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Gail Iles

Gail N. Iles CPhys FAIP (born 10 November 1974) is a British and Australian physicist, pilot, astronaut instructor, teacher, science communicator and performer. Iles was born in England and obtained Australian citizenship in 2023. Iles is an Associate Professor in Physics at RMIT University.

Iles was named Female Space Leader of the Year – Enterprise at the Australian Space Awards in 2024 in recognition of extensive time spent experimenting in microgravity and training astronauts at the European Space Agency.

Iles was pivotal in establishing parabolic flights in Australia, with the first commercial flight taking place in Melbourne in June 2022.

Early life and education

Born in Stockport, England, Gail Iles is the daughter of an English mother and Father from Northern Ireland. She attended Poynton County High School in Cheshire from 1986-1993. Iles completed a Bachelor of Science (Natural Sciences) with the Open University in 2003 and a PhD in experimental condensed matter physics at the University of Leicester in 2007.

Career and research

Gail Iles, PhD, is currently a faculty member of the physics department at RMIT University in Australia. Her research focusses on the uses of radiation as both a characterisation tool and in its interactions with spacecraft and astronauts.

Iles is a member of the Australian Space Agency ‘Life Sciences and Space Medicine’ and 'Access to Space' Technical Advisory Groups.

From 2007 to 2011 she worked for ESA first as a post-doctoral researcher, conducting experiments in microgravity on the Novespace A300, and then as an ISS Expedition crew trainer at the European Astronaut Centre.

She has extensive time spent experimenting in microgravity, having amassed over 500 parabolas on board the ESA parabolic flight programme including moon and Mars gravity. She has been PI on the nanoparticle agglomeration device, operating the device in microgravity, and acting as a stand-in operator for other condensed matter experiments. An applicant to the ESA astronaut selections in 2008 and 2021, she has experience in survival in extreme environments including desert, jungle, glacier and altitude. She has recently obtained her flying wings as a private pilot.

As a scientific researcher, she has worked at neutron sources and X-ray synchrotron sources across the globe and has designed and built a neutron diffractometer and finalised the construction of a neutron spectrometer. She is the author of 1 book, 1 book chapter, 26 journal publications, 8 conference proceedings and 4 science articles.

She is an award-winning STEM ambassador, receiving the WISE (Women in Science & Engineering) in the UK in 2010 and a frequent public speaker in national media outlets and outreach events.

Awards

• Female Space Leader of the Year at 2024
• Novespace - Bronze Medal - 500 parabolas (180 minutes in zero gravity) - May 2011

• UKRC - WISE Champion Award - Encouraging girls and young women into STEM education and related careers. For the play, Mission To Mars. Oct 2011

Science Communications

Dr Iles is the Science Correspondent on Mornings at 3AW with Tom Elliott, after 5 years of appearing on the Neil Mitchell show.

Performances

• Port Fairy Spring Music Festival (2024)
• Interview with Andrew Ford
• Scienceworks: Footsteps on the Moon - performed by Gail Iles and Allan Duffy (2019)
• In 2010, UK theatre company ‘Unlimited Theatre’ wrote the play ‘Mission to Mars’. The play was written about Gail Iles and Stefan Loesch who travel to Mars in the year 2035. Clare Barrett played Gail Iles and Sebastien Lawson played Stefan Loesch. The play completed a 7 week run in London and went on to tour to major regional theatres across the UK.
• Dirty Pop-Up Dating with: Gail Iles