Will Percival

Will Percival is a Professor and Distinguished Research Chair in Astrophysics at the University of Waterloo, directing the Waterloo Centre for Astrophysics. His research focuses on observational cosmology, cosmological structure formation, galaxy surveys, and large-scale structure. He leads major international collaborations such as the extended Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (eBOSS), the Euclid satellite mission, and the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI).

He earned his PhD from the University of Oxford in 1999. His awards include the Chinese Academy of Sciences Distinguished Scientist Fellowship (2016), the Royal Astronomical Society Team Award (2008), and the Philip Leverhulme Prize (2007). He has served on committees for the European Space Agency, UK Space Agency, and UK STFC. He teaches PHYS 475 - Cosmology annually since 2020.

His research emphasizes extracting cosmological insights from galaxy surveys, including physics from the early universe and modern cosmic evolution. His publications span Baryon Acoustic Oscillations, galaxy clustering analysis, and survey methodology. He coordinates large international teams for precision cosmological measurements.