Prof Brian Cox 'learns huge amount' from Belfast students

When a world-renowned physicist arrives at your university, you might expect to be brimming with questions - getting their take on the mysteries of the universe, or even perhaps advice for your studies.

At Queen's University Belfast on Tuesday, the tables had turned.

When TV presenter and scientist Prof Brian Cox turned up to deliver a speech about the earth and the forces of nature in the context of sustainability issues, he got the chance to see some local talent at work.

We're used to seeing Prof Cox explaining how the world works and what galaxies above can tell us.

But gazing at the screens of telescope footage, discoveries and data, tucked away in the data lab, astrophysics students found themselves answering questions about their findings and their methodology.

Speaking to BBC News NI, Prof Brian Cox said it was "wonderful to see".

"I've known about many of these initiatives and experiments to track objects that are orbiting close to the earth, looking for things that may cross the earth's orbit, that may or may not be a danger to us in the future.

"To be here to see where this data is analysed, I've learnt a huge amount."

When asked if he'd like to bring any of the Belfast students back to work with him, he laughed and said: "All of them."

"Everyone in this room knows a lot more than me about supernova explosions and the way that stars behave. So all of them, that's the way that science works," he added.

Dr Charlotte Angus was among those in the room.

"He's been up to some of the observatories. He's been on some of the volcanoes where the telescopes are situated. It was really really nice," she said.

Fiona McNeill said: "The reach that Prof Brian Cox has is huge. He has so much influence over how the public sees science and its really special and important for us."

Dr Aaron Monson explained what caught Prof Cox's eye.

"Brian was really interested about these stars that are very faint in these telescope image but then they suddenly get 100 times brighter as these big explosions happen."

Prof Brian Cox was visiting the Global Federation of Competitiveness Councils (GFCC) annual conference at Queen's.