Rate My Professor Pratik Kumar

Dr. Pratik Kumar is an Associate Lecturer at the Curtin Institute of Radio Astronomy (CIRA), part of the International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR) node at Curtin University in the Faculty of Science and Engineering. He obtained his PhD in Physics and Astronomy from the University of New Mexico in 2024. His doctoral thesis, titled 'Understanding the Nature of Pulsars and Characterizing Propagation Effects using Pulsar Timing,' explored pulsar observations and interstellar propagation effects. Prior to his current role, Kumar conducted research involving low-frequency radio astronomy during his graduate studies.

Kumar's research specializations include pulsar astronomy, focusing on pulsar timing, dispersion measures, scattering phenomena, the solar wind, and pulsar wind nebulae. He also works on low-frequency instrumentation and the study of fast radio bursts (FRBs) and transients at low frequencies. His contributions involve major radio telescopes such as the Long Wavelength Array (LWA), Murchison Widefield Array (MWA), and SKA-Low prototype stations. Key publications comprise 'Pulsar B1237+25 Aberration/Retardation Analysis from Decimetre to Decametre Wavelength: Challenge to Radius-to-Frequency Mapping' (Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 2025), 'A Multifrequency Census of 100 Pulsars below 100 MHz with LWA' (The Astrophysical Journal, 2024), 'A 50–250 MHz Pulsar Census with an SKA-Low Prototype Station: Spectra and Polarization' (The Astrophysical Journal, 2026), '100 000 Crab Giant Pulses at 215 MHz Detected with an SKA-Low Prototype Station' (Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia), and co-authorship on 'The Southern-sky MWA Rapid Two-metre (SMART) Pulsar Survey—I: Survey Design and Processing Pipeline' (Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia, 2023). He is a member of the International Astronomical Union and supervises undergraduate and honours student projects in pulsar timing at Curtin University. Kumar's observational work supports advancements in understanding pulsar emission spectra, population statistics, interstellar medium properties, and low-frequency transient detection.