Jeff Murugan studied for a PhD jointly at Oxford University as a Lindbury Fellow and UCT before embarking on postdoctoral work at Brown University in the USA. He is currently Senior Lecturer in the Department of Mathematics & Applied Mathematics and Deputy Director of the Astrophysics, Cosmology & Gravity Center and Head of the Laboratory for Quantum Gravity & Strings at the University of Cape Town. His research expertise is in the area of string theory, quantum gravity and emergent phenomena.