Her research explores the formation of stars and planets using computer simulations to follow their evolution. She is originally from the UK, where she studied theoretical physics at Durham University and went on to gain her doctorate in astrophysics at the University of Oxford. She then went across the pond to build virtual universes as a postdoctoral fellow in the USA and Canada, before moving to Japan in 2011. Her book on exoplanets, ‘The Planet Factory’, will be published by Bloomsbury on November 7.