Each year, The Gruber Foundation (TGF), in collaboration with the International Astronomical Union (IAU), funds a US$75 000 fellowship programme for promising young astronomers. As in recent years, the Selection Committee decided to award this year’s fellowship jointly to three outstanding candidates, each receiving US$25 000.
Deaglan John Bartlett is a British astronomer who received his PhD from the University of Oxford in 2022 and is currently a postdoc at the Institut d’Astrophysique de Paris. In June 2025, he will return to Oxford as The Eric and Wendy Schmidt AI in Science Postdoctoral Fellow. His work focuses on developing fast, accurate, and reliable machine learning (ML)-enhanced forward models to advance cosmological data analysis, enabling precise constraints on dark energy, dark matter, and galaxy formation processes. By integrating symbolic regression, self-correcting ML, and simulation-based inference, his research project seeks to uncover new physics and refine our understanding of the Universe's fundamental laws. He plans to use the grant primarily for high-performance computing, conference attendance, and computer equipment.
Sambatriniaina Hagiriche Aycha Rajohnson is an astronomer from Madagascar who earned her PhD in 2024 from the University of Cape Town. Since January 2025, she has been a postdoctoral researcher at INAF, Cagliari, Italy. Her research plans include utilise MeerKAT telescope's spectral line data to investigate gas stripping in Fornax cluster galaxies, aiming to distinguish between tidal and hydrodynamical interactions causing HI tails. The study will analyze HI distributions, galaxy properties, and environmental conditions to understand morphological transformations and quenching processes in low-mass clusters. She intends to use the grant for conference attendance, research and observing visits, and publication costs.
Akshara Viswanathan is an astronomer from India who completed her PhD at the University of Groningen in 2024. In January 2025, she began a CITA National Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of Victoria, Canada. Her research aims to study the low-mass, low-metallicity stellar streams in the Milky Way's outer halo, which are remnants of ancient accretion events, to understand the early assembly of the galaxy. By combining observational data from surveys like Gaia and Euclid with cosmological simulations, her research project will explore the role of these stellar streams in galaxy formation, the nature of dark matter, and the early universe's chemical enrichment processes. She plans to use the grant to attend conferences, host and visit collaborators, and cover publication costs.
The 2025 TGF committee, consisting of IAU Vice-Presidents Hyesung Kang (Chair), Monica Rubio, and Gražina Tautvaisiene, would like to reiterate the exceptional quality of all the candidates who applied for TGF 2025. “The TGF Fellowship selection committee was deeply impressed by the exceptional quality and originality of this year’s applications. The current generation of early-career astronomers is distinguished by an extraordinary depth of insight and creativity, and the breadth of stimulating research proposals made the selection process both inspiring and exceedingly competitive. While only a limited number of fellowships can be awarded, we extend our sincere admiration to all applicants for their remarkable accomplishments. We warmly congratulate the 2025 TGF Fellowship recipients and wish all applicants continued success in their future academic and professional endeavours.” said Hyesung Kang.
In 2025, the call for TGF Fellowship applications received 43 valid submissions (20 female, 23 male) from 19 countries.
The 2026 call will open on 1 December 2025, and the complete applications for the TGF Fellowship should be submitted online by the deadline of 1 March 2026. Information about how to apply is available online.