Independent University, Bangladesh (IUB) is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Syed Ashraf Uddin as an Associate Professor within the Department of Physical Sciences, effective January 2026. Joining the Astrophysics Group of the department, Dr. Uddin is set to advance the university's academic curriculum and research output. In addition to his teaching responsibilities, he will serve as a core member of IUB’s Center for Astronomy, Space Science and Astrophysics (CASSA) – a research center he was instrumental in establishing to promote astrophysics research in Bangladesh.

Dr. Uddin brings over two decades of global experience in observational astronomy and cosmology to IUB. His career highlights include serving as an Astronomer for the US Naval Observatory in Washington, DC, and as a resident astronomer for the Hobby-Eberly Telescope at the McDonald Observatory in Texas, USA. He has held prestigious research positions as a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Carnegie Observatories of the Carnegie Institution of Washington and a Postdoctoral Research Associate at Texas A&M University. His international standing is further highlighted by his selection as a President’s International Fellow of the Chinese Academy of Sciences at the Purple Mountain Observatory, where he contributed to the Antarctic astronomy project.

Dr. Uddin is an influential researcher in supernova cosmology, recognized for his significant and sustained impact on the global scientific community. His research, which focuses on the cosmic distance scale and the Universe's expansion rate, is a critical endeavor in addressing the global "Hubble Tension." Notably, he has led studies in collaboration with the Carnegie Supernova Project to measure the Hubble constant using various distance calibrators. His work on this topic has led to his selection to join a team of experts, led by Nobel laureate Adam Riess, to establish the world's consensus on the Hubble constant through a cosmic distance network.

Dr. Uddin has played pivotal roles in the realm of time-domain astronomy, notably within the Dark Energy Survey and the Australia-China Consortium for Astrophysical Research. His contributions span from mastering observing strategies and data reduction to actively participating in the distribution of Astronomer’s Telegrams. He co-led spectroscopic follow-ups of astronomical transients using the Wide Field Spectrograph on the 2.3-m ANU telescope as part of the Antarctic Schmidt Telescope collaboration, a testament to his active involvement in impactful global research collaborations.

His prolific body of work includes 64 refereed papers, accumulating over 5,600 citations, as documented in the NASA Astrophysics Data System. With a professional h-index of 33 and a g-index of 63, his scholarly contributions are regularly featured in top-tier journals, including The Astrophysical Journal and Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. Furthermore, his research explores the nature of Dark Energy by investigating the relationship between Type Ia Supernovae and their host galaxies.

Dr. Uddin’s academic background is equally distinguished, with his intellectual lineage tracing back to iconic figures such as Arthur Eddington, Jan Oort, and Lyman Spitzer. He holds a PhD in Astrophysics from Swinburne University of Technology, Australia, under the supervision of Professor Jeremy Mould, an M.Sc. in Physics from the University of Kentucky, USA, and an M.Sc. in Radio Astronomy and Space Science from Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden. He initially graduated with a B.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering from the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology.

At IUB, Dr. Uddin will be instrumental in shaping the next generation of scientists and engineers by teaching courses for the Minor in Astronomy and Astrophysics (A&A). He will also teach the general education course AST 100: Our Cosmic History, making complex astronomical concepts accessible to a broader student body. Along with Dr. Khan Asad, he will prepare the proposal of a master of science program in A&A at IUB, which will be open to all prospective students in Bangladesh. His extensive teaching portfolio spans online and in-person instruction at the American Public University System, University of South Carolina, and Santa Monica College.

Dr. Uddin will create a strong research group at IUB with international collaboration in the field of supernova cosmology and time-domain multi-messenger astronomy. His research will primarily utilize data from several telescopes of the Las Campanas Observatory and from Rubin Observatory’s Legacy Survey of Space and Time. Dr. Uddin is committed to establishing automated transient follow-up systems and campaigning for a research-grade optical observatory equipped with a meter-class telescope. He will engage both undergraduate and graduate students in his research group. He looks forward to working with the entire IUB community.

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