Growing up, Grant would frequently escape the light-polluted skies of Glasgow and make his way to Coll, the birthplace of his mother and grandfather. The dark skies he found on this island fed a fascination with the stars and planets that would see him go on to study for a masters in astrophysics at the University of Glasgow.

In 2013 he completed a PhD at the University of St Andrews, researching the existence of planets around other stars in our galaxy. He is now based at the University of Oxford where he works for the Zooniverse, a project which engages millions of volunteers around the world to help scientists analyse their data.