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Dr Daniel Williams
Research Fellow · Institute for Gravitational Research, University of Glasgow
I'm a gravitational-wave astronomer at the University of Glasgow. I detect and characterise signals from colliding black holes and neutron stars, build the large-scale analysis infrastructure that makes this possible, and work to make physics a more open and inclusive field.
218 collisions, and counting
In 2025, my team and I more than doubled the total number of gravitational wave events ever detected. Over LIGO's fourth observing run we identified 128 new signals from colliding black holes and neutron stars — bringing the all-time total from 90 to 218.
I led a team of sixty researchers performing the parameter estimation analysis for each event, extracting the physical properties of every collision, and then served as editorial chair for the resulting GWTC-4.0 catalogue paper — the most comprehensive census of gravitational wave sources ever published.
Read more about GWTC-4 ⟩⟩
The 'Masses in the Stellar Graveyard' plot from GWTC-4.0, showing the masses of all detected compact binary systems.
The death knells of the Universe's strangest objects
Black holes and neutron stars are the remnants of massive stars that have reached the ends of their lives. When two of these orbit each other, Einstein's general relativity predicts that energy slowly bleeds away as gravitational waves, causing the orbit to decay over millions of years. In their final seconds the two objects are moving at a significant fraction of the speed of light — and the gravitational waves they emit are strong enough to be measured on Earth.
My research focuses on that final moment: detecting those signals, and working backwards from them to understand the masses, spins, and environments of every collision.
Image of two inspiralling black holes by Simulating eXtreme Spacetimes.
Understanding faint whispers
Gravitational-wave signals are extraordinarily weak — by the time they reach Earth, a detector must sense a change in length smaller than a proton. Deciphering what they contain requires accurate models of how signals from different types of collision should look.
One thread of my research is developing and improving these waveform models, and understanding where they break down and fail to faithfully represent the underlying physics.
Read more about this project ⟩⟩
Analysis at scale
As detectors improve, the number of gravitational-wave events grows rapidly — within the decade, ground-based detectors will make detections every day. Analysing each event requires substantial computation; coordinating hundreds of analyses across a large collaboration requires something more.
I developed asimov, a software tool now used throughout the gravitational-wave community to orchestrate large-scale parameter estimation pipelines. It is the infrastructure that made the GWTC-4.0 analysis possible.
Read more about this project ⟩⟩Making science a better place for scientists
I chair the LIGO Scientific Collaboration's Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee, and I founded the University of Glasgow's College of Science and Engineering Postdoctoral Researcher Network. I also chair Gravity Allies, which works to provide a safe space and challenge harassment in the gravitational-wave community.
I believe that everyone who works in science should be able to do so comfortably and with dignity — and that building more diverse teams produces better science.
Bringing gravitational waves to everyone
Gravitational wave astronomy is young, dramatic, and full of surprises — and I believe everyone should be able to share in its discoveries. I give talks and presentations to general audiences: astronomy societies, schools, science festivals, and community groups. I've spoken at the Glasgow Science Festival, for astronomy societies across Scotland and northern England, and to audiences online worldwide.
I also teach at the University of Glasgow and through the Scottish Universities Physics Alliance, covering topics from gravitational wave detection to research software engineering.
Invite me to speak ⟩⟩