L9 — radio-quiet AGN emission tied to star formation.

Books & chapters

  • Data-intensive radio astronomy (2024), Springer ASSL 472, eds. Vardoulaki, Dembska, Drabent & Hoeft — Jack wrote the section on VLBI and SKA-VLBI.

Submitted & in preparation

  • On the source counts of VLBI-detected radio sources (Rezaei et al., MNRAS submitted) — source counts and their influence on future VLBI surveys.
  • SWEEPS II — distributed software correlation and calibration workflow automating VLBI data processing.
  • The next generation of VLBI surveys — review outlining science drivers for SKA-VLBI integration.
  • Calibrating wide-field VLBI data using VPIPE — documenting end-to-end automation for heterogeneous arrays.

Open NASA ADS library Download CV (PDF)

If the embedded ADS view does not load in your browser, you can open it in a new tab: https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/public-libraries/bWezMJEhQ1C27gddJC66HQ.