Welcome to the Centre for Theoretical Cosmology

“The CTC exists to develop theories of the Universe that are both mathematically consistent and observationally testable.”
Professor Stephen Hawking
Steven Hawking in front of a blackboard

The Purpose of CTC

There are two circumstances in which the hidden basic fabric of the Universe is violently shaken and unveiled: in the enormous temperatures and densities of the Hot Big Bang and during the extreme collapse to form a black hole. CTC focuses on mathematical theories of these pivotal physical events, confronting them with observational data to gain new insight into the fundamental structure of the Universe and its origin. As well as supporting fellows and visiting professors, CTC's activities include hosting timely workshops and international conferences on frontier topics in cosmology.

Professor Paul Shellard, Director

Latest news and events

APS award for Lorenzo Gavassino

Lorenzo Gavassino, who recently joined us as a postdoctoral researcher specialising in relativistic many-body physics, has been awarded the George E. Valley Jr. Prize by the American Physical Society. The award is given to just one person a year to recognise an early-career ...more »

OBE for Anne-Christine Davis

Anne-Christine Davis, an Emeritus member of the CTC faculty, has been awarded an OBE in the King’s Birthday Honours 2024 for services to Higher Education and Scientific Research. Anne was the first female Professor in the history of the Faculty of Mathematics at the ...more »

CTC to host technical workshop in June

The CTC will host an AMReX development workshop on 24-25 June 2024. This will be followed on 26-27 June by the six-monthly meeting of the GRTL collaboration. Information for those interested in attending my be found here: ...more »

CTC professor wins prestigious award

Maciej Dunajski The CTC's Maciej Dunajski has won first prize in the Gravity Foundation's annual awards for essays. The prize has been won in the past by CTC founder Stephen Hawking and by several physicists who went on to win the Nobel prize, including Professor ...more »

CTC takes part in groundbreaking dark matter collaboration

CTC faculty member Professor Blake Sherwin leads a team of researchers making up part of the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) collaboration. The ACT has just released findings that reveal the most detailed map of dark matter distributed across a quarter of the entire sky, ...more »

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