More than 35 year experience in multi-wavelength astrophysics, with emphasis on analysis, interpretation and modelling of astrophysical data from space and ground observatories; also a spell in Earth Remote Sensing, developing software to simulate an advanced altimeter for ERS-1. Co-I and management role over more than two decades for the Reflection Grating Spectrometer flying onboard the European Space Agency X-ray Multi-Mirror (XMM-Newton) mission; leader of mission and instrument proposals for the study of X-ray emissions from planetary magnetospheres and auroral phenomena.

Fields of study tackled over the years encompass Galactic and extragalactic research, from X-ray binaries to Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN), clusters of galaxies and the X-ray background, and, more recently, stars and solar system bodies. Internationally recognised scientist researching in planetary X-ray emission and high resolution X-ray spectroscopy of the gaseous environment of AGN (warm absorbers). Main interest is X-ray and UV/optical spectroscopy, applied as a powerful diagnostic tool for investigating physical processes acting in a variety of astrophysical settings.