Néstor Espinoza of the Max-Planck-Institut für Astronomie and Dary Alexandra Ruiz-Rodriguez of the Rochester Institute of Technology have both been awarded The Gruber Foundation Fellowship for 2018.

In conjunction with the International Astronomical Union (IAU), The Gruber Foundation (TGF) funds an annual fellowship of US$ 50.000 for young astronomers. This year, the evaluation panel has decided to award the fellowship to two recipients, both of whom are extremely promising young researchers working in the field of astrophysics.

Néstor Espinoza is working in the field of exoplanets, focussing on ground-based transit detections and the characterisation of planetary atmospheres. “I cannot overstate my gratitude to the IAU and TGF for awarding me this prestigious fellowship. The support that the Gruber Fellowship will provide for my research and career will be fundamental to strengthen ongoing collaborations and to help disseminate the exciting work we're doing on exoplanet atmospheres!”

Dary Alexandra Ruiz-Rodriguez studies the formation and evolution of stars and planets, with a specific focus on nearby protoplanetary disks. “I am pleased, honored and humbled to be selected as one of the Gruber Fellowship recipients, 2018. It makes feel great on being rewarded for the hard work that one does together with my advisers and collaborators in the past years. Indeed, the Gruber Fellowship Programme will permit me to establish more worldwide collaborations, while continuing more research achievements in the stellar and planetary formation field.”

More Information

The IAU is the international astronomical organisation that brings together more than 10 000 professional astronomers from almost 100 countries. Its mission is to promote and safeguard the science of astronomy in all its aspects 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.

Links

• The Gruber Foundation Fellowships
• The Gruber Foundation Cosmology Prize

Contacts

Piero Benvenuti
General Secretary, International Astronomical Union
Paris, France
Tel: +33 1 43 25 83 58
Email: iau-general.secretary@iap.fr

Lars Lindberg Christensen
IAU Press Officer
Garching bei München, Germany
Tel: +49 89 320 06 761
Cell: +49 173 38 72 621
Email: lars@eso.org