School of Physics & Astronomy

Dr Graham Kerr

  • Royal Society University Research Fellow (Physics & Astronomy)
  • Honorary Research Fellow (School of Physics & Astronomy)

Biography

I obtained my undergraduate MSci (Hons) degree and then my PhD here at the University of Glasgow, before becoming a NASA Postdoctoral Program Fellow based at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. Upon completion of that postdoc position I became a NASA and NSF funded research scientist at the Catholic University of America, but still based at NASA/GSFC as a co-operative scientist. 

In January 2026 I was very pleased to return to the University of Glasgow as a Royal Society University Research Fellow in the Astronomy and Astrophysics Group. 

Throughout each those positions I have been active in leading research teams, in community engagement efforts, in student mentoring, in mission science teams, and in mission development.

Research Interests

My research focusses on the physics of solar flares, in particular how the complex lower solar atmosphere responds to the transport of an incredible amount of energy, mass, and radiation. This is achieved through a combination of state-of-the-art numerical modelling (radiation hydrodynamics and radiation transport) and the analysis of solar flare observations (e.g. Solar Orbiter, Hinode, IRIS, SDO & RHESSI satellies, and ground-based facilities such as DKIST and BBSO).

Critical and careful model-data comparisons assess the ability of our theories of flares and eruptive events stand up to the scrutiny, or if we are missing key ingredients. During my URF I will be exploring various discrepancies that have revealed themselves, and various physical processes that go beyond that standard picture we have of solar flares.

Research interests

Research Themes

  • Solar Physics
  • Solar Flares
  • Solar Atmosphere
  • Radiation Transfer
  • Solar-Stellar connections (e.g. links between solar & stellar flares)
Mission and Observing
  • Solar Orbiter Major Flare campaign team member (2024-) & coordinator (2026)
  • MUSE Science Team Member (launching 2027)
  • SPARK Science Team Member (ESA mission concept)
  • FIERCE Science Team Member (NASA heliophysics mission concept)
  • ESCAPE Science Team Member (NASA astrophysics mission concept)

researcherID:

Publications

List by: Type | Date

Jump to: 2026 | 2024 | 2023 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2012
Number of items: 12.

2026

Kerr, G. et al. (2026) Spatial variation of energy transport mechanisms within solar flare ribbons. Nature Astronomy, (doi: 10.1038/s41550-025-02747-9) (Early Online Publication)

2024

Simões, Paulo J.A. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4819-1884, Fletcher, Lyndsay ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9315-7899, Hudson, Hugh S. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5685-1283, Kerr, Graham S. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5316-914X, Penn, Matt and Lopez, Karla F. (2024) Precise timing of solar flare footpoint sources from mid-infrared observations. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 532(1), pp. 705-718. (doi: 10.1093/mnras/stae1511)

2023

Kerr, Graham S. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5316-914X, Allred, Joel C., Kowalski, Adam F., Milligan, Ryan O. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5031-1892, Hudson, Hugh S. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5685-1283, Prado, Natalia Zambrana, Kucera, Therese A. and Brosius, Jeffrey W. (2023) Prospects of detecting nonthermal protons in solar flares via Lyman line spectroscopy: revisiting the Orrall–Zirker effect. Astrophysical Journal, 945(2), 118. (doi: 10.3847/1538-4357/acb92a)

McLaughlin, Shaun A., Milligan, Ryan O. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5031-1892, Kerr, Graham S. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5316-914X, Monson, Aaron J., Simões, Paulo J. A. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4819-1884 and Mathioudakis, Mihalis (2023) Formation of the Lyman continuum during solar flares. Astrophysical Journal, 944(2), 186. (doi: 10.3847/1538-4357/acaf66)

2018

Brown, Stephen A., Fletcher, Lyndsay ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9315-7899, Kerr, Graham S. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5316-914X, Labrosse, Nicolas ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4638-157X, Kowalski, Adam F. and De La Cruz Rodríguez, Jaime (2018) Modeling of the hydrogen Lyman lines in solar flares. Astrophysical Journal, 862(1), 59. (doi: 10.3847/1538-4357/aacc29)

