Alumnus Profile: Daniel Kubas
Above: (Background courtesy of NASA website) - Purple Haze - A massive cluster of galaxies located about 2.3 billion light years away, Abell 1689, shows signs of merging activity. |
Above: Daniel Kubas on the platform of the European Southern Observatory's VLT (Very Large Telescope) in the Atacama Desert, South America.
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A LIFELONG love of Star Trek led alumnus Daniel Kubas to where he is today – on a mountain in Chile, gazing at stars for a living.
The 34-year-old Berlin-born astronomer works for the European Southern Observatory, conducting space research in the Atacama Desert with one of the most advanced astronomical telescopes in the world.
Inheriting his fascination with space from his father, Dr Kubas was determined from a young age that he would work in a “space-related” field.
“I wanted to either be watching space and trying to be close to the stars from the ground or actually going to space,” he said.And while many children dream of becoming an astronaut, for Dr Kubas this dream was a step closer to becoming a reality when he made the first shortlist in the European Space Agency’s hunt for new astronaut candidates.
Earlier this year he was one of 1000 people plucked from 10,000 applicants to undergo a second round examination.
Whilst his lack of piloting experience eventually kept him from progressing to the third round, Dr Kubas’ journey into space will not end there.
Next year he intends to leave his coveted position at the ESO to undertake further research at the Astrophysics Institute of Paris.
He believes space research is a cultural necessity and vital for the long term survival of humans.
“As Russian rocket scientist Konstantin Tsiolkovsky said ‘the earth is the cradle of humanity, but mankind cannot stay in the cradle forever’,” he quoted.
“At some stage, space is the way we have to go.”
After completing his Bachelors Degree in Astrophysics at the Technical University of Berlin, Dr Kubas came to the University of Melbourne as an exchange student in 1998 and undertook a one year Honours project on the gravitational lensing of quasars (QSOs).
“I always wanted to go to a faraway place and Australia was the most faraway,” he said.
“My university lecturer had told us about Melbourne and that there was a conference held here on gravitational lensing, so I knew there was expertise on this topic.”
He completed his PhD in Astronomy at the Astrophysics Institute of Potsdam in 2005 and was fortunate to score his current job with the European Southern Observatory soon after.
Dr Kubas describes the ESO, an intergovernmental organisation which represents 12 countries and has three astronomical research sites in Chile, as “one of the temples of modern astronomy”.
“It is a privilege and a dream to work there,” he said.
“But now I want to dream a little further and seek new challenges."
By
Fiona Willan
