The International Astronomical Union (IAU) is delighted to announce the recipients of the 2025 IAU PhD Prizes. These annual awards recognise outstanding scientific contributions and exceptional doctoral thesis research carried out by early-career astronomers across the globe.
Each of the nine IAU Divisions selects a winner and honourable mentions from among candidates whose theses represent the most remarkable and impactful work within their respective fields over the past year. Additionally, a PhD Prize-at-Large may be jointly awarded by all Divisions to a candidate who performed their doctoral research under exceptionally challenging circumstances.
This year, the Divisions have awarded nine PhD Prizes, one PhD Prize at Large and 12 Honourable Mentions. In recognition of their achievements, the awardees will be invited to present their work during the Division Days at the IAU XXXIII General Assembly, which will be held from 10 - 19 August 2027 in Rome, Italy.
"The IAU is deeply committed to supporting early-career researchers. These awards celebrate academic brilliance, as well as the passion and resilience required to expand our understanding of the universe. Congratulations to this year's winners and honourable mentions on their outstanding achievements. We look forward to following their promising careers as they help to shape the future of astronomy!"
|
 |
|
Prof. Willy Benz
IAU President |
The IAU PhD Prize is open to all early-career researchers. The call for applications for the IAU PhD Prize opens annually on 15 September with a deadline for applications until 15 December. Candidates must have defended their PhD thesis between 16 December of the prior year and 15 December of the application year.
2025 IAU PhD Prize Winners
The IAU Division A (Fundamental Astronomy) PhD Prize is awarded to Dr. Maximilian Häberle who completed his doctoral thesis "A New Kinematic View of the Globular Cluster Omega Centauri" in Germany. Dr. Häberle is currently employed in Germany.
Dr. Maximilian Häberle is named the IAU PhD Prize winner for Division A for creating the largest and highest precision astrometric catalog for any star cluster to date, with 100 million individual astrometric measurements that were then condensed into more than a million high-precision proper motion measurements. This led to discoveries of fast moving stars in the centre of Omega Centauri and consequently the confirmation of the presence of an intermediate-mass black hole, a rare class of objects and an important missing link in the evolution of supermassive black holes.
The IAU Division B (Facilities, Technologies and Data Science) PhD Prize is awarded to Dr. Konstantin Karchev who completed his doctoral thesis “Supernova Cosmology for the 21st Century” in Italy. Dr. Karchev is currently employed in Spain.
Dr. Konstantin Karchev’s PhD work represents an outstanding and timely contribution to the analysis of next-generation astronomical datasets, particularly in preparation for the Vera Rubin Observatory. It develops a scalable simulation-based Bayesian framework for supernova cosmology, overcoming key limitations of traditional approaches, including model simplifications, selection biases, and photometric redshift uncertainties. The research combines high-performance GPU-based computation with novel neural network architectures capable of handling complex, heterogeneous data, enabling statistically rigorous inference from large photometric samples.
The IAU Division C (Education, Outreach and Heritage) PhD Prize is awarded to Dr. Kaleb Alho who completed his doctoral thesis “Interculturality in the Teaching of Physical Sciences: Challenges and Potentials of Cultural Astronomy in Amazonian Riverine Schools” in Brazil. He is currently employed in Brazil.
Dr. Kaleb Ribeiro Alho is recognized for an outstanding and original PhD thesis that reframes astronomy education through an intercultural and socially transformative lens. His work provides the first systematic study of astronomy education in Amazonian riverside communities, bridging scientific knowledge with lived cultural experience with exceptional coherence and originality. His research advances the field by positioning cultural astronomy as a tool for inclusion, innovation, and critical reflection on inequities in Eurocentric curricula. Through a pioneering decolonial framework for teacher training and curriculum design, he fosters intercultural dialogue and respects Indigenous and local knowledge systems.
The IAU Division D (High Energy Phenomena and Fundamental Physics) PhD Prize is awarded to Dr. Yi Zhang who completed her doctoral thesis “Hot Circumgalactic Medium in the eROSITA All-Sky Survey” in Germany. Dr. Zhang is currently employed in Germany.
Dr. Yi Zhang is named the IAU PhD Prize winner for Division D for developing an impressive and technically challenging stacking analysis of eROSITA soft X-ray observations, to establish that a highly-anticipated hot circumgalactic medium exists around Milky Way-like and more massive galaxies, extending all the way out to their virial radii.
