Mr Ben Burridge

I am a part-time PhD Candidate with the Accretion Physics and Slow Transients group at the Curtin Institute of Radio Astronomy. My Supervisors are Prof. James Miller-Jones (Curtin University), Dr. Arash Bahramian (Curtin University) and Dr. Steve Prabu (University of Oxford). My PhD project is currently titled “Studying Galactic Black Hole X-ray Binaries using Square Kilometre Array Precursors”. I am currently investigating the use of radio astronomy methods in measuring the distance to Galactic low-mass X-ray Binary (XRB) systems, and other potential learnings to be gained from broadband radio studies of XRB outbursts.

Prior to this I completed a Master of Physics (Astronomy and Astrophysics) at the University of Western Australia, graduating at the end of 2021. Supervised by Prof. Linqing Wen and Dr. Fiona Panther of the UWA School of Physics, my research was in Gravitational Waves (GWs). My dissertation, titled “Investigating Past and Future Gravitational Wave Parameter Estimation using the Fisher Information Matrix”, looked at the impact of various configurations the global GW detector network on GW event localisation. During this time I was a member of the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Gravitational-Wave Discovery (OzGrav).

Whilst completing my PhD part-time, I am also working at Deloitte in the Perth CBD. I am part of the Global Investment and Innovation Incentives (Gi³) team that includes STEM professionals from many diverse backgrounds and disciplines. I work to assist companies in accessing funding for innovative projects, through either the Federal Government’s Research & Development (R&D) Tax Incentive or Government Grants.

In my spare time I enjoy spending time with my girls who include my fiancée, Aisha; our two huskies, Bowie and Nyx; and our cat, Apollo. I am also fond of backyard astronomy, playing guitar, photography, and an array of various music and film genres.

For more information, please see my LinkedIn.