Simon Birrer

Simon Birrer is an Assistant Professor in Physics and Astronomy at Stony Brook University, specializing in cosmology and gravitational lensing. He holds a PhD from ETH Zurich (2016) and previously served as Kavli Fellow at Stanford University. Birrer leads research probing dark matter and dark energy using gravitational lensing phenomena.

His group develops computational tools for analyzing strong gravitational lensing data to study cosmic expansion and dark matter distribution. Research areas include time-delay cosmography, Hubble constant measurements, and machine learning applications in astrophysics.

Recent publications focus on multi-messenger gravitational lensing (2025), LSST survey applications (2025), and AI-powered lens modeling pipelines (2025). His work consistently addresses fundamental cosmological tensions like the Hubble constant discrepancy.

Awards:

• Kavli Postdoctoral Fellowship (2019-2022)
• Kugelpyramide Lifetime Achievement Award
• Experimental Innovation Award (ETH Zurich)

Research Group: Leads the SBU Strong Lensing group with 9+ graduate students and postdocs. The group participates in major collaborations including LSST Strong Lensing Science Collaboration (co-chair), LSST Dark Energy Science Collaboration, and TDCOSMO.