Lovell Lecture Series 2027

19.30 – 21.00

There is a quiet, hidden universe that no one has ever been able to hear, and as radio astronomy enters a new golden age, a remarkable fleet of telescopes around the world is about to change that. Led by the Square Kilometre Array Observatory, these powerful discovery engines will begin listening over the next decade. But how do you build machines this big and this complex, and what could radio telescopes possibly have in common with K-pop groups or a whisky distillery?

Come along to discover why bold thinking and a few unlikely ingredients are the recipe for instruments that uncover wonders, as Prof Jessica Dempsey joins us at Jodrell Bank for a special Lovell Lecture. She will explore what these telescopes might find in this new frontier, how we cope with the flood of data they will produce, and what a whisky distillery can teach us about photographing the cosmos.

About the speaker 

Prof Jessica Dempsey is a globally recognised radio astronomer and Director-General of the SKA Observatory since June 2026. She was previously Director of the Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy (ASTRON) and Deputy Director of the East Asian Observatory and the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope in Hawaii. With expertise in submillimetre instrumentation, wide-field surveys and data-intensive science, she is a member of the Event Horizon Telescope team that captured the first image of a black hole. She was the first Australian female scientist to work at the geographic South Pole and has led astronomical missions in some of the world’s most extreme environments. A passionate advocate for inclusive science, she champions ethics, equity, community-led science and leadership transformation, and is committed to inspiring future generations.

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