Dr Avishai Gilkis

Dr Avishai Gilkis is Director of Studies in Astrophysics at Magdalene.

Dr Avishai Gilkis is a stellar astrophysicist studying the evolution of massive stars and their eventual deaths as supernovae or through the formation of black holes. He obtained his PhD in Physics from the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology in 2017, where his research focused on stellar interiors and core-collapse supernovae. He subsequently moved to the University of Cambridge as a Blavatnik Fellow at the Institute of Astronomy, before taking up a postdoctoral research position at Tel Aviv University. He returned to Cambridge in 2024 as a fixed-term Assistant Professor at the Institute of Astronomy, where he taught Astrophysical Fluid Dynamics. He is currently a Research Fellow at the University of Surrey and a Visiting Researcher at the Institute of Astronomy in Cambridge. 

His research combines detailed numerical simulations of stellar evolution with astronomical observations, seeking to understand how physical processes such as stellar winds, rotation and interactions between binary stars determine their evolution and ultimate fate. Alongside his research, he has taught and supervised students in astrophysics and mathematics at undergraduate and master's levels, including as a Teaching Fellow at Churchill College, Cambridge. He has also been involved in public engagement and science communication, including at the Institute of Astronomy Open Day and Public Open Evenings, as well as other venues.

Research Interest

• Stellar evolution and the physics of massive stars
• Binary stars and stellar interactions
• Core-collapse supernovae and their progenitors
• Formation of neutron stars and stellar-mass black holes
• Stellar rotation, internal mixing and mass loss
• Computational astrophysics and stellar population synthesis
• Connecting theoretical models with astronomical observations

Qualifications

PhD in Physics, Technion, Israel Institute of Technology, Israel
MSc in Physics, Technion, Israel Institute of Technology, Israel
BSc in Physics, Tel Aviv University, Israel

Career/Research Highlights

• 2017–2019: Blavatnik Fellowship, awarded competitively by the British Council to undertake independent postdoctoral research at the University of Cambridge.
• Observational research: Co-Investigator on approved Hubble Space Telescope programmes, including a search for massive stars that disappear through black-hole formation.

Professional Affiliations

• Junior Member, International Astronomical Union (IAU)