The IAU Division E (Sun and Heliosphere) PhD Prize is awarded to Dr. Hidetaka Kuniyoshi who completed his doctoral thesis “The Role of Swirls in Solar Coronal Heating” in Japan. Dr. Kuniyoshi is currently employed in the United Kingdom.
Dr. Hidetaka Kuniyoshi’s PhD thesis presents a paradigm-shifting view of solar coronal heating by identifying small-scale photospheric swirls as a major energy source. Using realistic 3D radiative MHD simulations from the convection zone to the corona, it shows that swirls supply ~50% of coronal magnetic energy and drive nanoflare-like heating via magnetic reconnection.
The IAU Division F (Planetary Systems and Astrobiology) PhD Prize is awarded to Dr. Bibiana Prinoth who completed her doctoral thesis “High-Resolution Transmission Spectroscopy of Gas Giant Atmospheres” in Sweden. Dr. Prinoth is currently employed in Germany.
In her thesis, Dr. Bibiana Prinoth has made a strong and well-documented contribution to the characterisation of ultra-hot exoplanetary atmospheres. In particular, the first robust detection of TiO, published as a first-author in Nature Astronomy with very high citation impact. Her work demonstrates outstanding scientific quality and international recognition. While similar observational approaches have recently become more common in the field, the overall impact of this PhD work remains exceptional.
The IAU Division G (Stars and Stellar Physics) PhD Prize is awarded to Dr. Hila Glanz who completed her doctoral thesis “Stellar Interactions: Accretion, Migration and Explosions” in Israel. Dr. Glanz is currently employed in the USA.
Dr. Hila Glanz’ thesis presents an exceptionally ambitious and mature body of work in stellar astrophysics, combining high-resolution 3D hydrodynamical simulations with new analytical modelling across a broad range of stellar interaction problems, including common-envelope evolution, collisions, triple-star dynamics, and white-dwarf mergers. The work is highly original, includes several first-of-their-kind contributions, and has already had outstanding scientific visibility and impact.
The IAU Division H (Interstellar Matter and Local Universe) PhD Prize is awarded to Dr. Claude Cournoyer-Cloutier who completed her doctoral thesis “Dynamics and Feedback of Massive Binaries in Young Massive Star Clusters” in Canada. Dr. Cournoyer-Cloutier is currently employed in Germany.
Dr. Claude Cournoyer-Cloutier is named the IAU PhD Prize winner for Division H for her innovative study of feedback from massive binaries in clusters, in which the combined effects of binary stellar evolution, stellar dynamics, and the gravitational potential of the background gas influence the feedback budget of the cluster.
The IAU Division J (Galaxies and Cosmology) PhD Prize is awarded to Dr. Abigail Lee who completed her doctoral thesis “AGB Stars in the Era of NIR Astronomy: New Probes of Cosmology and Galaxy Evolution” in the USA. Dr. Lee is currently employed in the USA.
Dr. Abigail Lee's PhD work combines technical excellence, conceptual originality and transformative potential. Her work not only advances our understanding of cosmic expansion and galaxy evolution but also equips the community with powerful new tools for discovery.
The IAU PhD Prize at Large is awarded jointly by all Divisions to Dr. Ihor Kyrylenko who completed his doctoral thesis “Numerical Simulations of the Dynamic Evolution of Small Bodies of the Solar System” in Ukraine. Dr. Kyrylenko is currently employed in Ukraine.
Dr. Kyrylenko’s PhD thesis leads to an original and outstanding contribution to the dynamical study of small bodies in the Solar System, with particular emphasis on asteroid pairs. His innovative approach substantially increased the number of known asteroid pairs, including very young systems that provide a rare opportunity to investigate the physical processes involved in their formation. The thesis, conducted under exceptionally challenging circumstances amidst the devastating impact of the war on Ukraine, also advances the dynamical tracing of meteorite source regions and the characterization of potentially hazardous near-Earth asteroids contributing to both planetary science and planetary defense.
2025 IAU PhD Prize Honourable Mentions
2025 IAU PhD Prize Honourable Mentions, from left to right: Norida Jazmín Ordóñez Toro, Dang Cao Pham, Melissa López, Alan Alves Brito, Ruancun Li, Zekun Lu, Raveena Khan, Jessica Speedie , Antonin Wargnier , Nicholas Rui, Ka Wai Ho, Elia Pizzati
An IAU Division A (Fundamental Astronomy) PhD Prize Honourable Mention is awarded to Dr. Norida Jazmín Ordóñez Toro who completed her doctoral thesis “Dynamical Masses of Young Binary Objects in Nearby Star Forming Regions” in Mexico. Dr. Ordóñez Toro is currently employed in Colombia.
