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University of Leicester at 'Frontiers of Science'

Leicester astronomer delivers keynote lecture at meeting in Beijing

Dr Mark Wilkinson, a Royal Society University Research Fellow in the Dept. of Physics and Astronomy, represented UK astronomy as a keynote speaker at the "UK-China-Netherlands Frontiers of Science" meeting held in Beijing from 8-11 November.

The meeting was jointly organised by the science foundations of each participating country - the Royal Society, the Chinese Academy of Science, and the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences. It brought together outstanding early-career scientists to discuss the latest advances in their fields, and to learn about cutting edge research in other disciplines, in a format which encourages informal networking and discussion.

Over seventy participants attended, and the topics of discussion included the effects of climate change on the distribution of animals, the process of continental rifting which turns mountains into oceans, and the role of adult stem cells in the development of cancers. In a session entitled "Galactic Archaeology: Streams as fossils of the formation history of galaxies", Dr Wilkinson spoke about the formation and evolution of the Milky Way galaxy and the dramatic progress which has been made in our understanding of this fundamental question over the past decade.