Tiago Costa

Academic Track Fellow

Career

• since 2023: Tenure Track Fellow, Newcastle University, UK
• 2018—2023: MPA Postdoctoral Fellow, MPA Garching, Germany
• 2015—2018: NOVA Postdoctoral Fellow, Leiden Observatory, Netherlands
• 2011—2015: Ph.D., Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge, UK

Research

• Black-hole growth and AGN feedback
• Numerical methods for black-hole accretion and feedback
• Galactic outflows and the circumgalactic medium
• High-redshift quasars and connections between simulations and observations

Research Highlights

• How quasars shut down star formation in the early Universe — extreme, ubiquitous outflows in the early Universe
• Reflected quasar light powers giant cool gas nebulae — how the first quasars generate giant Lyα nebulae
• How black holes power galactic super-winds — a physical model for quasar wind feedback
• Cool dense hydrogen gas around the first quasars — giant cool gas clouds around the first quasars
• The hidden satellites of the first massive galaxies and quasars — how stellar radiation affects the survival of galaxy satellites

Selected Publications

• Tiago Costa:
  The host dark matter haloes of the first quasars, MNRAS (2024), (pdf, doi)


• Tiago Costa, Fabrizio Arrigoni Battaia, Emanuele P. Farina, Laura C. Keating, Joakim Rosdahl & Taysun Kimm:
  AGN-driven outflows and the formation of Lyα nebulae around high-z quasars, MNRAS (2022), (pdf, doi)


• Tiago Costa, Rüdiger Pakmor & Volker Springel:
  Powering galactic superwinds with small-scale AGN winds, MNRAS (2020), (pdf, doi)


• Tiago Costa, Joakim Rosdahl, Debora Sijacki & Martin Haehnelt:
  Quenching star formation with quasar outflows launched by trapped IR radiation, MNRAS (2018), (pdf, doi)


• Tiago Costa, Debora Sijacki & Martin Haehnelt:
  Feedback from active galactic nuclei: energy- versus momentum-driving, MNRAS (2014), (pdf, doi)


• Tiago Costa, Debora Sijacki, Michele Trenti & Martin Haehnelt:
  The environment of bright QSOs at z = 6: star-forming galaxies and X-ray emission, MNRAS (2014), (pdf, doi)

International Collaborations

Observational campaigns

• ASPIRE, ALMA/JWST observations of z > 6 quasars
• Aether, JWST/NIRSpec survey targeting targeting >300 quasars at z > 6 (PI: E. Farina)
• REQUIEM Survey, VLT/MUSE observations targeting z > 5.7 quasar environments (core member)

Synergies between theory and observations

• Accretion Alliance, Durham-Newcastle collaborations on black-hole growth and AGN feedback
• Quasar Feedback Survey, a systematic multi-wavelength study of low-redshift (z<0.2) Type 1 and Type 2 quasars (core member)
• Co-I in several JWST GO programmes, using observations of quasars, galaxies and their environments across cosmic time

Numerical models and simulations of galaxy formation

• Learning the Universe

Supervision and Mentoring

I aim to help students and early-career researchers develop into confident, independent scientists, giving them increasing ownership of their research while supporting them in pursuing ambitious scientific questions. Current and former researchers I have supervised or mentored include:

PhD students

• Rion Nazareth (2025–), Newcastle University — Primary Advisor
• Lucas Tortora (2024–), University of Cambridge — Joint Advisor with Debora Sijacki
• Houda Haidar (2025–2026), Newcastle University — Primary Advisor; now at Oxford University
• Aniket Bhagwat (2020–2024), MPA — Joint Advisor with Benedetta Ciardi
• Samuel Ward (2020–2024), ESO/Newcastle — Primary Advisor, with Chris Harrison and Vincenzo Mainieri; now at CCA, Flatiron Institute

Postdoctoral researchers

• Ivan Almeida (2023–2025), Newcastle University — Primary Advisor, with Chris Harrison; now at MPIA, Heidelberg

Master's students

• Harry Robinson (2025–2026) — Primary Advisor; McCarten Prize for Outstanding Academic Performance in a Stage 4 dissertation
• Thomas Seagrave-Hindmarch (2025–2026) — Primary Advisor; McCarten Prize for Outstanding Academic Performance in a Stage 4 dissertation
• Dieuwertje van der Vlugt (2016–2017) — Primary Advisor, Paper

Teaching

• MSP-8811 General Relativity (4th Year course, 2027–)
• MSP-8810 Astrophysical Fluid Dynamics (4th Year course, 2025–)
• MSP-8055 Extended Research Project (4th Year course, 2025–)
• PHY-3025 Group Project (3rd Year course, 2024–)

Public Engagement

I frequently speak to primary- and secondary-school audiences on topics ranging from the Solar System to black holes and cosmology. Example talks include:

• "O Sistema Solar e o Universo / The Solar System and the Universe", GS Philipp-Weiß, Fürstenfeldbruck, Germany (2019)
• "Os buracos negros no centro das galáxias / The black holes of galactic centres", Escola Raul Proença, Caldas da Rainha, Portugal (2019)
• "Breve História do Universo / Short History of the Universe", Escola D. Pedro V, Lisboa, Portugal (2014, 2015)

You are welcome to contact me by email if you would like me to deliver a talk in English, German or Portuguese on these or other astronomy topics at your school.

Outside Research

Outside astrophysics, I enjoy oil painting, literature, and music. I studied the oboe at the Escola de Música do Conservatório Nacional (Lisbon), and music remains a major part of my life.