Division of Gravitational Physics Fellowship
Fellowship in the American Physical Society is a great honor. In accordance with the APS Constitution, "there shall be elected to Fellowship only such Members who have contributed to the advancement of physics by independent, original research or who have rendered some other special service to the cause of the sciences." All APS members are invited to nominate deserving colleagues as potential Fellows of APS.
Rules and eligibility
Nominating a colleague for APS Fellowship is a way to commend them for excellence in physics and their service to the physics community.
To nominate a colleague for APS Fellowship, you and the additional nominating co-sponsor must be active APS members. The colleague you nominate must also be an active APS member.
Process and selection
To nominate a colleague for APS Fellowship, please include the following:
- The nominee's name
- The co-sponsor's name, and email address
- A 300 character suggested citation that does not include the nominee's name, gendered pronouns, or symbols, and begins with, "For..."
- A 2,500 character paragraph expanding on the citation to indicate the originality and significance of the contributions
- A PDF sponsor's recommendation letter
- The co-sponsor's recommendation letter, which must be uploaded by the co-sponsor
- The nominee's curriculum vitae (CV), which must include academic and employment history, professional honors, a list of principal publications only, and other significant contributions to physics
- Optional: Up to two additional PDF letters of support, which must be uploaded by the letter writers
Selection Committee
- Raymond Frey
- Maura McLaughlin
- Lisa Barsotti
- Lydia Bieri
- Bernd Bruegmann
Recent recipients
Emil Mottola
2024 recipient
For pioneering work on the behavior of field theories — especially in curved spacetime — including the proposal of gravastars and particle emissions in de Sitter spacetime.
Mark A. Scheel
2024 recipient
For major contributions to numerical relativity, including being a principal author of the Spectral Einstein Code (SpEC), applying SpEC to develop highly accurate surrogate gravitational waveform models, and leading the development of the Cauchy-Characteristic Extraction code.
Xavier Siemens
2024 recipient
For foundational contributions to low-frequency gravitational wave detection using pulsar timing arrays, and for pioneering work in developing methods to calibrate the strain for ground-based interferometers.
Harald Pfeiffer
2023 recipient
For leadership and numerous high-impact research contributions to the field of numerical relativity, which have greatly helped to interpret gravitational-wave observations of binary black holes.
Joseph D. Romano
2023 recipient
For foundational contributions to the detection and characterization of stochastic gravitational wave signals.
APS Honors recognizes and celebrates the accomplishments of the global physics community. Guided by our core values, APS Honors encourages nominations that reflect the full range of talent, distinction, and experience in our field, and supports broad canvassing for professional achievement across diverse backgrounds, perspectives, and expertise.
Nominees for and holders of APS Honors (prizes, awards, and fellowship) and official leadership positions are expected to meet standards of professional conduct and integrity as described in the APS Ethics Standards. Violations of these standards may disqualify people from consideration or lead to revocation of honors or removal from office.