Dr. Norida Jazmín Ordóñez Toro is awarded an honourable mention for developing a reproducible methodological framework for studying compact stellar multiplicity at the milliarcsecond scale, leading to determining the most precise individual mass measurements to date for young intermediate-mass stars in nearby star-forming regions and the discoveries of: 1) the S1A, the most luminous star in Ophiuchus has a mass 20-50% lower than previously estimated from theoretical models, and 2) the first mass measurement of the tertiary component of the hierarchical triple system EC95 in Serpens. Her work has implications for testing and revising models of early stellar evolution.
An IAU Division A (Fundamental Astronomy) PhD Prize Honourable Mention is awarded to Dr. Dang Cao Pham who completed his doctoral thesis “Small Bodies, Small Stars: The Fate of Comets” in Canada. Dr. Cao Pham is currently employed in the USA.
Dr. Dang Cao Pham is awarded an honourable mention for developing a fast, direct N-body simulation framework that incorporates the Galactic tide and gravitational effects of massive companions to model the long-term dynamics of exo-Oort cloud comets around white dwarfs. His work expands the theoretical foundation for interpreting white dwarf pollution by creating a coupled stellar-dynamical-thermal evolution model that tracks volatile loss in comets as host stars evolve off the main sequence.
An IAU Division B (Facilities, Technologies and Data Science) PhD Prize Honourable Mention is awarded to Dr. Melissa López who completed her doctoral thesis “Exploring the Frontier of Transient Gravitational Wave Detection Unleashing the Power of Machine Learning” in The Netherlands, where she is also currently employed.
Dr. Melissa López’ PhD work represents an outstanding and highly original contribution to gravitational wave data analysis, introducing a novel scheme that leverages artificial intelligence to enhance the detection and interpretation of signals in data from the LIGO–Virgo–KAGRA Collaboration. The research combines methodological innovation with clear practical impact, advancing the state of the art in noise modelling and signal detection. Dr. López has demonstrated exceptional scientific productivity and independence, with three first-author publications in leading journals.
An IAU Division C (Education, Outreach and Heritage) PhD Prize Honourable Mention is awarded to Dr. Alan Alves Brito who completed his doctoral thesis “AfroPindoramic Cosmologies and Cosmopolitics: Heaven-Earth Relations for Anti-Racist Science and Arts Education in Améfrica” in Brazil, where he is also currently employed.
Dr. Alan Alves Brito is awarded an Honourable Mention for his doctoral thesis, a work which integrates astrophysics with intercultural and epistemological perspectives. His thesis develops a powerful dialogue between Afro-Indigenous cosmologies and science, introducing innovative concepts such as afropindoramic astronomy and proposing the sky as a plural cultural and cosmopolitical space. Combining strong theoretical insight with participatory methods, he critiques epistemic racism while offering practical, scalable strategies for inclusive science education. With impact across education and the arts, his work engages diverse communities through teaching, publications, and creative practice.
An IAU Division D (High Energy Phenomena and Fundamental Physics) PhD Prize Honourable Mention is awarded to Dr. Ruancun Li who completed his doctoral thesis “Spectral Energy Distribution of Active Galactic Nuclei” in China. Dr. Li is currently employed in Germany.
Dr. Ruancun Li is awarded an honourable mention for a seminal analysis of the time-evolving, optical+UV+X-ray spectrum of a prominent AGN that delivered empirical determinations of the mass accretion rate for a supermassive black hole, and insights into the impact of tidal disruption events on its accretion disk structure.
An IAU Division E (Sun and Heliosphere) PhD Prize Honourable Mention is awarded to Dr. Zekun Lu who completed his doctoral thesis “Coronal Heating in Solar Active Regions” in China. Dr. Lu is currently employed in Japan.
Dr. Zekun Lu’s PhD thesis presents a unified, self-consistent view of coronal heating in solar active regions using large-scale 3D radiative MHD simulations and multi-wavelength observations. It introduces a new model for persistent super-hot (≈10 MK) coronal loops driven by flux-emergence–induced reconnection, reveals how realistic, time-dependent heating regulates periodic coronal rain, and provides the first observational evidence that transverse MHD waves can trigger nanojets, linking wave heating and nanoflare heating within a single physical framework.
