Overview
Background
Dr Sarah Sweet's research interests are in astrophysics, in the field of galaxy evolution. She received her PhD from the University of Queensland in 2014. Dr Sweet then worked at the Australian National University and at Swinburne University of Technology, before returning to UQ as a Lecturer in Astrophysics in 2020. She was awarded an Australian Research Council DECRA Fellowship in 2022 and became a Senior Lecturer in 2023.
Availability
- Dr Sarah Sweet is:
- Available for supervision
Fields of research
Qualifications
- Bachelor of Business (Management), The University of Queensland
- Bachelor of Science, The University of Queensland
- Bachelor (Honours) of Science, The University of Queensland
- Graduate Certificate in Research Commercialisation, The University of Queensland
- Doctor of Philosophy of Astrophysics, The University of Queensland
Research interests
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Spatially-resolved galaxy evolution
I'm interested in the formation and evolution of galaxies, ranging from dwarf to giant galaxies within the local to high-redshift Universe. I investigate the internal (mass, angular momentum) and environmental factors responsible for galaxy diversity in properties such as morphology, chemical content and dark matter content, mapping their evolution over cosmic time.
Works
Search Professor Sarah Sweet’s works on UQ eSpace
2025
Journal Article
The MAGPI Survey: radial trends in star formation across different cosmological simulations in comparison with observations at <i>z</i> ∼ 0.3
Mun, Marcie, Wisnioski, Emily, Harborne, Katherine E, Lagos, Claudia D P, Valenzuela, Lucas M, Remus, Rhea-Silvia, Mendel, J Trevor, Battisti, Andrew J, Ellison, Sara L, Foster, Caroline, Bravo, Matias, Brough, Sarah, Croom, Scott M, Gao, Tianmu, Grasha, Kathryn, Gupta, Anshu, Mai, Yifan, Mailvaganam, Anilkumar, Muller, Eric G M, Sharma, Gauri, Sweet, Sarah M, Taylor, Edward N and Zafar, Tayyaba (2025). The MAGPI Survey: radial trends in star formation across different cosmological simulations in comparison with observations at z ∼ 0.3. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 538 (2), 976-997. doi: 10.1093/mnras/staf342
2025
Journal Article
A shallow slope for the stellar mass-angular momentum relation of star-forming galaxies at 1.5 < z < 2.5
Salcedo, Juan M. Espejo, Glazebrook, Karl, Fisher, Deanne B., Sweet, Sarah M., Obreschkow, Danail and Schreiber, N. M. Foerster (2025). A shallow slope for the stellar mass-angular momentum relation of star-forming galaxies at 1.5 < z < 2.5. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 536 (2), 1188-1216. doi: 10.1093/mnras/stae2647
2025
Journal Article
The MAGPI Survey: The subtle role of environment and not-so-subtle impact of generations of stars on galaxy dynamics
Foster, Caroline, Bellstedt, Sabine, D’Eugenio, Francesco, Poci, Adriano, Bagge, Ryan, Harborne, Katherine, Venville, Thomas, Mendel, Jon Trevor, Lagos, Claudia, Wisnioski, Emily, Barone, Tania, Battisti, Andrew J., Barsanti, Stefania, Brough, Sarah, Croom, Scott, Derkenne, Caro, Kimmig, Lucas, Mailvaganam, Anilkumar, Remus, Rhea-Silvia, Sharma, Gauri, Sweet, Sarah M., Thater, Sabine, Valenzuela, Lucas, van de Sande, Jesse, Vaughan, Sam P. and Ziegler, Bodo (2025). The MAGPI Survey: The subtle role of environment and not-so-subtle impact of generations of stars on galaxy dynamics. Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia, 42 e035, 42. doi: 10.1017/pasa.2025.11
2024
Journal Article
