IES - Are we alone in the universe? How do we Search for the Signature of Energy Intensive Extra Terrestrial Civilisations?
9th March 2027 6:30 pm
Do advanced technological civilisations exist in our Galaxy? Professor Garrett will discuss the latest developments in the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) and how recent technical advances – particularly Artificial Intelligence – are transforming our ability to detect potential “Technosignatures” from distant civilisations.
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Professor Michael Garrett FRS is the Sir Bernard Lovell Chair of Astrophysics at the University of Manchester and special professor of radio astronomy at Leiden University
Prof Garrett graduated from the University of Glasgow and did his PhD and post-doctoral research at the University of Manchester. He started work at the Joint Institute for VLBI in Europe (JIVE) in 1996, working on scientific support for the European VLBI Network. He became the director of JIVE in 2003, and over the course of his four-year tenure doubled the staff complement. On 1 February 2007 he became the General and Scientific Director of ASTRON, part of the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research. He was the Director of Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics 2016 – 2025
Prof Garrett’s scientific interests are very broad but include the study of the distant universe via high resolution radio observations. He is also active in the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI), and is currently Chair of the IAA SETI Committee. He was elected a member of the Academia Europaea in 2021 and a Fellow of the Royal Society in 2024.
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