Dr Michael Cowley
Faculty of Science,
School of Chemistry & Physics
Biography
Michael is a senior lecturer at Queensland University of Technology, leading the Astrophysics Research Group. Specialising in extragalactic astrophysics and cosmology, his research focuses on galaxy evolution and supermassive black holes. As an educator, Michael delivers lectures, seminars, and public talks on STEM topics and serves as the First Year Coordinator for Science, supporting new students in their university journey.
An accomplished science communicator, Michael has featured in documentaries, TEDx talks, and media interviews. He is also a published author in The Conversation, Cosmos Magazine, and Australasian Science Magazine.
Recognised for his teaching excellence, Michael received the Associate Fellow (Indigenous Knowledges) award from the Higher Education Academy in 2022, and was honoured with the Faculty of Science's Educator of the Year award in 2021 and a Vice-Chancellor's Award for Excellence in 2022.
Personal details
Positions
- Senior Lecturer
Faculty of Science,
School of Chemistry & Physics
Keywords
Cosmology, Extragalactic Astrophysics, Physics and Astronomy Education, Lighting Physics
Research field
Astronomical and Space Sciences
Field of Research code, Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classification (ANZSRC), 2008
Qualifications
- PhD (Macquarie University)
- BAppSc(Hons) (Queensland University of Technology)
- BAppSc(Physics) (Queensland University of Technology)
Professional memberships and associations
Professional Societies
- Astronomical Society of Australia (ASA)
- International Astronomical Union (IAU)
- Astronomical Association of Queensland (AAQ)
- Institute of Physics (IOP)
- Australian Institute of Physics (AIP)
- Associate Fellow (Indigenous) of the Higher Education Academy (AFHEA)
Astronomical Surveys
- ASKAP-EMU (radio galaxy survey)
- TAIPAN (optical and near-IR spectroscopic galaxy survey)
- ZFOURGE (medium-band imaging galaxy survey)
- ZFIRE (optical and near-IR spectroscopic galaxy survey)
Teaching
QUT Teaching History
- PVB210 Stellar Astrophysics (Unit Coordinator & Lecturer; Current)
- PVB220 Cosmology (Unit Coordinator & Lecturer; Current)
- SEB104 Grand Challenges in Science (Unit Coordinator & Lecturer; Current)
- SEB108 Foundations of Data Analysis and Visualisation (Unit Coordinator; Current)
- PVB304 Physics Research (Lecturer & Project Supervisor; Current)
- STB100 Research Skills and Techniques (Lecturer & Project Supervisor; Current)
- STB200 Advanced Research Skills and Techniques (Lecturer & Project Supervisor; Current)
- STB310 Science Research (Project Supervisor; Current)
- STB414 Advances in Theoretical Physics (Lecturer; Current)
- STB415 Advances in Experimental Physics (Lecturer; Current)
- PVB101 Physics of the Very Large (Lecturer; 2023)
- PVB112 Physics of the Very Small (Unit Coordinator; 2020)
External Teaching History:
- Astronomical Techniques (USQ)
- Observational Astronomy (USQ)
- Planetary Science (USQ)
- Optics (USQ)
- Introductory Astronomy (MQ)
- Advanced Astronomy (MQ)
- Science: Today and Tomorrow (MQ)
Publications
- Boyce, M., Hopkins, A., Riggi, S., Rudnick, L., Ramsay, M., Hale, C., Marvil, J., Whiting, M., Venkataraman, P., O’Dea, C., Baum, S., Gordon, Y., Vantyghem, A., Dionyssiou, M., Andernach, H., Collier, J., English, J., Koribalski, B., Leahy, D., Michalowski, M., Safi-Harb, S., Vaccari, M., Alexander, E., Cowley, M., Kapinska, A., Robotham, A. & Tang, H. (2023). Hydra I: An extensible multi-source-finder comparison and cataloguing tool. Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia, 40. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/240809
- Boyce, M., Hopkins, A., Riggi, S., Rudnick, L., Ramsay, M., Hale, C., Marvil, J., Whiting, M., Venkataraman, P., O’Dea, C., Baum, S., Gordon, Y., Vantyghem, A., Dionyssiou, M., Andernach, H., Collier, J., English, J., Koribalski, B., Leahy, D., Michalowski, M., Safi-Harb, S., Vaccari, M., Alexander, E., Cowley, M., Kapinska, A., Robotham, A. & Tang, H. (2023). Hydra II: Characterisation of Aegean, Caesar, ProFound, PyBDSF, and Selavy source finders. Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia, 40. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/240810
- Pennock, C., Van Loon, J., Anih, J., Maitra, C., Haberl, F., Sansom, A., Ivanov, V., Cowley, M., Afonso, J., Anton, S., Cioni, M., Craig, J., Filipovic, M., Hopkins, A., Nanni, A., Prandoni, I. & Vardoulaki, E. (2022). The VMC Survey - XLIX. Discovery of a population of quasars dominated by nuclear dust emission behind the Magellanic Clouds. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 515(4). https://eprints.qut.edu.au/234307
