Speaker

Professor Mark Burchell

Emeritus Professor of Space Science
University of Kent, UK

Professor Mark Burchell's research specialises in planetary science with a focus on hypervelocity impact processes (covering impact  damage to spacecraft, cratering, collecting dust in space, astrobiology, etc.). He has published over 250 refereed journal papers on planetary science, astrobiology, particle physics etc. with over 9350 citations , h = 47 on Web of Science. He helped raise over £6m external income at Kent. He has given over 119 conference/workshop talks (including 23 keynote/invited), plus 42 talks at departmental seminars/public events talks etc. He has sat on many committees including: the STFC Astronomy Grants Panel (AGP)  2013 – 2017) and the STFC Solar System Advisory Panel (2020 – 2023), and was chair of the Astrobiology Society of Britain (2006 – 2010). He was the recipient of two NASA group achievement awards (2009 and 2013). In 2023, the IAU named asteroid 30548 Mark Burchell in his honour. In January 2026, the Royal Astronomical Society announced he is the winner of their 2026 Service Award for advancing the discipline of planetary science nationally and internationally.

He holds a  BSc (Hons, 1^st class, Physics) from University of Birmingham 1981 and a PhD (in particle physics) from Imperial College (1986). His postdoctoral experience was at: Imperial College London (1984 – 1986), University of California Santa Cruz (1986 - 1989), and as CERN Fellow (1989 – 1992). He was a permanent Faculty member in Space Science at University of Kent from 1993 – 2021 (becoming Professor of Space Science in 2007 and Dean of the Faculty of Science from 2010 – 2020). Since 2021 he has been an Emeritus Professor at Kent, working as a part-time researcher on various projects including designs for a new orbital debris detector (SAILOR) for the European Space Agency.