Rate My Professor Daniel Thomas

Professor Daniel Thomas is the Head of the School of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Leeds. Prior to this appointment, he served as Professor of Astrophysics and Head of the School of Mathematics and Physics at the University of Portsmouth, where he was affiliated with the Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation. His research focuses on galaxy evolution, stellar population modelling, cosmology, weak lensing, galaxy clustering, and simulation-based inference using deep learning. Thomas has contributed extensively to large-scale astronomical surveys, including the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS), Mapping Nearby Galaxies at Apache Point Observatory (MaNGA), Dark Energy Survey (DES), and galaxy working groups for Euclid and ARRAKIHS. His work employs stellar population models to predict and interpret galaxy evolution across cosmic time.

Key publications include 'The different star-formation histories of blue and red spiral and elliptical galaxies' (Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 2013, with Rita Tojeiro et al.), 'The Morphology of Galaxies in the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey' (MNRAS, 2011, with Karen L. Masters et al.), 'Stellar masses of SDSS-III/BOSS galaxies at z ~ 0.5 and constraints to galaxy formation models' (MNRAS, 2013, with Claudia Maraston et al.), 'Stellar velocity dispersions and emission line properties of SDSS-III/BOSS galaxies' (MNRAS, 2013, lead author), 'Chemical element ratios of Sloan Digital Sky Survey early-type galaxies' (MNRAS, 2012, with Jonas Johansson et al.), and 'Dynamical masses of early-type galaxies: a comparison to lensing results and implications for the stellar initial mass function and the distribution of dark matter' (MNRAS, 2011, with J. Thomas et al.). Recent contributions feature Dark Energy Survey Year 3 results on cosmological constraints from cluster abundances, weak lensing, galaxy clustering, and simulation-based inference with persistent homology and deep learning (2025-2026). With over 85,000 citations, his research has substantially influenced models of galaxy formation, stellar populations, and cosmic acceleration.