Professor Fay Dowker is a theoretical physicist fascinated by space and time. She was obsessed with maths from a young age and went on to study at Cambridge University. There Professor Stephen Hawking became her mentor and a very close friend.

She is currently Professor of Theoretical Physics at Imperial College London where she researches “quantum gravity” – how the force of gravity works on the universe's tiniest particles.

Fay's musical choices include John Coltrane, Shostakovich, Bach and Handel.