The MAGPI Survey: Insights into the Lyα line widths and the size of ionised bubbles at the edge of cosmic reionisation
Mukherjee, Tamal, Zafar, Tayyaba, Nanayakkara, Themiya, Gupta, Anshu, Gurung-Lopez, Siddhartha, Battisti, Andrew, Wisnioski, Emily, Foster, Caroline, Mendel, Jon Trevor, Harborne, Katherine, Lagos, Claudia, Kodama, Tadayuki, Croom, Scott, Thater, Sabine, Webb, Jacinda, Barsanti, Stefania, Sweet, Sarah, Prathap, Jahang, Valenzuela, Lucas, Mailvaganam, Anilkumar and Martinez, Jose Luis Carrillo (2024). The MAGPI Survey: Insights into the Lyα line widths and the size of ionised bubbles at the edge of cosmic reionisation. Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia, 41 e105, 1-14. doi: 10.1017/pasa.2024.112
2024
Journal Article
The SAMI galaxy survey: on the importance of applying multiple selection criteria for finding Milky Way analogues
Tuntipong, Sujeeporn, van de Sande, Jesse, Croom, Scott M., Barsanti, Stefania, Bland-Hawthorn, Joss, Brough, Sarah, Bryant, Julia J, Casura, Sarah, Fraser-McKelvie, Amelia, Lawrence, Jon S., Ristea, Andrei, Sweet, Sarah M. and Zafar, Tayyaba (2024). The SAMI galaxy survey: on the importance of applying multiple selection criteria for finding Milky Way analogues. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 533 (4), 4334-4359. doi: 10.1093/mnras/stae2042
2024
Journal Article
The MAGPI survey: orbital distributions, intrinsic shapes, and mass profiles for MAGPI-like eagle galaxies using Schwarzschild dynamical models
Santucci, Giulia, Lagos, Claudia Del P., Harborne, Katherine E., Derkenne, Caro, Poci, Adriano, Thater, Sabine, McDermid, Richard M., Mendel, J Trevor, Wisnioski, Emily, Croom, Scott M., Ferré-Mateu, Anna, Muller, Eric G. M., van de Sande, Jesse, Sharma, Gauri, Sweet, Sarah M., Tsukui, Takafumi, Valenzuela, Lucas M., van de Ven, Glenn and Zafar, Tayyaba (2024). The MAGPI survey: orbital distributions, intrinsic shapes, and mass profiles for MAGPI-like eagle galaxies using Schwarzschild dynamical models. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 534 (1), 502-522. doi: 10.1093/mnras/stae2114
2024
Journal Article
The MAGPI Survey: Evidence against the bulge-halo conspiracy
Derkenne, C, McDermid, R M, Santucci, G, Poci, A, Thater, S, Bellstedt, S, Mendel, J T, Foster, C, Harborne, K E, Lagos, C D P, Wisnioski, E, Croom, S, Remus, R-S, Valenzuela, L M, van de Sande, J, Sweet, S M and Ziegler, B (2024). The MAGPI Survey: Evidence against the bulge-halo conspiracy. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 533 (2), 1300-1320. doi: 10.1093/mnras/stae1836
2024
Journal Article
The MAGPI Survey: The evolution and drivers of gas turbulence in intermediate-redshift galaxies
Mai, Yifan, Croom, Scott M, Wisnioski, Emily, Vaughan, Sam P, Varidel, Mathew R, Battisti, Andrew J, Mendel, J Trevor, Mun, Marcie, Tsukui, Takafumi, Foster, Caroline, Harborne, Katherine E, Lagos, Claudia D P, Wang, Di, Bellstedt, Sabine, Bland-Hawthorn, Joss, Colless, Matthew, D’Eugenio, Francesco, Grasha, Kathryn, Peng, Yingjie, Santucci, Giulia, Sweet, Sarah M, Thater, Sabine, Valenzuela, Lucas M and Ziegler, Bodo (2024). The MAGPI Survey: The evolution and drivers of gas turbulence in intermediate-redshift galaxies. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 533 (4), 3878-3892. doi: 10.1093/mnras/stae2033
2024
Journal Article
The MAGPI survey: The interdependence of the mass, star formation rate, and metallicity in galaxies at z~0.3
