Robert James

Postdoctoral Research Fellow
CDM
University of Melbourne
Road-tripping in Tasmania in 2026

How would you describe your work to a 10-year-old?

I work on experiments that are trying to detect something called dark matter – we don’t know what dark matter is, but we do know that it makes up most of the “stuff” in the Universe (based on other experiments looking deep into space using very large telescopes). We do know that it’s very different to the atoms that make up you and me – for one, it doesn’t interact with light, which makes it invisible to us. As you might imagine, this makes working out what it’s made of quite the challenge! The experiments I work on operate in laboratories deep underground, where we construct them out of ultra-pure materials with very low radioactivity. This is to reduce the chance of a “normal” particle passing through one of our detectors and looking like a dark matter particle.

How did you get to where you are today?

I’m from the UK originally – I studied physics at university after I left school simply because it interested me! I didn’t have any clear life plan, I just knew that if I followed what interested me then I wouldn’t be bored. When I got to university and found out it was actually possible to be a physicist as a job I decided to give it a go, which led to me doing a PhD. I found particle physics fascinating when I was studying it at university, and figured it would be a good choice for a PhD topic. It was a steep learning curve but I was lucky to have a great supervisor and managed to get through it! We didn’t find any signs of dark matter during my PhD so I figured I’d keep looking a little longer, which brought me to where I am now – still looking for dark matter, now doing so from Melbourne.

What’s the best thing about your role/work?

I get to travel internationally a lot, which is very exciting. During my PhD I got to spend many weeks working with collaborators in a few different institutions scattered around Europe, as well as a number of months on-site at one of the world-leading dark matter experiments in the US. I still get to travel a lot, for meetings and conferences and various other things, although doing so from Australia can be a little more challenging. It’s great being exposed so frequently to so many intelligent people with such different ways of thinking, as well as the different cultures that form the backdrop to that.

What advice would you give to someone considering studying physics/science?

Do it! You’ll learn so much, and more importantly you’ll learn how to solve problems, which is such an important skill to have whatever you decide to do afterwards. I’ve seen people who studied physics go on to have all sorts of careers, so if it interests you I’d really encourage you to follow your passion.

What do you enjoy doing outside of work/besides physics?

Getting out into nature. As someone who does a lot of simulations and analysis I spend a lot of time indoors behind a computer screen, and deep underground labs aren’t always the most pleasant of environments either! I love the nature in Australia and try to spend as much time in it as I can. Most of the best ideas I have come to me when I’m out for a walk somewhere!