Brandt's research focuses on observational studies of supermassive black holes (SMBHs) and cosmic surveys. Specific objects investigated include actively accreting SMBHs (i.e., active galactic nuclei: AGNs), dormant SMBHs, starburst and normal galaxies, and transients. Observations utilized are from facilities at the forefront of astrophysical discovery, including the Chandra, XMM-Newton, and NuSTAR satellites and the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. He plans to work on data from new X-ray missions, the Legacy Survey of Space and Time, and the MOONS spectrograph on the VLT. Ultimately, the research aims to understand the physics, demographics, and ecology of SMBHs across all of cosmic time.
