Matthew Bailes

Professor Matthew Bailes is a Distinguished Professor of Astrophysics and Director of the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Gravitational Wave Discovery (OzGrav) at Swinburne University of Technology. He is renowned for co-discovering fast radio bursts (FRBs) and pioneering pulsar timing research. As founder and former director of the Centre for Astrophysics and Supercomputing (1998–2010), he elevated Swinburne's global standing in astrophysics.

His research focuses on relativistic objects like neutron stars and gravitational wave detection using radio telescopes. He leads the MeerTime collaboration with South Africa's MeerKAT telescope and co-founded Fourier Space Pty Ltd (2021), a spin-off company advancing radio astronomy technologies.

Education: PhD in Astrophysics (Australian National University, 1990), BSc (Hons) from University of Adelaide (1984). Awards include the Shaw Prize in Astronomy (2023) and CSIRO Medal (1990). He advises major initiatives like Breakthrough Listen, a $100M search for extraterrestrial intelligence.

Grants include leading a $31.3M ARC Centre (2016–2031) and collaborations on SKA pulsar timing processors. His mentorship has produced prominent astrophysicists such as Prof. Sarah Maddison and Prof. Steven Tingay.