Ciaran O'Hare

Physicist Ciaran O’Hare had his sights set on becoming a musician before astronomy captured his attention.

A love of mathematics did not come naturally to physicist Ciaran O’Hare. Instead, his interest lay in music and he played the oboe, flute and drums.

It was only in his later teens that Ciaran developed an interest in astronomy, which set him on his trajectory towards a career in physics.

“Towards the end of school, I became interested in astronomy – I thought it was really cool – and I discovered that if I wanted to study astronomy, I would have to do physics at uni,” Ciaran said.

“That was a really sharp turning point for me, from not being very good at school to starting to work hard to improve my maths.”

Many years later, as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Sydney and member of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Dark Matter Particle Physics, Ciaran does not fit the stereotype of the scientist in a white coat; if anything, he looks more like a musician. However, he finds it difficult to imagine himself doing anything else.

“I really like the problem-solving part of the job and the diverse people I work with, and it’s a fundamentally interesting area of study.”

Ciaran’s work spans particle and astrophysics, in the areas of theory and direct detection.

He achieved his PhD in Physics with a thesis on ‘WIMPs, neutrinos and axions in the next generation of dark matter experiment’ from the University of Nottingham, UK, before undertaking postdoctoral research at the University of Zaragoza in Spain.

He attributes his success to his determination and interest in the subject area, and believes his experience shows that physicists do not necessarily need to be maths whizzes at school, although a willingness to work hard is an essential part of the equation.

“I feel like anyone can be good at anything if they have the motivation to pursue it. I don’t consider myself to be someone who has a particular aptitude for maths, but I am persistent, and I work hard,” he said.

While Ciaran enjoys his career in academia, he was initially surprised by the hyper-competitive job market. He has learnt the value of planning and establishing a professional profile, alongside focusing on his research.

It is a field that he recommends to students, although he reinforces the idea that academia is not the only career pathway for graduates, saying that training in science, and physics in particular, can be also be valuable in a range of industries and in the corporate sector.

As a Centre member and part of his university’s astroparticle group, Ciaran is excited to be part of the search for dark matter.

“I’ve essentially built my career around the search for dark matter and the Centre is a powerful way of bringing people with the same interests together. I can see that there are lots of great ideas and we’re on the precipice of being able to test those ideas,” he said.

“It’s not simply about finding dark matter, but about the doors that its discovery will open to an entirely new realm of physics.”