Grace Lawrence

Grace Lawrence’s childhood interest in stargazing led her on a pathway towards a career in physics.

Gazing at the stars as a child, Grace Lawrence had no idea that this fascination with the stars would lead her to pursue a career in astronomy and to walk in the footsteps of one of the world’s greatest physicists, Albert Einstein.

The Swinburne University PhD student remembers lying on the trampoline in the backyard of her childhood home in regional north Queensland with her father and sister, stargazing and pointing out the Big Dipper and Southern Cross.

As she completes her third year of her PhD in ‘Using high resolution simulations of Milky Way-type galaxies to make bespoke predictions for direct detection experiments’, Grace continues to be inspired by the wonder of space.

“Like most scientists, as a child I had a curiosity about how things worked and I was always asking questions and when I was in primary school, I would stargaze with my dad,” Grace said.

Grace also attributes her decision to pursue a career in physics to the support and encouragement of her Year 9 science teacher, who had a special interest in astronomy. The teacher created a university-level Astronomy and Astrophysics course, which Grace completed.

“From then on, I was hooked,” Grace said. “It’s amazing that one teacher can inspire the direction of your career.”

On finishing school, Grace’s passion for astronomy led her to travel from her home in Queensland to Melbourne to attend Swinburne University, after she heard about its astrophysics and super-computer programs and facilities.

She enrolled in a Bachelor of Science degree, majoring in Physics. During a summer research project on the direct detection of dark matter, under the supervision of two leaders in the field of astronomy. 

“The project was supervised by Professors Alan Duffy and Professor Jeremy Mould, and that set my direction and after that I couldn’t think of pursuing anything other than dark matter,” she said.

It is a pathway that has provided Grace with the opportunity to travel, intern  at Princeton University in the US, Italy’s Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso, the largest underground research centre in the world, Caltech University in California, and the Gemini South telescope in Northern Chile. In Each location, she was inspired by the giants of the field who had gone before her.

“When I was walking into Princeton for the first time, I thought that Einstein probably walked on the same footpath, and you can’t help the passion and drive rubbing off on you.”

During Melbourne’s COVID-19 lockdowns of 2020, Grace was away from her family in Queensland, but enjoyed nurturing her hobbies of sewing and embroidery. She also appreciated the camaraderie among fellow students, who met up on Zoom to chat or take part in quizzes.

As a member of the Dark Matter Centre, Grace thrives on being part of a passionate and motivated group of students and researchers who are working towards the same goals.

“The Centre brings together astronomers, physicists, astrophysicists, experimentalists and theorists at the interface of astronomy and particle physics.”

In the future, she would like to remain in academia, progressing the science of dark matter particle physics and supporting the next generation of scientists – including the little girls who are now gazing up at the stars with wonder.

“In this field, there is the potential of discovering something no one has seen or thought of before, and that is a very alluring concept,” she said.