Women in Research #LINO24: Shanika Galaudage

Shanika from Australia is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Observatoire de la Côte d’Azur (Lagrange Laboratory) in Nice, France.

As a gravitational-wave astrophysicist, she studies some of the most violent events in the universe using gravitational waves: collisions between pairs of black holes and/or neutron stars. Her main area of research involves studying the population of these sources to find out how these systems lived their lives.

Shanika participates in the 73^rd Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting.

Enjoy the interview with Shanika and get inspired:

What inspired you to pursue a career in science/in your discipline?

I was interested in astronomy from a young age, particularly fascinated by the planets in the solar system (back when Pluto was still classified as a planet). I continued this interest purely as a hobby because I thought the only thing I could do in astronomy was become an astronaut, and I definitely did not want to do that. I was content with my feet on the ground. It was only in my later years of high school that I realized my interest in astronomy and physics could become something more, thanks to my physics teacher. She helped me see that I could and should follow my passion.

Who are your role models?

It is impossible to name just a few. From high school to my current postdoc position, I have been inspired and guided by so many people who have excelled in their disciplines, both in academia and industry. The women, in particular, have also helped me feel a sense of belonging and an “if they can do it, so can I” attitude.

How did you get to where you are in your career path?

The journey began in high school thanks to my physics teacher nudging me in the right direction. I went on to a BSc in Science at Monash University, and I actually ended up liking physics more and more, to the point where I majored in both physics and astrophysics (in hindsight, I wish I majored in maths instead, it would have helped give me a headstart in understanding some of the calculations gravitational-wave astrophysics). What eventually helped me pick between astrophysics and physics was a research project I completed in my final year. It involved searching for X-ray pulsations from neutron stars. This project won me over. This research project was where I first learned how to code, which is an essential skill for the work I do today.

However, it wasn’t smooth sailing. My mental health was very poor during the final years of my undergraduate degree, and I was struggling to pass my courses. At that point, it looked like there was no way I could qualify to do an honors course and go on to do a PhD. Some staff in the department noticed that something was wrong. Thanks to them, I was able to get the help I needed and learn strategies to manage my mental health (which I still apply today).

Following my undergraduate degree, I went on to do a PhD at Monash University. This is where I started working in the research area I work on today. I completed my PhD in 2023, and now I am a postdoctoral researcher at the Observatoire de la Côte d’Azur. Up until my postdoc, I had lived in Melbourne, Australia, my entire life. It was quite the change of scenery moving to the other side of the world to do astrophysics research. I was lucky to have the support of staff, mentors, and supervisors through this journey and for the next step.

What is the coolest project you have worked on and why?

I might be a little biased, but I think they are all cool! Most of my research involves studying the populations of cataclysmic collisions of black holes and neutron stars. But if I had to pick a favorite project, it was one related to understanding the life of the gravitational wave event: GW190425, a pair of neutron stars that collided. When we saw this event, one key question was raised: why was this pair of neutron stars heavier than the pairs of neutron stars we see in the Milky Way? The ones we have in our galaxy were observed in radio wavelengths. My work proposed that perhaps heavier systems merge much more quickly, so there is no time for us to observe them in radio. It will take more observations of gravitational waves from merging neutron star pairs to determine whether this hypothesis has explanatory power. And yes, perhaps this project is the coolest in my eyes because I like neutron stars more than black holes, but let’s keep this little secret to ourselves.

What’s a time you felt immense pride in yourself/your work?

Most recently, it was at my PhD graduation. It reminded me of just how far I had come on my journey in astrophysics and how I have been able to make a meaningful contribution to the field. I was the first in my family to attend university and the only one to complete a PhD. One of the reasons I wanted to attend the Lindau Nobel Laureate meeting was to meet like-minded people who have had a similar research journey to me to see how they navigated that.

What is a “day in the life” of you like?

My day-to-day mainly involves reading papers, coding, making plots, and attending meetings. I try to start my day by reading the latest research posted on arXiv. It would be impossible to keep up with all the papers, so I usually skim the titles and abstracts to identify interesting/relevant ones. For the ones that catch my eye, I’ll read the discussion section to get a detailed picture of the results.

