Sebastian Bocquet is a postdoc at Ludwig Maximilian University (LMU) Munich, Germany, which is also where he grew up! He works on extracting astrophysical and cosmological information from clusters of galaxies, which are some of the largest structures in our universe. In the DES collaboration, he currently co-leads the DES Clusters Working Group, helping everyone in the group to get their science done.
He also leads a project combining the abundance of galaxy clusters detected by the South Pole Telescope (another collaboration that partners with the Dark Energy Survey) with weak-lensing measurements from DES. This analysis combines the the strengths from both surveys and will lead to precise cosmological measurements.
We asked Sebastian a few questions. Here’s what he had to say:
What sparked your interest in Physics/Astronomy/Cosmology?
I’ve always been interested in high-energy physics. For me, cosmology strikes the right balance between theory, data analysis and model building. Perfect!
What is your favorite part about being a scientist?
That a big part of being a scientist is being curious and asking questions (and that you need to answer some of them). Finally, I get to participate in finding some “truth” about our universe and that is simply amazing.
Do you have any hobbies or take part in sports?
I’m a fan of the outdoors: road and mountain biking, running, rock climbing, skiing, mountaineering. Unfortunately, I do not find the time to play music nearly as much as I used to.
Do you have a favorite space-related image?
I had this poster of an astronaut in my room when I was a child https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astronaut#/media/File:Bruce_McCandless_II_during_EVA_in_1984.jpg Why? — I mean, just look at it!
If you weren’t a scientist, what would your dream job be?
I would be curious to be a scientist in another discipline or in industry. Otherwise, maybe I’d be a mountain guide, helping people to safely get out of their comfort zone and explore new worlds.
Do you have kids? Do they want to be scientists too?
Two kids, ages 1 and 3. They have no idea what my job is except that I get to use the forbidden laptop and that I attend telecons. So yes, I guess they want whatever I have.
What do you think has been the most exciting advance in physics / astronomy in the last 10 years?
The detection of gravitational waves.
What in physics/astronomy are you most excited about in the next 10 years?
The surprises that are waiting for us as we analyze ever more powerful cosmological datasets.
Any advice for aspiring scientists?
Doing science is great, being a non-tenured scientist can be tough… Research is different than studying, and excelling at one does not necessarily imply excelling at the other. I think it’s important to be honest with yourself. It’s ok to struggle, it’s not ok to be miserable. But most importantly, stay curious and keep wondering about how things work!