Koller, M., Ziegler, B., Ciocan, B.I., Thater, S., Mendel, J.T., Wisnioski, E., Battisti, A.J., Harborne, K.E., Foster, C., Lagos, C., Croom, S.M., Grasha, K., Papaderos, P., Remus, R.S., Sharma, G., Sweet, S.M., Valenzuela, L.M., van de Ven, G. and Zafar, T. (2024). The MAGPI survey: The interdependence of the mass, star formation rate, and metallicity in galaxies at z~0.3. Astronomy and Astrophysics, 689 A315, 1-15. doi: 10.1051/0004-6361/202450715
2024
Journal Article
AGEL: Is the Conflict Real? Investigating Galaxy Evolution Models Using Strong Lensing at 0.3 < z < 0.9
Sahu, Nandini, Tran, Kim-Vy, Suyu, Sherry H., Shajib, Anowar J., Ertl, Sebastian, Kacprzak, Glenn G., Glazebrook, Karl, Jones, Tucker, G. C., Keerthi Vasan, Barone, Tania M., Baker, A. Makai, Skobe, Hannah, Derkenne, Caro, Lewis, Geraint F., Sweet, Sarah M. and Lopez, Sebastian (2024). AGEL: Is the Conflict Real? Investigating Galaxy Evolution Models Using Strong Lensing at 0.3 < z < 0.9. The Astrophysical Journal, 970 (1) 86, 86. doi: 10.3847/1538-4357/ad4ce3
2024
Journal Article
The MAGPI survey: using kinematic asymmetries in stars and gas to dissect drivers of galaxy dynamical evolution
Bagge, R. S., Foster, C., D’Eugenio, F., Battisti, A., Bellstedt, S., Derkenne, C., Vaughan, S., Mendel, T., Barsanti, S., Harborne, K. E., Croom, S. M., Bland-Hawthorn, J., Grasha, K., Lagos, C. D. P., Sweet, S. M., Mailvaganam, A., Mukherjee, T., Valenzuela, L. M., van de Sande, J., Wisnioski, E. and Zafar, T. (2024). The MAGPI survey: using kinematic asymmetries in stars and gas to dissect drivers of galaxy dynamical evolution. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 531 (3), 3011-3022. doi: 10.1093/mnras/stae1341
2024
Journal Article
The MAGPI Survey: Massive slow rotator population in place by z ∼ 0.3
Derkenne, Caro, McDermid, Richard M, D’Eugenio, Francesco, Foster, Caroline, Khalid, Aman, Harborne, Katherine E, van de Sande, Jesse, Croom, Scott M, Lagos, Claudia D P, Bellstedt, Sabine, Mendel, J Trevor, Mun, Marcie, Wisnioski, Emily, Bagge, Ryan S, Battisti, Andrew J, Bland-Hawthorn, Joss, Ferré-Mateu, Anna, Peng, Yingjie, Santucci, Giulia, Sweet, Sarah M, Thater, Sabine, Valenzuela, Lucas M and Ziegler, Bodo (2024). The MAGPI Survey: Massive slow rotator population in place by z ∼ 0.3. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 531 (4), 4602-4610. doi: 10.1093/mnras/stae1407
2024
Journal Article
The SAMI Galaxy Survey: Impact of star formation and AGN feedback processes on the ionized gas velocity dispersion
Oh, Sree, Colless, Matthew, Barsanti, Stefania, Zovaro, Henry R M, Croom, Scott M, Yi, Sukyoung K, Ristea, Andrei, van de Sande, Jesse, D’Eugenio, Francesco, Bland-Hawthorn, Joss, Bryant, Julia J, Casura, Sarah, Jeong, Hyunjin, Sweet, Sarah M and Zafar, Tayyaba (2024). The SAMI Galaxy Survey: Impact of star formation and AGN feedback processes on the ionized gas velocity dispersion. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 531 (4), 4017-4032. doi: 10.1093/mnras/stae1382
2024
Journal Article
The MAGPI survey: Evolution of radial trends in star formation activity across cosmic time
Mun, Marcie, Wisnioski, Emily, Battisti, Andrew J., Mendel, J. Trevor, Ellison, Sara L., Taylor, Edward N., Lagos, Claudia D. P., Harborne, Katherine E., Foster, Caroline, Croom, Scott M., Bellstedt, Sabine, Barsanti, Stefania, Gupta, Anshu, Valenzuela, Lucas M., Chen, Qian-Hui, Grasha, Kathryn, Mukherjee, Tamal, Park, Hye-Jin, Sharda, Piyush, Sweet, Sarah M., Remus, Rhea-Silvia and Zafar, Tayyaba (2024). The MAGPI survey: Evolution of radial trends in star formation activity across cosmic time. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 530 (4), 5072-5090. doi: 10.1093/mnras/stae1132
