Prof Mark McCaughrean is the Senior Advisor for Science & Exploration at the European Space Agency. He is also responsible for communicating results from ESA’s astronomy, heliophysics, planetary, and exploration missions to the scientific community and wider public. After studying at the University of Edinburgh, he worked in universities and research organisations in the US, Germany, and UK before joining ESA in 2009. His scientific research focuses on the formation of stars and their planetary systems, and he is an Interdisciplinary Scientist on the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope Science Working Group. He is also the co-founder of Space Rocks, which celebrates space exploration and the art, music, and culture it inspires through public events and more.
His personal scientific research involves observational studies of the formation of stars and their planetary systems, and he is also an Interdisciplinary Scientist for the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope.