Rate My Professor Sascha Schediwy

Professor Sascha Schediwy is a Professor and Senior Principal Research Fellow at the University of Western Australia, affiliated with the International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research, the International Space Centre, and the UWA Defence and Security Institute. He holds a Doctor of Philosophy in Physics from the University of Western Australia, obtained in 2007. An internationally recognised researcher in high-precision astronomy, space instrumentation, and coherent free-space laser link research, Schediwy leads the Astrophotonics Group at ICRAR/UWA. He has contributed significantly to major projects including Advanced LIGO and the Square Kilometre Array, serving as the lead designer of the SKA-Mid Phase Synchronisation System. Additionally, he leads a four-year $1.7 million SmartSat CRC Research Project and is an Associate Investigator in the ARC Centre of Excellence for Engineered Quantum Systems. His team holds world records for the most stable transmission of laser signals through Earth's turbulent atmosphere, enabling advancements in optical atomic clock comparisons, tests of General Relativity, dark matter searches, satellite navigation, and precision timing networks. Schediwy was awarded the Academic of the Year and overall Excellence Award at the 2021 Australian Space Awards, along with the ngVLA Community Study Award in 2017 and the Jansky ICRAR Presentation Award in 2015. He is a finalist for the 2025 Premier's Science Awards in the Mid-Career Scientist category. Key publications include 'Ultrastable Free-Space Laser Links for a Global Network of Optical Atomic Clocks' (Physical Review Letters, 2022), 'Point-to-point stabilized optical frequency transfer with active optics' (Nature Communications, 2021), and earlier works such as 'Implications for the Origin of GRB 070201 from LIGO Observations' (The Astrophysical Journal, 2008) with over 280 citations. His research has garnered substantial impact, with contributions to LIGO gravitational wave detections and pioneering TeraNet, a network advancing space communications in Australia.

Schediwy has delivered public lectures, including a TEDxKingsParkSalon talk 'How optical clocks could solve science’s biggest conundrum' in 2022 and featured contributions to 'Wonders of the Universe' in 2010. His work fosters industry partnerships and positions Western Australia as a leader in space technologies.