Future Imperial researchers awarded prestigious Royal Society University Research Fellowships

Dr Matthew Heydeman and Dr Domenico Trotta have been awarded Royal Society University Research Fellowships to investigate some of the biggest questions in theoretical physics and astrophysics.

Two researchers set to join Imperial’s Department of Physics in January 2027 have been awarded prestigious Royal Society University Research Fellowships.

The highly competitive fellowships support outstanding early-career researchers to establish independent research programmes. Among this year’s recipients are Dr Matthew Heydeman, who will investigate the quantum nature of black holes, and Dr Domenico Trotta, whose work will explore how energetic particles are accelerated throughout the Universe.

Exploring the quantum nature of black holes

Dr Matthew Heydeman’s fellowship project, Black Hole Microstates from the Path Integral, will investigate one of the deepest puzzles in modern theoretical physics.

While Einstein’s theory of general relativity describes black holes using remarkably simple rules, quantum physics suggests they contain vast amounts of hidden information. Dr Heydeman’s research aims to better understand these quantum hidden states and explore how they can be described directly within a theory of gravity.

The project will use techniques from string theory and quantum gravity to investigate the extent to which gravity alone can account for black hole entropy, helping researchers understand how spacetime itself emerges from fundamental quantum principles.

Dr Heydeman said “I am honoured to receive this fellowship. It gives me the freedom to transition to independence and build my own group at Imperial, and to take on one of the deepest challenges in theoretical physics: describing black hole microstates directly in gravitational variables, and opening a pathway to understanding how spacetime itself emerges from quantum principles."

Investigating the birth of energetic particles

Dr Domenico Trotta’s fellowship project, Shocks, turbulence and the birth of energetic particles will investigate how shock waves in space accelerate ordinary charged particles to extremely high energies.

The project focuses on the long-standing “injection problem”, one of the major unsolved questions in astrophysics. To tackle it, Dr Trotta will combine observations from ESA’s Solar Orbiter and NASA’s Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe (IMAP) missions, two missions in which Imperial has direct hardware involvement, with advanced numerical simulations and spacecraft “digital twins”.

By comparing observations and simulations directly, the research will explore how shocks and turbulence in space plasmas trigger particle acceleration, from solar storms within our own Solar System to energetic particles throughout the wider Universe.

Understanding these processes could improve our knowledge of cosmic rays and space weather, while strengthening links with Imperial’s expertise in space-weather research and laboratory plasma physics.

Dr Trotta said ““I’m absolutely thrilled to receive this fellowship. It gives me the freedom, stability and long-term support to tackle a fundamental question in astrophysics and to build my own research group around it.

“This fellowship comes at an incredibly exciting time in my career. With Solar Orbiter already transforming our view of the inner Solar System and IMAP opening a new window on energetic particles, I now have a unique opportunity to bring these observations together and tackle questions that were simply out of reach a few years ago.”

Both researchers will join Imperial’s Department of Physics in January 2027, where they will establish independent research programmes supported by their fellowships.