{{short description|British particle physicist}} {{Infobox scientist | name = Clare Burrage | birth_name = Clare Joanna Burrage | fields = Dark energy | workplaces = University of Nottingham<br />DESY <br />University of Geneva | alma_mater = University of Cambridge (PhD) | thesis_title = Scalar Fields and the Accelerated Expansion of the Universe | thesis_url = http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.611090 | thesis_year = 2008 | doctoral_advisor = Anne-Christine Davis | awards = Maxwell Medal and Prize (2015) | website = {{URL|https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/physics/people/clare.burrage}} }}
'''Clare Joanna Burrage''' is a British particle physicist at the University of Nottingham. She has made significant contributions to dark energy research, using astrophysical probes and interferometry.
== Early life and education == Burrage attributes her love of cosmology to driving past the Lovell Telescope at Jodrell Bank Observatory as a child.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=http://www.iop.org/news/15/aug/page_66100.html|title=Award-winning early-career physicist is put in the spotlight|last=Physics|first=Institute of|website=www.iop.org|language=en-GB|access-date=2018-06-12|archive-date=2018-06-12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612232925/http://www.iop.org/news/15/aug/page_66100.html}}</ref> She attended Collingwood College, Surrey, achieving A-Levels in Mathematics, Further Mathematics, Physics and German.<ref name=":1">{{Cite news|url=https://archive.imascientist.org.uk/electromagneticm12-zone/profile/clareburrage.html|title=Profile - Electromagnetic Zone|work=Electromagnetic Zone|access-date=2018-06-12|language=en-US}}</ref> She studied Mathematics at the University of Cambridge, earning a Masters in 2004 and Part III of the Mathematical Tripos in 2005.<ref name=":1" /> Whilst a student, Burrage worked at Legoland Windsor Resort.<ref name=":1" /> For her postgraduate research she joined Anne-Christine Davis in the Department of Applied Maths and Theoretical Physics, studying ''Scalar Fields and the Accelerated Expansion of the Universe''.<ref name=burragephd>{{cite thesis|degree=PhD|publisher=University of Cambridge|url=https://copac.jisc.ac.uk/id/6118830?style=html|title=Scalar fields and the accelerated expansion of the universe|first=Clare Joanna|last=Burrage|date=2009|id={{EThOS|uk.bl.ethos.611090}}|website=jisc.ac.uk|oclc=890152846|access-date=2018-06-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180620074311/https://copac.jisc.ac.uk/id/6118830?style=html|archive-date=2018-06-20}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.academia-net.org/profil/dr-clare-burrage/1353618|title=Dr. Clare Burrage - AcademiaNet|website=www.academia-net.org|language=en|access-date=2018-06-12}}</ref> She spotted signs of the elusive chameleon particle in the active galactic nucleus of Messier 87.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Merali|first=Zeeya|date=2009-05-29|title=Dark-energy particle spotted?|url=https://www.nature.com/news/2009/090529/full/news.2009.531.html|journal=Nature|language=en|doi=10.1038/news.2009.531|issn=0028-0836|url-access=subscription}}</ref>
== Research and career == Burrage was appointed as a postdoctoral fellow in the theoretical physics group at DESY in 2008.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.desy.de/~teschner/members.html|title=Members of the Group|website=www.desy.de|access-date=2018-06-12}}</ref> Whilst at DESY she found astrophysical evidence for axion-photon conversion.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Burrage|first1=Clare|last2=Davis|first2=Anne-Christine|last3=Shaw|first3=Douglas J.|date=2009-05-21|title=Active Galactic Nuclei Shed Light on Axion-like-Particles|journal=Physical Review Letters|volume=102|issue=20|article-number=201101 |doi=10.1103/PhysRevLett.102.201101|pmid=19519013 |issn=0031-9007|arxiv=0902.2320|bibcode=2009PhRvL.102t1101B|s2cid=34372894 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://physicsworld.com/a/evidence-mounts-for-axion-like-particles/|title=Evidence mounts for axion-like particles – Physics World|date=2009-02-18|work=Physics World|access-date=2018-06-12|language=en-GB}}</ref> She moved to the University of Geneva in 2010, working in cosmology. In 2011 Burrage was appointed the Anne McLaren Research Fellow at the University of Nottingham. Burrage uses observation of light from astrophysical sources to test for dark energy.