2017

Simões, Paulo J.A. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4819-1884, Kerr, Graham S. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5316-914X, Fletcher, Lyndsay ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9315-7899, Hudson, Hugh S. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5685-1283, Giménez de Castro, C. Guillermo and Penn, Matt (2017) Formation of the thermal infrared continuum in solar flares. Astronomy and Astrophysics, 605, A125. (doi: 10.1051/0004-6361/201730856)

2016

Kerr, Graham ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5316-914X, Fletcher, Lyndsay ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9315-7899, Russell, Alexander J.B. and Allred, Joel C. (2016) Simulations of the Mg II k and Ca II 8542 lines from an Alfvén wave-heated flare chromosphere. Astrophysical Journal, 827(2), 101. (doi: 10.3847/0004-637X/827/2/101)

Simoes, Paulo ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4819-1884, Fletcher, Lyndsay ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9315-7899, Labrosse, Nicolas ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4638-157X and Kerr, Graham (2016) Observations and Modelling of Helium Lines in Solar Flares. In: Coimbra Solar Physics Meeting 2015: Ground-based Solar Observations in the Space Instrumentation Era, Coimbra, Portugal, 5-9 Oct 2015, p. 197. ISBN 9781583818923

2015

Kerr, Graham, Simoes, Paulo ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4819-1884, Qiu, Jiong and Fletcher, Lyndsay ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9315-7899 (2015) IRIS observations of the Mg II h and k lines during a solar flare. Astronomy and Astrophysics, 582, A50. (doi: 10.1051/0004-6361/201526128)

2014

Milligan, Ryan O., Kerr, Graham S,, Dennis, Brian R., Hudson, Hugh S. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5685-1283, Fletcher, Lyndsay ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9315-7899, Allred, Joel C., Chamberlin, Phillip C., Ireland, Jack, Mathioudakis, Mihalis and Keenan, Francis P. (2014) The radiated energy budget of chromospheric plasma in a major solar flare deduced from multi-wavelength observations. Astrophysical Journal, 793(2), p. 70. (doi: 10.1088/0004-637X/793/2/70)

Kerr, G.S. and Fletcher, L. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9315-7899 (2014) Physical properties of White-Light Sources in the 2011 Feb 15 Solar Flare. Astrophysical Journal, 783(2), Art. 98. (doi: 10.1088/0004-637X/783/2/98)

2012

Cheng, J. X., Kerr, G. and Qiu, J. (2012) Hard X-ray and ultraviolet observations of the 2005 January 15 two-ribbon flare. Astrophysical Journal, 744(1), p. 48. (doi: 10.1088/0004-637X/744/1/48)

This list was generated on Sat Jan 31 11:46:44 2026 GMT.
Jump to: Articles | Conference Proceedings
Number of items: 12.

Articles

Kerr, G. et al. (2026) Spatial variation of energy transport mechanisms within solar flare ribbons. Nature Astronomy, (doi: 10.1038/s41550-025-02747-9) (Early Online Publication)

Simões, Paulo J.A. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4819-1884, Fletcher, Lyndsay ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9315-7899, Hudson, Hugh S. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5685-1283, Kerr, Graham S. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5316-914X, Penn, Matt and Lopez, Karla F. (2024) Precise timing of solar flare footpoint sources from mid-infrared observations. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 532(1), pp. 705-718. (doi: 10.1093/mnras/stae1511)

Kerr, Graham S. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5316-914X, Allred, Joel C., Kowalski, Adam F., Milligan, Ryan O. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5031-1892, Hudson, Hugh S. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5685-1283, Prado, Natalia Zambrana, Kucera, Therese A. and Brosius, Jeffrey W. (2023) Prospects of detecting nonthermal protons in solar flares via Lyman line spectroscopy: revisiting the Orrall–Zirker effect. Astrophysical Journal, 945(2), 118. (doi: 10.3847/1538-4357/acb92a)

McLaughlin, Shaun A., Milligan, Ryan O. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5031-1892, Kerr, Graham S. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5316-914X, Monson, Aaron J., Simões, Paulo J. A. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4819-1884 and Mathioudakis, Mihalis (2023) Formation of the Lyman continuum during solar flares. Astrophysical Journal, 944(2), 186. (doi: 10.3847/1538-4357/acaf66)

