I am a Senior Lecturer in Cosmology in the School of Mathematics and Physics at the University of Queensland, and recipient of the 2026 Pawsey Medal from the Australian Academy of Science. My research focuses on mapping the positions and motions of millions of galaxies to understand how our Universe has evolved since the Big Bang — and to shed light on the mysterious dark matter and dark energy that make up 95% of everything in it.
I work on some of the largest galaxy surveys ever undertaken including
DESI (the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument) — a project mapping tens of millions of galaxies across the Universe.
4HS (the 4MOST Hemisphere Survey) — a new southern-sky survey that began observations in 2026, in which I lead the cosmology team
To analyse the enormous datasets these surveys produce, my team develops cutting-edge computing and statistical tools — techniques for making sense of extraordinarily large and complex data that are increasingly finding uses beyond astronomy.
Academic Background
Undergraduate: MPhys 1st Class Honours - University of Sussex, 2008-2012
Postgraduate: PhD - University of Portmouth, 2012-2016
Research Associate - University of Western Australia, 2015-2019
Research Fellow in Cosmology - University of Queensland, 2019-
I am a Cosmologist studying the properties of the Universe on the largest scales.
By mapping the positions of millions of galaxies, I investigate the unknown physics of the dark energy which drives the evolution of the Universe today, and the physics just after the Big Bang, when the ripples which grew under gravity to become galaxies were created.
I am actively participating in the key experiments designed to understand dark energy and gravity. I am co-chair of the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) lensing working group, and an active member of the Vera Rubin Observatory (LSST) and the Dark Energy Survey (DES). In the past, I had led science with the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, one of the major quests of contemporary physics that has spurred advancement in answering a range of fundamental questions about the origins of the universe.
I am passionate about communicating top-level research ideas to audiences outside our immediate academic sub-community. I have experience on a variety of media, including radio, public talks and lectures to local schools, science festivals and amateur astronomy groups, outreach activities at Stargazing Live events, as well as through written pieces.
I am an advocate for making STEM field accessible to everyone. During my career, I took part into different initiatives aiming to reduce structural barriers faced by different minorities in academia and inspire the next generation of STEM careers. I am part of the Women in Science Association with the aim to foster a community for young women in STEM, within and beyond the academic community. I worked and volunteered at N.G.O. centres, in Italy and Australia supporting young students to overcome educational inequality caused by poverty and other conditions.
Since 2021 I am on the Early Career Chapter committee for the Astronomical Society of Australia (ASA) to promote and assist the career development of early and mid-career researchers in the Australian astronomy community. I am also part of the Wellbeing ambassador program at University of Queensland, to promote and assist the career development of early and mid-career researchers in the Australian astronomy community.
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.
