I’m a cosmologist at the University of Cambridge.
I’m working on gravitational lensing, the phenomenon of massive objects deflecting light due to the local curvature they induce on spacetime. By observing gravitational lensing, we can learn about the distribution and behaviour of matter in the Universe on scales ranging from individual galaxies to superclusters and beyond.
This is important because, thanks to countless observations, we know that most of the matter in the Universe is “dark” and “cold”, meaning that it doesn’t emit light and moves very slowly.
We don’t yet understand what dark matter really is. Gravitational lensing is one way to try and find out more about it. Lensed images of galaxies can themselves be lensed, leading to distortions in the images known as shear and flexion. I’m trying to find out if these small, subtle effects can be seen and measured, and if so, what they might tell us about the nature of dark matter.
Alongside my research, I like to think, write and talk to people about how the use of large language models and agentic systems are changing the way we do physics. I’m interested in the hermeneutics of natural sciences, how science has evolved as a cultural practice since the Enlightenment, and the changing role of the academic and university in modern society.
I also love playing the violin. In East Anglia, you can catch me playing with the Cambridge Philharmonic. In 2023, 2024 and 2025 I was a proud member of the second violin section of the Orchestre des amateurs de la Philharmonie de Paris; our recordings can be found on the Philharmonie Live website.
My career in brief
- October 2025 – present: postdoc at the IoA, University of Cambridge, working with Will Handley
- October 2023 – October 2025: postdoc at the University of Montpellier, working with Julien Larena. February 2022 – September 2023: postdoc at IPhT CEA Paris-Saclay, working with Pierre Fleury. June 2021 – January 2022: postdoc at IFT UAM-CSIC in Madrid, working with Matteo Martinelli and Pierre Fleury.
- October 2017 – February 2021: PhD student at ICG, University of Portsmouth, where I was supervised by Marco Bruni, David Wands and Rob Crittenden. My thesis was entitled Beyond ΛCDM: Current and Future Constraints on Alternative Cosmological Models.
- September 2013 – July 2017: undergraduate student at Prifysgol Aberystwyth University. I graduated with a first class MPhys honours degree in Astrophysics and was awarded the 2017 Breen Prize for best Master’s dissertation in physics, for my dissertation entitled Dynamical Models of Dark Energy and Their Background Cosmological Evolution.
You can find all my published papers here and you can read and download my CV here.
You can find out more about what I am currently thinking and learning about on my blog. Below are some of my favourite posts.
Natalie B. Hogg 