Paul Davies

By profession, Paul is a theoretical physicist who has worked for much of his career in astrophysics and cosmology, with emphasis on the origin and very early stages of the universe, the quantum properties of black holes and the nature of time.

Paul is also interested in the nature and origin of life and the possibility of life – including intelligent life – beyond Earth, which extends to complex systems generally. These twin interests inevitably lead into areas where physics and biology overlap.

In recent years, he has also become involved in research on the origin of cancer and its deep evolutionary roots, a subject with important implications for therapy.

Paul’s main approach to research is to explore the proverbial ‘big questions’ of existence, from what happened before the big bang, to whether or not we are alone in the universe. These are questions of interest to philosophers and even theologians too.