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Prof Mike Bode

Astrophysics Research Institute

Faculty of Engineering and Technology

Email: M.Bode@ljmu.ac.uk

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I am Emeritus Professor of Astrophysics at Liverpool John Moores University. I was the founding Director of the Astrophysics Research Institute at LJMU and led the Institute until my sabbatical in 2014/15, apart from a gap to take up a Research Council Senior Fellowship. I gained my BSc in Physics at Leeds and PhD in Astrophysics at Keele and have held positions at Los Alamos National Lab (US), the University of Manchester and what is now the University of Central Lancashire. I am a past Vice President and Secretary of the Royal Astronomical Society, have chaired many UK Research Council committees in astronomy, both national and international, and was a member of the STFC's Science Board. Internationally, I was the European Astronomical Society's Special Representative to the European Union and served two terms on the European Research Council's Advanced Grants Panel. My research work focuses on furthering our understanding of exploding stars and I have held held both Advanced and Senior Fellowships of the UK Research Councils.

At LJMU, I led the New Generation Astronomical Telescopes Project. This entailed the development of the world’s largest robotic telescopes and the foundation of the company that designed and built them for export around the globe. A direct spin-off has been the National Schools’ Observatory (NSO) project whose Board I chaired, and the Spaceport Visitor Centre (owned and operated by Mereseytravel), which is now the home of Eureka!. The NSO currently gives access to over 2000 schools across Britain to the fully robotic Liverpool Telescope in the Canaries, alongside its primary use by the international research community. In 2005, the University was awarded the Queen’s Anniversary Prize for the work of the Astrophysics Research Institute in the development and use of large robotic telescopes and in 2007 the Institute won the Times Higher Education Research Project of the Year for its pioneering research work on gamma ray bursts.

On behalf of the major astronomy funding bodies and other coordinating organisations in Europe, I led the development of the first ASTRONET Roadmap. Published in late 2008, the Roadmap is a strategic plan for European astronomy with a 20 year horizon, and covers both ground and space-based facilities. This was the first time such a plan had been formulated on a Europe-wide scale.

Currently, I serve on the Science Council of a French Government 'Laboratoire d'Excellence' in Saclay and chair the International Advisory Committee of the Institute of Space Sciences (ICE-CSIC) in Barcelona. I have been assisting Thailand in its rapid development of astronomical capability for around 20 years and chair the International Scientific Advisory Committee of the National Astronomical Research Institute of Thailand. In 2018 I was given an award by Crown Princess Sirindhorn in "deepest appreciation of [my] dedication and contributions to astronomy development in Thailand". I am Visiting Professor in the Vice Chancellor's Office of the Botswana International University of Science and Technology, founder member and Vice-chair of the Astronomical Society of Botswana and co-author of the Botswana National Space Science and Technology Strategy.

Degrees

Keele University, United Kingdom, PhD (Astrophysics)
University of Leeds, United Kingdom, BSc (Hons) Physics

Academic appointments

Director ARI and Professor of Astrophysics, Astrophysics Research Institute, Liverpool John Moores University, 2007 - 2015
PPARC/STFC Senior Fellow, Liverpool John Moores University, 2003 - 2007
Director ARI and Professor of Astrophysics, Liverpool John Moores University, 1996 - 2002
Assistant Provost (Research), Liverpool John Moores University, 1994 - 1996
Head of Physics, Liverpool John Moores University, 1992 - 1994
Lecturer II, Senior Lecturer, Principal Lecturer, Professor, Physics and Astronomy, Lancashire Polytechnic, 1986 - 1992
SERC Advanced Fellow in Astronomy, Physics/Physics and Astronomy, University of Manchester/Lancashire Polytechnic, 1984 - 1989
Director's Funded Postdoctoral Staff Member, Los Alamos National Laboratory, 1982 - 1984
SERC Postdoctoral Research Assistant, Keele University, 1980 - 1982

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