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|url=http://www.iop.org/about/awards/early-career/maxwell/medallists/page_65817.html|title=2015 Maxwell medal and prize|last=Physics|first=Institute of|website=www.iop.org|language=en-GB|access-date=2018-06-12|archive-date=2018-06-12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612233105/http://www.iop.org/about/awards/early-career/maxwell/medallists/page_65817.html}}</ref> She was awarded a Royal Society research fellowship in 2013 and again in 2018.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://royalsociety.org/people/clare-burrage-8926/|title=Clare Burrage|website=royalsociety.org|language=en-gb|access-date=2018-06-12}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://royalsociety.org/people/clare-burrage-6561/|title=Clare Burrage|website=royalsociety.org|language=en-gb|access-date=2018-06-12}}</ref> She won the 2015 Institute of Physics Maxwell Medal and Prize.<ref name=":0" /> Burrage works with the Centre for Cold Matter at Imperial College London, where she develops light-pulse atom interferometers to accelerate atoms for force sensing.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.imperial.ac.uk/centre-for-cold-matter/research/cold-atoms/dark-energy/|title=Searching for dark energy candidates using atom interferometry|website=Imperial College London|language=en-GB|access-date=2018-06-12}}</ref> By combining astrophysical observations with atomic techniques, Burrage has provided the best constraints on the various ways dark energy can interact with matter.<ref name=":2" /> In 2023, she was awarded the Blavatnik Award for Young Scientists in the UK for her work on dark energy.<ref name="Blavatnik">{{cite web |title=Nine UK-based Scientists Receive the Esteemed Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists in the UK |url=https://blavatnikawards.org/news/items/nine-uk-based-scientists-awarded-esteemed-blavatnik-awards-young-scientists-uk/ |website=Blavatnik Awards |access-date=8 January 2026}}</ref>
=== Public engagement === Burrage has taken part in several public engagement activities, including ''I'm a Scientist, Get Me Out of Here''.<ref name=":1" /> She was part of a pairing program with a member of parliament and has presented her work at the Palace of Westminster.<ref name=":0" /> She has taken part in the Edinburgh International Festival and Hay Festival.<ref name=":0" /> She was selected by the British Council to represent the UK in Science Alive in Hong Kong.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://yp.scmp.com/news/science/article/103072/dr-clare-burrage-takes-science-dark-side|title=Dr Clare Burrage takes science to the dark side|work=Young Post {{!}} South China Morning Post|access-date=2018-06-12|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.britishcouncil.hk/en/about/press/science-alive-2016-discover-science-our-daily-lives|title=Science Alive 2016: Discover science in our daily lives {{!}} British Council|website=www.britishcouncil.hk|language=en|access-date=2018-06-12}}</ref> She has taken part in the award-winning physics video series Sixty Symbols.<ref>{{Citation|last=Sixty Symbols|title=Shining Light Through Walls - Sixty Symbols|date=2015-02-13|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7VxcTXud-Tg|access-date=2018-06-12}}</ref><ref>{{Citation|last=Sixty Symbols|title=Chameleon Particles and Dark Energy - Sixty Symbols|date=2015-05-01|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DsBACIstuTI|access-date=2018-06-12}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/science/life-and-physics/2015/feb/15/dark-matter-an-axion-to-grind|title=Dark Matter: an Axion to grind? {{!}} Jon Butterworth {{!}} Life & Physics|last=Butterworth|first=Jon|date=2015-02-15|website=the Guardian|language=en|access-date=2018-06-12}}</ref>
Burrage was interviewed by Morgan Freeman in season 2 of ''Through the Wormhole''.
== References == {{Reflist}} {{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Burrage, Clare}} Category:British particle physicists Category:21st-century British physicists Category:British expatriates in Switzerland Category:Alumni of the University of Cambridge Category:British cosmologists Category:British theoretical physicists Category:British science communicators Category:21st-century British women scientists Category:Academic staff of the University of Geneva Category:Living people Category:Year of birth missing (living people) Category:21st-century British women physicists