Brown, Stephen A., Fletcher, Lyndsay ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9315-7899, Kerr, Graham S. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5316-914X, Labrosse, Nicolas ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4638-157X, Kowalski, Adam F. and De La Cruz Rodríguez, Jaime (2018) Modeling of the hydrogen Lyman lines in solar flares. Astrophysical Journal, 862(1), 59. (doi: 10.3847/1538-4357/aacc29)

Simões, Paulo J.A. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4819-1884, Kerr, Graham S. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5316-914X, Fletcher, Lyndsay ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9315-7899, Hudson, Hugh S. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5685-1283, Giménez de Castro, C. Guillermo and Penn, Matt (2017) Formation of the thermal infrared continuum in solar flares. Astronomy and Astrophysics, 605, A125. (doi: 10.1051/0004-6361/201730856)

Kerr, Graham ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5316-914X, Fletcher, Lyndsay ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9315-7899, Russell, Alexander J.B. and Allred, Joel C. (2016) Simulations of the Mg II k and Ca II 8542 lines from an Alfvén wave-heated flare chromosphere. Astrophysical Journal, 827(2), 101. (doi: 10.3847/0004-637X/827/2/101)

Kerr, Graham, Simoes, Paulo ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4819-1884, Qiu, Jiong and Fletcher, Lyndsay ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9315-7899 (2015) IRIS observations of the Mg II h and k lines during a solar flare. Astronomy and Astrophysics, 582, A50. (doi: 10.1051/0004-6361/201526128)

Milligan, Ryan O., Kerr, Graham S,, Dennis, Brian R., Hudson, Hugh S. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5685-1283, Fletcher, Lyndsay ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9315-7899, Allred, Joel C., Chamberlin, Phillip C., Ireland, Jack, Mathioudakis, Mihalis and Keenan, Francis P. (2014) The radiated energy budget of chromospheric plasma in a major solar flare deduced from multi-wavelength observations. Astrophysical Journal, 793(2), p. 70. (doi: 10.1088/0004-637X/793/2/70)

Kerr, G.S. and Fletcher, L. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9315-7899 (2014) Physical properties of White-Light Sources in the 2011 Feb 15 Solar Flare. Astrophysical Journal, 783(2), Art. 98. (doi: 10.1088/0004-637X/783/2/98)

Cheng, J. X., Kerr, G. and Qiu, J. (2012) Hard X-ray and ultraviolet observations of the 2005 January 15 two-ribbon flare. Astrophysical Journal, 744(1), p. 48. (doi: 10.1088/0004-637X/744/1/48)

Conference Proceedings

Simoes, Paulo ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4819-1884, Fletcher, Lyndsay ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9315-7899, Labrosse, Nicolas ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4638-157X and Kerr, Graham (2016) Observations and Modelling of Helium Lines in Solar Flares. In: Coimbra Solar Physics Meeting 2015: Ground-based Solar Observations in the Space Instrumentation Era, Coimbra, Portugal, 5-9 Oct 2015, p. 197. ISBN 9781583818923

This list was generated on Sat Jan 31 11:46:44 2026 GMT.

Prior publications

Article

Daniel F. Ryan et al. (2025) Solar Orbiter’s 2024 Major Flare Campaigns: An Overview Solar Physics Graham S. Kerr. ISSN 1573-093X (doi: 10.1007/s11207-025-02561-6)

Samuel Granovsky, Alexander Kosovichev, Viacheslav Sadykov, Graham S. Kerr, Joel Allred (2025) Strong Photospheric Heating Indicated by Fe I 6173 Å Line Emission during White-light Solar Flares The Astrophysical Journal Graham S. Kerr. ISSN 1538-4357 (doi: 10.3847/1538-4357/addd1e)

Peter R. Young, Andrew R. Inglis, Graham S. Kerr, Therese A. Kucera, Daniel F. Ryan (2025) Fe XVIII and Fe XX Forbidden Lines Observed by Solar Orbiter/SPICE The Astrophysical Journal Graham S. Kerr. ISSN 1538-4357 (doi: 10.3847/1538-4357/add339)

