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Job title: Head of School of Physics, Astronomy and Mathematics

Email Address: S.G.Ryan@herts.ac.uk

Memberships and Appointments:

American Astronomical Society (AAS: 1990 - present).

International Astronomical Union (IAU: 1993 - present).

Fellow, Astronomical Society of Australia (ASA: 1995 - present); Council 1995-1997.

Fellow, Royal Astronomical Society (FRAS: 1999 - present).

Member, Institute of Physics (MInstP: 2005-present)

Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA: 2010-present)

Fellow of the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications (FIMA: 2011-present)

My research focuses on the birth of the Milky Way and the formation of the chemical elements. I have undertaken programmes to discover the first 14 billion years old stars, and have studied their composition using some of the world's largest optical telescopes. The observations also reveal the motions of the stars in the Galaxy. By studying the motions and their composition together, it is possible to tell what the Milky Way looked like when it was still forming, long before the Earth existed.

Involvement in future instrumentation includes: SALT/HRS (Southern African Large Telescope/High Resolution Spectrograph) construction and commissioning

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