Almost every day, I write, debug, and run code to calculate things and perform analyses of gravitational wave data. And, of course, I will usually make plots of these analyses to see what the results are. I think I attend, on average, a meeting per day; most of these are meetings of different working groups in the LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA (LVK) collaboration.

Somewhere through the day, I would have at least one hot chocolate break (hot chocolate >> coffee), and during these breaks, I’ll sometimes work on designing science infographics. I enjoy designing these infographics for myself and others in the field to use to help communicate our science. Recently, I created a few infographics for the LVK collaboration to use for public communication of the latest discovery paper on GW230529, a gravitational-wave event that was a merger of a neutron star and a very low-mass black hole. I was also on the team that wrote the paper for this special event.

What are you seeking to accomplish in your career?

Tough question, I think I’m still figuring it out. While continuing a career in astrophysics would be great, I hope I can find a pathway that allows me to mix research, teaching, and outreach. I love being able to contribute to gravitational wave astronomy. It’s such a new field, so it feels incredibly exciting and fast-paced. But I’m also very passionate about science communication, outreach, and educating the next generation of scientists.

What do you like to do when you’re not doing research?

So many things! These days, I find myself making greeting cards with my sister. We are trying to make it into something more than a hobby and have just created some social media accounts to post content on, so if you see @thecraftvoid somewhere, that’s us! I also enjoy volunteering. There are two organizations in particular I am very proud to be a part of: Space Australia and IncludeHer. Space Australia (spaceaustralia.com) is a group that publishes content on space news in Australia. We particularly aim to highlight the research work of early career researchers, as well as Australian efforts in the space industry. IncludeHer (includeher.au) is a movement aiming to address the lack of representation of women in school curricula in Australia. Our team actually published a research paper studying the year 11 and 12 Biology/Chemistry/Physics/Environmental Science curriculum across all states and territories. We found only one woman was mentioned! Rosalind Franklin. We are currently working with folks who design the curriculum to fix this.

While in France, it has been a bit tricky to work with folks back in Australia on these, but it’s a nice way to stay in touch with colleagues and stay in the loop with things happening in research and education. I also love playing chess, binge-watching international dramas (mainly Korean dramas), and making desserts.

What advice do you have for other women interested in science/in your discipline?

Go for it! Easier said than done, but with the right mentors and cheerleaders, you will be well-supported in your career. It can be tricky at times to navigate your way in a male-dominated field. One thing that has made this journey easier for me is working in research groups that have been fun and supportive. If you want to do a PhD, reach out to former students who have worked in that research group to hear about their experience (particularly any women). A PhD is a long commitment, so you want to ensure the group you work in will help you thrive.

If you are interested in gravitational-wave astrophysics, I would make sure to gain a solid background in astrophysics and mathematics during university and some coding experience.

In your opinion, what will be the next great breakthrough in science/in your discipline?

I think the next thing in gravitational-wave astronomy will be the confident detection of the gravitational-wave background in the nanoHz regime. This is the symphony of gravitational waves produced from merging supermassive black holes throughout the Universe. These black holes are like the ones in the center of our home galaxy: Sgr A*, which is 4.3 million times more massive than our Sun! We saw hints of this gravitational-wave background in 2023, and it’s just a matter of time until we are certain of its presence.

What should be done to increase the number of female scientists and professors?

This is definitely not a simple answer. Women are interested in Physics/STEM, so that’s not the issue, the retention is. To achieve this we need good support structures. I know I would not have made it to this stage in my career without the mentors and support I’ve had through the years.

I do think some of the actions we are taking are steps in the right direction. There are some academic positions that are advertised for women only, and I personally think it is a good step. There are plenty of qualified women for these roles, so why not have these roles filled to strengthen the diversity in a research department? Role models are super important, and when early career researchers can see someone like them in certain roles, it becomes a possibility.

Of course, we need shifts in the academic structure because the system was not really designed with women in mind. Progress is being made, but we have a long way to go, and I strongly believe that to make any change, we need some male allies to support these changes and to be part of this conversation. Too often, we have women being responsible for doing this work of improving inclusion and diversity on top of their own research activities, this needs to change.