From Banking to (supermassive) Black Holes: How Dr Michael Cowley studies the secretes of our universe

Cool Jobs: Astrophysics

Participant: Dr Michael Cowley

Many people dream about our universe, but QUT’s Dr Michael Cowley gets to study its secrets! For Michael, studying science has allowed him to travel the world, using telescopes from all corners of the globe.  Michael started out working in banking, but a career change (and study in astrophysics) lead him to research galaxies and supermassive black holes.

There’s no typical day for Michael, from writing lines of computer code to observing the galaxy through the world’s most powerful telescope to teaching hungry young minds about the mysteries of our universe. Researching how supermassive black holes impact the evolution of galaxies through cosmic time? Now that’s a (supermassive) cool job.