Research
I am interested in galaxies and their evolution, including their co-evolution with active galactic nuclei, across cosmic time. I investigate this using data across the electromagnetic spectrum, and am particularly excited about the opportunities presented by new spectroscopic surveys such as WEAVE-LOFAR, which I lead. I am always on the look out for new collaborators, including postdocs and postgraduate students - if you would be interested in working together please do get in touch.
I currently serve as the Postgraduate Tutor for the Department of Physics, Astronomy and Mathematics at the University of Hertfordshire. A key part of this involves admissions, and we normally recruit several fully-funded PhD students each year (e.g. our October 2024 intake included 13 fully-funded and 2 self-funded PhD students). If you are interested in studying for a PhD in Physics, Astronomy or Mathematics (or for an MSc by research), please see the information available on the University webpages here or get in touch.
I have published more than 150 peer-reviewed articles, and my h-index is 58. You can find my complete list of publications here.
Research Team
In my team there is a tradition, started in 2023, whereby if you either (i) have a first-author paper accepted or (ii) submit your thesis, you earn a cat.
Current Team Members
- Dr Luke Holden (PDRA, started 2024)
- Soumyadeep Das (PhD student, started 2021)
- Shravya Shenoy (PhD student, started 2022)
- Maddie Silcock (PhD student, started 2022)
- Akshara Binu (PhD student, started 2024)
Past Team Members
- Dr Paul Haskell (P/T PhD, 2025)
- Dr Marina Arnaudova (PDRA, 2024-2025)
- Dr Alyssa Drake (PDRA, 2021-2023)
- Dr Marina Arnaudova (PhD, 2024, Thesis)
- Dr Shaun Read (PhD, 2019, Thesis)
- Monika Gelaziute (MSc, 2023, Thesis)
- Faye Davis (MSc, 2021, Thesis)
- George Reavley (MSc, 2017)
- Nancy Hine (MSc, 2013)
- Ankur Dev (SEPnet summer project, 2018, 2019)
- Sam Hopkins (SEPnet summer project, 2018)
Teaching
I have taught: - a first-year undergraduate course on Probability and Statistics; a Masters-level course on Galaxy Structure and Evolution; Statistics to third year Physics and Astrophysics students; Differential Equations; Applications of Mathematics; Mathematical Techniques for Engineers; and First year Physics tutorials (including Mechanics, Special Relativity, etc).
Short CV
- MPhys in Physics, Magdalen College, Oxford (2004)
- DPhil in Astrophysics, Oxford (2007)
- PDRA at Liverpool John Moores University (2007-2009)
- PDRA on H-ATLAS Survey, Nottingham (2009-2011)
- CAR Research Fellow, University of Hertfordshire (2011-2016)
- Senior Lecturer, University of Hertfordshire (2016-2018)
- Associate Professor in Research, University of Hertfordshire (2018-2024)
- Professor of Astrophysics (2024-)
Contact
Email: d.j.b.smith [at] herts.ac.uk
Phone: +44 (01707) 285189
Mail: Centre for Astrophysics Research, University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield, Herts, AL10 9AB, United Kingdom
I can also be contacted on LinkedIn