The IAU PhD Prize recognises the outstanding scientific achievements of astronomy PhD students around the world. Each of the IAU’s nine divisions awards a prize to the candidate it feels has carried out the most remarkable work in the previous year, and the nine divisions together also agree on jointly awarding an extra prize, the PhD at-large Prize. This time 104 PhD theses, defended between 16 December 2019 and 15 December 2020, were submitted. 

The IAU Executive Committee is pleased to announce the winners of the 2020 IAU PhD Prizes as follows:

• Division A Fundamental Astronomy: Etienne Savalle, France, “Testing general relativity with clocks in space, and dark matter research with cold atom interferometry on Earth”
• Division B Facilities, Technologies and Data Science: Danna Qasim, the Netherlands, “Dark Ice Chemistry in Interstellar Clouds”
• Division C Education, Outreach and Heritage: Magdalena Kersting, Norway, “General Relativity in Secondary School: Research-Based development of Learning Resources and Analyses of Students”
• Division D High Energy Phenomena and Fundamental Physics: Ziggy Pleunis, Canada, “Fast radio burst detection and morphology with the CHIME telescope”
• Division E Sun and Heliosphere: Camilla Scolini, Belgium, “Modeling analyses of the evolution of magnetic fields in coronal mass ejections, from Sun to Earth”
• Division F Planetary Systems and Bioastronomy: Jane Huang, USA, “Rings and Spirals in Protoplanetary Disks: The ALMA View of Planet Formation”
• Division G Stars and Stellar Physics: Lisa Bugnet, France, “Characterization of solar-type stars and study of their internal magnetic fields along the evolution”
• Division H Interstellar Matter and Local Universe: Cecilia Bacchini, Italy, “Star formation laws and gas turbulence in nearby galaxies”
• Division J Galaxies and Cosmology: Solène Chabanier, France, “Neutrino and dark matter cosmology with the Lyman-α forest, the interplay between large-scale evolution and small-scale baryonic physics”
• PhD at-large Prize: Raissa de Lourdes Freitas Estrela, Brazil, “Exoplanet Atmospheres and Habitability”

The recipient of each award receives a range of prizes, tailored by each Division at their own discretion. All recipients will receive airfare, registration fee and accommodation to attend the next IAU General Assembly, to be held in 2022 in Busan in South Korea, where certificates will be awarded. Other prizes may include the opportunity to present their thesis work at Division Days, as well as special treatment at the General Assembly such as an invitation to attend presentations to the IAU Executive Committee, dinner, and the possibility of presenting a talk at either a plenary or special session.

The IAU congratulates all of these winners, wishes them every success in their future careers, and looks forward to another set of high-quality applications for next year’s award.

The round of applications for the 2021 IAU PhD Prize is open for submissions until 15 December 2021; the next set of winners will be announced in June 2022. Candidates are required to submit, amongst other items, an abstract of their thesis that is suitable for public dissemination, a 1500-word thesis summary, three letters of recommendation (including one from the PhD advisor) and a CV. The winner of each Division will be decided by the Division’s own standards and methods and guided by the Division Steering Committee. Theses must have been both submitted and defended by the prize deadline in order to be considered.

More information

The IAU is the international astronomical organisation that brings together more than 12 000 active professional astronomers from more than 100 countries worldwide. Its mission is to promote and safeguard astronomy in all its aspects, including research, communication, education and development, through international cooperation. The IAU also serves as the internationally recognised authority for assigning designations to celestial bodies and the surface features on them. Founded in 1919, the IAU is the world's largest professional body for astronomers.

Contacts

Madeleine Smith-Spanier
Database Manager
Paris, France
Tel: +33 1 43 25 83 58
Email: smith@iap.fr   

Lars Lindberg Christensen
IAU Press Officer
Cell: +49 173 38 72 621
Email: lars@eso.org