Juraj Lörinčík, Vanessa Polito, Graham S. Kerr, Laura A. Hayes, Alexander J. B. Russell (2025) Probing Progression of Heating Through the Lower Flare Atmosphere via High-cadence IRIS Spectroscopy The Astrophysical Journal Graham S. Kerr. ISSN 1538-4357 (doi: 10.3847/1538-4357/adccc8)

Graham S. Kerr, Vanessa Polito, Yan Xu, Joel C. Allred (2024) Solar Flare Ribbon Fronts. II. Evolution of Heating Rates in Individual Flare Footpoints The Astrophysical Journal Graham S. Kerr. ISSN 1538-4357 (doi: 10.3847/1538-4357/ad47e1)

Ariadna Calcines Rosario et al. (2024) Spectral Imager of the Solar Atmosphere: The First Extreme-Ultraviolet Solar Integral Field Spectrograph Using Slicers Aerospace Graham S. Kerr. ISSN 2226-4310 (doi: 10.3390/aerospace11030208)

Graham S Kerr, Adam F Kowalski, Joel C Allred, Adrian N Daw, Melissa R Kane (2024) An Optically Thin View of the Flaring Chromosphere: Nonthermal widths in a chromospheric condensation during an X-class solar flare Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society Graham S. Kerr. ISSN 1365-2966 (doi: 10.1093/mnras/stad3135)

Viacheslav M. Sadykov, John T. Stefan, Alexander G. Kosovichev, Andrey M. Stejko, Adam F. Kowalski, Joel C. Allred, Graham S. Kerr (2024) Can Proton Beam Heating Flare Models Explain Sunquakes? The Astrophysical Journal Graham S. Kerr. ISSN 1538-4357 (doi: 10.3847/1538-4357/ad0cf3)

Kai E. 凯 Yang 杨, Xudong 旭东 Sun 孙, Graham S. Kerr, Hugh S. Hudson (2023) A Possible Mechanism for the “Late Phase” in Stellar White-light Flares The Astrophysical Journal Graham S. Kerr. ISSN 1538-4357 (doi: 10.3847/1538-4357/ad077d)

Yan Xu, Graham S. Kerr, Vanessa Polito, Nengyi Huang, Ju Jing, Haimin Wang (2023) Extreme Red-wing Enhancements of UV Lines during the 2022 March 30 X1.3 Solar Flare The Astrophysical Journal Graham S. Kerr. ISSN 1538-4357 (doi: 10.3847/1538-4357/acf8c6)

Vanessa Polito, Graham S. Kerr, Yan Xu, Viacheslav M. Sadykov, Juraj Lorincik (2023) Solar Flare Ribbon Fronts. I. Constraining Flare Energy Deposition with IRIS Spectroscopy The Astrophysical Journal Graham S. Kerr. ISSN 1538-4357 (doi: 10.3847/1538-4357/acaf7c)

Graham S. Kerr (2023) Interrogating solar flare loop models with IRIS observations 2: Plasma properties, energy transport, and future directions Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Sciences Graham S. Kerr. ISSN 2296-987X (doi: 10.3389/fspas.2022.1060862)

Graham S. Kerr (2022) Interrogating solar flare loop models with IRIS observations 1: Overview of the models, and mass flows Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Sciences Graham S. Kerr. ISSN 2296-987X (doi: 10.3389/fspas.2022.1060856)

R. Yadav, J. de la Cruz Rodríguez, G. S. Kerr, C. J. Díaz Baso, J. Leenaarts (2022) Radiative losses in the chromosphere during a C-class flare Astronomy & Astrophysics Graham S. Kerr. ISSN 1432-0746 (doi: 10.1051/0004-6361/202243440)

Joel C. Allred, Graham S. Kerr, A. Gordon Emslie (2022) Solar Flare Heating with Turbulent Suppression of Thermal Conduction The Astrophysical Journal Graham S. Kerr. ISSN 1538-4357 (doi: 10.3847/1538-4357/ac69e8)

