RC: A "postdoc" is a short term (2-5 year) position that you take between finishing your PhD and getting a permanent "faculty" position. My main research area is the use of to generate models of how galaxies form and evolve. In general, we have a good general impression of how galaxies form, but the fine details are still unresolved. Astronomy is a unique science, in that it's driven purely by observation rather than experimentation--you can't just build a new planet, star, black hole, galaxy or universe in a lab--so generating models with supercomputers is the closest we can get to "experimenting."

I also dabble in the more traditional astronomer's task of observing.

GT: Why did you decide to move to Melbourne?

RC: As I was finishing my PhD, I was offered my present job, which involved being able to continue a lot of the research I was doing as a graduate student, since the university here has its own very large supercomputer. Also, science funding in Australia right now is fantastic, providing lots of opportunities for research and sparking big new projects. For example the world's best radio telescope is currently under construction in the Western Australian desert (far from interference from televisions and mobile phones). Melbourne is also a fantastic city to live in, though I'll be moving back to Europe in a few months, as I have a new job in the Netherlands, similar to the one I have now.

GT: What have been the highlights of your career so far?