An IAU Division E (Sun and Heliosphere) PhD Prize Honourable Mention is awarded to Dr. Raveena Khan who completed her doctoral thesis “Diagnostic Techniques and Instrument Concepts for Probing Transition Region and Coronal Magnetic Fields” in India. Dr. Khan is currently employed in the USA.
Dr. Raveena Khan’s PhD thesis advances diagnostics of transition-region and coronal magnetic fields by developing Hanle-effect–based EUV spectropolarimetry. It identifies new Hanle-sensitive coronal lines, demonstrates that EUV linear polarization is orders of magnitude stronger than Zeeman signals using MHD-based forward modeling, and introduces a novel three-mirror EUV spectropolarimeter design, validated through laboratory prototyping, enabling realistic vector magnetic field measurements of the solar corona.
An IAU Division F (Planetary Systems and Astrobiology) PhD Prize Honourable Mention is awarded to Dr. Jessica Speedie who completed her doctoral thesis “Planet Hunting and the Dynamical Structure of Planet-forming Disks” in Canada. Dr. Speedie is currently employed in the USA.
Dr. Jessica Speedie studied how to detect young planets via their gravitational effects and analysed planet formation processes in protoplanetary disks using ALMA data and simulations. The strengths of her PhD thesis lie in both its breadth and its thorough application to observational data, ranging from planet mass estimates and their impact on disk structures, to ALMA-based survey studies, the development of anti-Keplerian masking, and the detection of gas structures inconsistent with existing models. Through these efforts, Dr. Speedie presents a coherent research program aimed at revealing the dynamical structure of protoplanetary disks.
An IAU Division F (Planetary Systems and Astrobiology) PhD Prize Honourable Mention is awarded to Dr. Antonin Wargnier who completed his doctoral thesis “Spectrophotometric Properties of Phobos and Deimos Surfaces: Preparation for the Martian Moons eXploration Mission” in France. Dr. Wargnier is currently employed in Japan.
Dr. Antonin Wargnier demonstrated a common origin for Phobos and Deimos through the analysis of SRC (Mars Express) data, which he calibrated single-handedly for the first time in 20 years. He developed a regolith simulator (OPPS) to prepare for the MMX mission. His expertise combines technical calibration, laboratory work, and modelling. The Division F Steering Committee particularly appreciated the connection between laboratory experiments and spacecraft observations in his thesis work.
An IAU Division G (Stars and Stellar Physics) PhD Prize Honourable Mention is awarded to Dr. Nicholas Rui who completed his doctoral thesis “Seismic Probes of Stellar Mergers and Magnetism” in the USA. Dr. Rui is currently employed in the USA.
Dr. Nicholas Rui was awarded an honourable mention for his work in the field of theoretical stellar astrophysics. His thesis combines detailed stellar modelling and semi-analytic insight to develop original asteroseismic diagnostics of merger remnants and internal magnetic fields. The work is elegant, scientifically mature, and clearly relevant to stellar structure and evolution, with visible impact in helping establish merger seismology as an active research direction.
An IAU Division H (Interstellar Matter and Local Universe) PhD Prize Honourable Mention is awarded to Dr. Ka Wai Ho who completed his doctoral thesis “Magnetized Turbulence in Multiphase Interstellar Media: Measurement of Turbulence, Interstellar Magnetic-Field, and Impact to Phase Structure” in the USA. Dr. Ho is currently employed in the USA.
Dr. Ka Wai Ho was awarded an honourable mention for his innovative PhD thesis studying the interaction between magnetized turbulence and the multiphase ISM.
An IAU Division J (Galaxies and Cosmology) PhD Prize Honourable Mention is awarded to Dr. Elia Pizzati who completed his doctoral thesis “From a Biased Perspective: Quasars, Mergers, and Planet-Forming Discs” in The Netherlands. Dr. Pizzati is currently employed in the USA.
Dr. Elia Pizzati's PhD work has made significant contributions in our understanding of the clustering properties of quasars and the evolution of supermassive black holes in the universe. His work covers a wide range of topics and shows an incredible breadth of skills, presenting important and impactful research accomplishments.
Contact