Francesco Shankar

Francesco Shankar is a Professor of Astrophysics at the University of Southampton's School of Physics and Astronomy, serving as CHEP professional development lead. He leads the H2020 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Innovative Training Network (BID4BEST), focusing on supermassive black holes in a cosmological context. His research interests include galaxy evolution, active galactic nuclei, and cosmology. He has received prestigious fellowships including Humboldt and Marie Curie, and awards like the Pietro Tacchini Prize.

• Education: PhD from SISSA, postdoctoral fellowships at Ohio State University, Max Planck Institute, and Observatoire de Paris.
• Research Projects: Principal Investigator of Euclid-related studies and medical science projects on blood pressure strategies.

His recent publications emphasize Euclid mission instruments (VIS/NISP), semi-empirical galaxy models (DECODE), and black hole co-evolution with galaxies. He actively engages in outreach via the Astera 3D cosmological visualizer project.

• Teaching: Module leader for Cosmology, recognized with VLE awards for exceptional teaching resources.
• External Roles: Editor for Universe, reviewer for major journals, and advisor to international science boards (Polish NSF, Chilean CONICYT).