Christophe Dumas to lead UK ATC

Professor Christophe Dumas, who has been appointed to lead the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) UK Astronomy Technology Centre (UK ATC) from September 2024, will also take over as head of the STFC Royal Observatory Edinburgh (ROE) site where the UKATC is based, alongside The University of Edinburgh’s Institute for Astronomy.

With a strong background in managing large, complex astronomy projects, Professor Dumas previously served as the Head of Operations and an Observatory Scientist for the Thirty Meter Telescope International Observatory currently planned for Hawaii. He also directed science operations at the European Southern Observatory’s Paranal Observatory in Chile and worked with NASA on several space missions.

He also has considerable research experience with a focus on the formation of our solar system and its early chemistry. In recognition of his contributions to this field, binary asteroid 17246, a member of the Koronis family, is named after him.

“I am thrilled to join STFC to lead the UK ATC site in Edinburgh and look forward to working with the internationally renowned team at ROE in developing the next generations of cutting-edge instruments that will explore our close and distant Universe,” Professor Dumas said.

“It will be a fantastic challenge to follow the path of Gillian Wright’s extraordinary leadership.”

Professor Gillian Wright CBE, who has been the Director at UK ATC since 2012, has overseen some of the largest most innovative projects in international astronomy.

These include development of multiple instruments for the Very Large Telescope at the Parnal Observatory, such as the K-band Multi Object Spectrograph (KMOS), Enhanced Resolution imager and Spectrograph and NIX (ERIS_NIX) and the Multiple-Object Optical and Near-infrared Spectrograph (MOONS); and leading the European contribution to the Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) on board the James Webb Space Telescope.

Professor Mark Thomson, STFC Executive Chair, said: “I am delighted that Professor Dumas has agreed to bring his unique scientific leadership experience and deep understanding of astronomical research and development to UK ATC.

"Professor Dumas is perfectly placed to build on UK ATC’s impressive legacy and ensure the successful completion of these research programmes as well as the launch of exciting new efforts to explore the cosmos.”

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