Professor Jayne Birkby
MSci (Dunelm), PhD (Cantab), FRAS
Tutorial Fellow
I studied for four years at Durham University where I received an MSci in Physics & Astronomy in 2007. I continued my passion for studying astronomy at the University of Cambridge where I received a PhD in Astrophysics, and from there I moved overseas to the Netherlands for a postdoctoral position at Leiden University. In 2014, my research interests took me across the Atlantic to Boston where I continued as a NASA Sagan Postdoctoral Fellow for three years at Harvard University. In 2017, I returned to the Netherlands as an Assistant Professor in Astronomy at the University of Amsterdam, and in 2020 my research brought me back to the UK as an Associate Professor in Exoplanetary Science in the Astrophysics department at University of Oxford and Tutorial Fellow in Physics at Brasenose College. I became Professor Astrophysics at Oxford in 2025. I am an ERC Starting Grant Laureate, where I lead my group in the study of exoplanet atmospheres.
At Brasenose, I tutor Physics students in first year Optics, Electromagnetism, and Circuit Theory, and second year Optics, Electromagnetism and Signals, as well as presentation skills.
My favourite part of teaching at Brasenose is discussing with the students and hearing their ideas and interpretations, and all the excellent questions they ask. This helps me think about physics problems from new angles including in my own research!
I specialise in the observation and study of planets orbiting other stars outside our Solar system. I uses the world’s largest optical-infrared telescopes and highest resolution instruments to determine the composition and dynamics of the atmospheres of these other worlds, including finding water vapour and measuring the length of a day on distant alien planets. My research interests also include the study of very low mass stars, the most numerous but enigmatic stars in our local stellar neighbourhood, as well as aiding in the design of new instrumentation to study exoplanets. My goals are to understand how the incredible diversity of the exoplanet population was formed, and to survey the very nearest terrestrial exoplanets with the next generation of Extremely Large Telescopes (ELTs). I have a keen interest in connecting these exoplanet studies with chemistry, geology, and biology in the pursuit of the answer to: Are we alone?
https://users.ox.ac.uk/~phys2149 – my group homepage
“Into the red: an M-band study of the chemistry and rotation of β Pictoris b at high spectral resolution”, Parker, L. T.; Birkby, J. L. 2024, MNRAS, 531, 2356
“Behind the mask: can HARMONI@ELT detect biosignatures in the reflected light of Proxima b?”, Vaughan, S. R.; Birkby, J. L. et al. 2024, MNRAS, 528, 3509 https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2024MNRAS.528.3509V/abstract
“Measuring the variability of directly imaged exoplanets using vector Apodizing Phase Plates combined with ground-based differential spectrophotometry”, Sutlieff, B. J.; Birkby, J L. et al. MNRAS, 520,4235 https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2023MNRAS.520.4235S/abstract
“Exoplanet Atmospheres at High Spectral Resolution”, Birkby, J. L., 2018, Handbook of Exoplanets, Springer, 7-16 https://arxiv.org/abs/1806.04617
“Discovery of Water at High Spectral Resolution in the Atmosphere of 51 Peg b”, Birkby, J. L., de Kok, R. J., Brogi, M., Schwarz, H., & Snellen, I. A. G. 2017, AJ, 153, 138 https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2017AJ….153..138B/abstract
“WTS-2 b: a hot Jupiter orbiting near its tidal destruction radius around a K dwarf”, Birkby J. L., et al., 2014, MNRAS, 440, 1470 https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2014MNRAS.440.1470B/abstract
“Detection of water absorption in the day side atmosphere of HD 189733 b using ground-based high-resolution spectroscopy at 3.2μm”, Birkby, J. L., de Kok, R. J., Brogi, M., et al. 2013, MNRAS, 436, L35 https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2013MNRAS.436L..35B/abstract
“Discovery and characterization of detached M dwarf eclipsing binaries in the WFCAM Transit Survey”, Birkby J., et al., 2012, MNRAS, 426, 1507 https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2012MNRAS.426.1507B/abstract