Adam F. Kowalski, Joel C. Allred, Mats Carlsson, Graham S. Kerr, Pier-Emmanuel Tremblay, Kosuke Namekata, David Kuridze, Han Uitenbroek (2022) The Atmospheric Response to High Nonthermal Electron-beam Fluxes in Solar Flares. II. Hydrogen-broadening Predictions for Solar Flare Observations with the Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope The Astrophysical Journal Graham S. Kerr. ISSN 1538-4357 (doi: 10.3847/1538-4357/ac5174)

Yan Xu, Xu Yang, Graham S. Kerr, Vanessa Polito, Viacheslav M. Sadykov, Ju Jing, Wenda Cao, Haimin Wang (2022) Multi-passband Observations of a Solar Flare over the He i 10830 Å line The Astrophysical Journal Letters Graham S. Kerr. ISSN 2041-8213 (doi: 10.3847/2041-8213/ac447c)

Graham S. Kerr, Yan Xu, Joel C. Allred, Vanessa Polito, Viacheslav M. Sadykov, Nengyi Huang, Haimin Wang (2021) He i 10830 Å Dimming during Solar Flares. I. The Crucial Role of Nonthermal Collisional Ionizations The Astrophysical Journal Graham S. Kerr. ISSN 1538-4357 (doi: 10.3847/1538-4357/abf42d)

Joel C. Allred, Meriem Alaoui, Adam F. Kowalski, Graham S. Kerr (2020) Modeling the Transport of Nonthermal Particles in Flares Using Fokker–Planck Kinetic Theory The Astrophysical Journal Graham S. Kerr. ISSN 1538-4357 (doi: 10.3847/1538-4357/abb239)

Graham S. Kerr, Joel C. Allred, Vanessa Polito (2020) Solar Flare Arcade Modeling: Bridging the Gap from 1D to 3D Simulations of Optically Thin Radiation The Astrophysical Journal Graham S. Kerr. ISSN 1538-4357 (doi: 10.3847/1538-4357/abaa46)

Viacheslav M. Sadykov, Alexander G. Kosovichev, Irina N. Kitiashvili, Graham S. Kerr (2020) Response of SDO/HMI Observables to Heating of the Solar Atmosphere by Precipitating High-energy Electrons The Astrophysical Journal Graham S. Kerr. ISSN 1538-4357 (doi: 10.3847/1538-4357/ab7b6a)

Graham S. Kerr, Mats Carlsson, Joel C. Allred (2019) Modeling Mg ii during Solar Flares. II. Nonequilibrium Effects The Astrophysical Journal Graham S. Kerr. ISSN 1538-4357 (doi: 10.3847/1538-4357/ab48ea)

Graham S. Kerr, Joel C. Allred, Mats Carlsson (2019) Modeling Mg II During Solar Flares. I. Partial Frequency Redistribution, Opacity, and Coronal Irradiation The Astrophysical Journal Graham S. Kerr. ISSN 1538-4357 (doi: 10.3847/1538-4357/ab3c24)

Adam F. Kowalski, Elizabeth Butler, Adrian N. Daw, Lyndsay Fletcher, Joel C. Allred, Bart De Pontieu, Graham S. Kerr, Gianna Cauzzi (2019) Spectral Evidence for Heating at Large Column Mass in Umbral Solar Flare Kernels. I. IRIS Near-UV Spectra of the X1 Solar Flare of 2014 October 25 The Astrophysical Journal Graham S. Kerr. ISSN 1538-4357 (doi: 10.3847/1538-4357/ab1f8b)

(2019) SI iv Resonance Line Emission during Solar Flares: Non-LTE, Nonequilibrium, Radiation Transfer Simulations The Astrophysical Journal Graham S. Kerr. ISSN 1538-4357 (doi: 10.3847/1538-4357/aaf46e)

Viacheslav M Sadykov, Alexander G Kosovichev, Ivan N Sharykin, Graham S Kerr (2019) Statistical Study of Chromospheric Evaporation in Impulsive Phase of Solar Flares The Astrophysical Journal Graham S. Kerr.

Professional activities & recognition

Research fellowships

  • 2026 - 2033: Royal Society University Research Fellowship
  • 2017 - 2020: NASA Postdoctoral Program Fellowship

Dr Graham Kerr