2024
Journal Article
The SAMI Galaxy Survey: galaxy spin is more strongly correlated with stellar population age than mass or environment
Croom, Scott M., van de Sande, Jesse, Vaughan, Sam P., Rutherford, Tomas H., Lagos, Claudia del P., Barsanti, Stefania, Bland-Hawthorn, Joss, Brough, Sarah, Bryant, Julia J., Colless, Matthew, Cortese, Luca, D’Eugenio, Francesco, Fraser-McKelvie, Amelia, Goodwin, Michael, Lorente, Nuria P. F., Richards, Samuel N., Ristea, Andrei, Sweet, Sarah M., Yi, Sukyoung K. and Zafar, Tayyaba (2024). The SAMI Galaxy Survey: galaxy spin is more strongly correlated with stellar population age than mass or environment. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 529 (4), 3446-3468. doi: 10.1093/mnras/stae458
2024
Journal Article
The SAMI galaxy survey: predicting kinematic morphology with logistic regression
Vaughan, Sam P, van de Sande, Jesse, Fraser-McKelvie, A, Croom, Scott, McDermid, Richard, Liquet-Weiland, Benoit, Barsanti, Stefania, Cortese, Luca, Brough, Sarah, Sweet, Sarah, Bryant, Julia J, Goodwin, Michael and Lawrence, Jon (2024). The SAMI galaxy survey: predicting kinematic morphology with logistic regression. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 528 (4), 5852-5863. doi: 10.1093/mnras/stae409
2024
Journal Article
The SAMI Galaxy Survey: fossil group centrals are no more likely to be slow rotators
Scuccimarra, F., Croom, S. M., van de Sande, J., Barsanti, S., Brough, S., Bryant, J. J., Kimmig, L. C., del Lagos, C. P., Remus, R. S., Ristea, A., Sweet, S. M. and Vaughan, S. (2024). The SAMI Galaxy Survey: fossil group centrals are no more likely to be slow rotators. Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia, 41 e100. doi: 10.1017/pasa.2024.94
2023
Journal Article
Supermassive black holes in a mass-limited galaxy sample
Byrne, Zachary, Drinkwater, Michael J., Baumgardt, Holger, Blyth, David, Côté, Patrick, Lüetzgendorf, Nora, Spengler, Chelsea, Ferrarese, Laura, Mahajan, Smriti, Pfeffer, Joel and Sweet, Sarah (2023). Supermassive black holes in a mass-limited galaxy sample. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 526 (1), 1095-1111. doi: 10.1093/mnras/stad2771
2023
Journal Article
Different higher order kinematics between star-forming and quiescent galaxies based on the SAMI, MAGPI, and LEGA-C surveys
D’Eugenio, Francesco, van der Wel, Arjen, Derkenne, Caro, van Houdt, Josha, Bezanson, Rachel, Taylor, Edward N, van de Sande, Jesse, Baker, William M, Bell, Eric F, Bland-Hawthorn, Joss, Bluck, Asa F L, Brough, Sarah, Bryant, Julia J, Colless, Matthew, Cortese, Luca, Croom, Scott M, van Dokkum, Pieter, Fisher, Deanne, Foster, Caroline, Fraser-McKelvie, Amelia, Gallazzi, Anna, de Graaff, Anna, Groves, Brent, del P. Lagos, Claudia, Looser, Tobias J, Maiolino, Roberto, Maseda, Michael, Mendel, J Trevor, Nersesian, Angelos ... Zibetti, Stefano (2023). Different higher order kinematics between star-forming and quiescent galaxies based on the SAMI, MAGPI, and LEGA-C surveys. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 525 (2), 2765-2788. doi: 10.1093/mnras/stac3536
2023
Journal Article
Evolution in the orbital structure of quiescent galaxies from MAGPI, LEGA-C, and SAMI surveys: direct evidence for merger-driven growth over the last 7 Gyr
