Professor Matthew Colless

Professor Matthew Colless was previously the Director of the Australian Astronomical Observatory (AAO), Australia's national optical observatory, for nine years. He has also held positions at Durham and Cambridge Universities and Kitt Peak National Observatory in the US.

His research uses large redshift surveys of galaxies to understand their evolution, the large-scale structure of the universe, and the cosmological model. Professor Colless is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science, an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society, an lSI Citation Laureate, a former Vice-President of the International Astronomical Union, and ANU Founder representative for the Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT), a next-generation 25-metre optical telescope, and on the Council of European Southern Observatory.