Mr Damazer said: "He was one of the lead scientists in the international Square Kilometre Array (SKA) project and also played a prominent role in the redevelopment of the Goonhilly Satellite Earth Station in Cornwall as a radio astronomy facility."

The SKA project involves constructing the largest and most sensitive radio telescope ever built.

Dr Sivia, based at St John's College, has taught "maths for natural sciences" to chemistry and physics undergraduates for a number of years.

Dr Sivia and Prof Rawlings co-authored and published a book together in 1999, which was called Foun