D’Eugenio, Francesco, van der Wel, Arjen, Piotrowska, Joanna M, Bezanson, Rachel, Taylor, Edward N, van de Sande, Jesse, Baker, William M, Bell, Eric F, Bellstedt, Sabine, Bland-Hawthorn, Joss, Bluck, Asa F L, Brough, Sarah, Bryant, Julia J, Colless, Matthew, Cortese, Luca, Croom, Scott M, Derkenne, Caro, van Dokkum, Pieter, Fisher, Deanne, Foster, Caroline, Gallazzi, Anna, de Graaff, Anna, Groves, Brent, van Houdt, Josha, del P. Lagos, Claudia, Looser, Tobias J, Maiolino, Roberto, Maseda, Michael, Mendel, J Trevor ... Zibetti, Stefano (2023). Evolution in the orbital structure of quiescent galaxies from MAGPI, LEGA-C, and SAMI surveys: direct evidence for merger-driven growth over the last 7 Gyr. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 525 (2), 2789-2805. doi: 10.1093/mnras/stad800
Supervision
Availability
- Dr Sarah Sweet is:
- Available for supervision
Before you email them, read our advice on how to contact a supervisor.
Available projects
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Spatially-resolved Galaxy Evolution
How typical or unusual is our Local Group of galaxies, which has two massive spiral galaxies each with a plane of satellite dwarf galaxies? You could determine how common the Local Group is by using equitable methods to study the fundamental physical properties of its dwarfs and the dwarfs of observed and simulated groups that resemble the Local Group.
How do the irregular, clumpy, highly-starforming galaxies we see in the distant, long-ago universe transform to the familiar elliptical and spiral galaxies we see in the present-day universe? You could investigate new ways to understand high-redshift galaxies based on fundamental physical properties such as angular momentum or chemical abundance.
There are several projects available, all focusing on disentangling galaxy evolution with the technology of integral field spectroscopy (IFS). Our team is part of world-leading IFS surveys (Hector Galaxy Survey, MAGPI Survey, Dwarfs in Local Group Analogues, AGEL, WALLABY) and is working to map the properties of thousands of galaxies in 3D (two spatial and one spectral dimensions). We use these data to understand the connection between the internal and external properties of galaxies of all sizes and shapes and at all distances.
Supervision history
Current supervision
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Doctor Philosophy
Understanding diversity: chemical and kinematic tracers of galaxy evolution
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Holger Baumgardt
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Doctor Philosophy
Studying the stellar initial mass function and binary fraction using Gaia data
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Holger Baumgardt
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Doctor Philosophy
Studying the dwarf galaxy population of the Milky Way
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Holger Baumgardt
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Doctor Philosophy
Studying globular cluster tidal tails with Gaia
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Holger Baumgardt
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Doctor Philosophy
Formation and Dynamics of Stellar-mass Black Holes in Star Clusters
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Holger Baumgardt
Completed supervision
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2023
Doctor Philosophy
The Formation of Lenticular and Compact Elliptical Galaxies
Associate Advisor
Media
Enquiries
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