- Cowley, M., Spitler, L., Quadri, R., Goulding, A., Papovich, C., Tran, K., Labbe, I., Alcorn, L., Allen, R., Forrest, B., Glazebrook, K., Kacprzak, G., Morrison, G., Nanayakkara, T., Straatman, C. & Tomczak, A. (2018). Decoupled black hole accretion and quenching: the relationship between BHAR, SFR and quenching in Milky Way- and Andromeda-mass progenitors since z = 2.5. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 473(3), 3710–3716. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/131915
- Cowley, M. & Hughes, S. (2017). Modelling the dynamics of a hypothetical Planet X by way of gravitational N-body simulator. European Journal of Physics, 38(2), 1–9. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/131911
- Hughes, S. & Cowley, M. (2017). Teaching the Doppler effect in astrophysics. European Journal of Physics, 38(2), 1–7. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/103868
- da Cunha, E., Hopkins, A., Colless, M., Taylor, E., Blake, C., Howlett, C., Magoulas, C., Lucey, J., Lagos, C., Kuehn, K., Cowley, M. & other, a. (2017). The Taipan galaxy survey: Scientific goals and observing strategy. Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia, 34, 1–28. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/131919
- Straatman, C., Spitler, L., Quadri, R., Labbe, I., Glazebrook, K., Persson, S., Papovich, C., Tran, K., Brammer, G., Cowley, M., Tomczak, A., Nanayakkara, T., Alcorn, L., Allen, R., Broussard, A., van Dokkum, P., Forrest, B., van Houdt, J., Kacprzak, G., Kawinwanichakij, L. & other, a. (2016). The FourStar galaxy evolution survey (ZFOURGE): ultraviolet to far-infrared catalogs, medium-bandwidth photometric redshifts with improved accuracy, stellar masses, and confirmation of quiescent galaxies to z ~ 3.5. Astrophysical Journal, 830(1), 1–34. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/131899
- Cowley, M., Spitler, L., Tran, K., Rees, G., Labbe, I., Allen, R., Brammer, G., Glazebrook, K., Hopkins, A., Juneau, S., Kacprzak, G., Mullaney, J., Nanayakkara, T., Papovich, C., Quadri, R., Straatman, C., Tomczak, A. & van Dokkum, P. (2016). ZFOURGE catalogue of AGN candidates: an enhancement of 160-um-derived star formation rates in active galaxies to z = 3.2. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 457(1), 629–641. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/131918
- Cowley, M. & Hughes, S. (2014). Characterization of transiting exoplanets by way of differential photometry. Physics Education, 49(3), 293–298. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/71543
QUT ePrints
For more publications by Michael, explore their research in QUT ePrints (our digital repository).
Awards
- Type
- Academic Honours, Prestigious Awards or Prizes
- Reference year
- 2022
- Details
- Vice-Chancellor's Award for Excellence
- Type
- Academic Honours, Prestigious Awards or Prizes
- Reference year
- 2021
- Details
- Faculty of Science's Educator of the Year
- Type
- Committee Role/Editor or Chair of an Academic Conference
- Reference year
- 2021
- Details
- Scientific Organising Committee for the Australian Institute of Physics Summer Meeting, Brisbane, AU
- Type
- Committee Role/Editor or Chair of an Academic Conference
- Reference year
- 2019
- Details
- Local Organising Committee for the Australia-ESO Conference, Sydney, AU
- Type
- Keynote Speaker/Expert Panel Member/Invited Speaker for a Conference
- Reference year
- 2019
- Details
- Invited Speaker for TEDxQUT: 2019 Innovate Activate, Motivate
- Type
- Membership of Learned Societies
- Reference year
- 2019
- Details
- Member of the International Astronomical Union (MIAU)
- Type
- Funding Award
- Reference year
- 2015
- Details
- Research Centre for Astronomy, Astrophysics and Astrophotonics (MQAAAstro) Observing Funding Award
- Type
- Membership of Learned Societies
- Reference year
- 2014
- Details
- Member of the Astronomical Society of Australia (MASA)
- Type
- Membership of Learned Societies
- Reference year
- 2010
- Details
- Member of the Australian Institute of Physics (MAIP)
- Type
- Membership of Learned Societies
- Reference year
- 2010
- Details
- Member of the Institute of Physics (MInstP)
Supervision
Looking for a postgraduate research supervisor?
I am currently accepting research students for Honours, Masters and PhD study.
You can browse existing student topics offered by QUT or propose your own topic.
Current supervisions
- Disentangling AGN Emissions by way of SED Analysis
MPhil, Principal Supervisor
Other supervisors: Professor Nunzio Motta - Observations of Star Formation History with preliminary results from the Evolutionary Map of the Universe
MPhil, Principal Supervisor
Other supervisors: Professor Nunzio Motta - MPhil, Principal Supervisor
Other supervisors: Professor Nunzio Motta - MPhil, Principal Supervisor
Other supervisors: Professor Nunzio Motta - MPhil, Principal Supervisor
Other supervisors: Professor Nunzio Motta