Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin Doctoral Dissertation Award in Astrophysics
This award recognizes doctoral thesis in research in astrophysics, and encourages effective written and oral presentation of research results. The annual award consists of $1,500 for the recipient, a certificate, registration waiver, and all finalists will receive a travel reimbursement up to $750 in order to present their work in an invited session at the APS April Meeting.
Rules and eligibility
Doctoral students at any university in the United States or abroad who have passed their thesis defense for the PhD any time during the two calendar years prior to the year of the APS April Meeting where the award is made (for example, for the 2019 award, anyone who defended in 2017 or 2018 is eligible), and whose thesis topic is appropriate for DAP (i.e., dealing with topics that are typically presented in DAP sponsored or co-sponsored sessions at the APS April Meeting), and who are members of the DAP are eligible for the award. A student may be a finalist in the competition only once, but eligible non-finalists may be re-nominated. In this case a new nomination package must be submitted.
Nominations and selection of finalists will be made during the nomination submission year, after the deadline; the selection and announcement of the winner will be made at the following APS April Meeting.
Process and selection
Preceding the established nomination deadline, the April Meeting is where the award will be made. The thesis advisor initiates the nomination process, and the nominator must be a DAP member.
The nomination packet consists of the following materials:
- APS Prizes and Awards nomination form (nominee’s contact information, thesis date).
- A CV, including a list of publications.
- A letter from the thesis advisor citing the specific contributions of the nominee and the significance of those contributions.
- At most two letters seconding the nomination.
- A letter from the department chair certifying the date of the thesis defense. If this letter goes beyond verifying the defense date, it must be counted as one of the two seconding letters.
- A manuscript prepared by the nominee describing the thesis research; the manuscript may not exceed 1,500 words (excluding references) and a maximum of 6 figures.
- An abstract prepared by the nominee suitable for publication in the APS April Meeting Bulletin.
The name of the thesis supervisor and the institution should be indicated in a footnote. The finalists will be chosen by the Thesis Award Selection Committee based on the quality of the thesis research and the written presentation. Selection Committee members who have mentored or otherwise co-authored with any candidate will recuse themselves from selection of finalists or awardees as appropriate. The three finalists will present their work at a special Thesis Award Session of the April Meeting. After consideration of the oral presentation, the Selection Committee will choose the recipient of the award. The winner will be announced at the DAP business meeting. Nominees who are not selected as finalists may submit abstracts for regular oral or poster presentation at the meeting.
Establishment and support
The award was established in 2013 by the Division of Astrophysics (DAP) as the Outstanding Doctoral Thesis Award in Astrophysics. In 2018 it was renamed for Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin, and generously endowed by the Heising-Simons Foundation.
Recent recipients
Stephen Sclafani
2025 recipient
For performing the first observation of diffuse high-energy neutrinos from our Galaxy using the IceCube Neutrino Observatory's cascade data stream in a novel approach to mitigate high backgrounds and for the effective use of Machine Learning in realizing this observation.
Yue Hu
2025 recipient
For opening radically new ways of exploring the properties of astrophysical turbulent magnetic fields and outstanding advancements in understanding their effects on magnetic accretion on supermassive black holes, molecular cloud evolution, star formation, and processes of cosmic ray propagation.
Kathryn Plant
2025 recipient
For the design and construction of a new instrument for real-time continuous detection of radio emission from cosmic-ray air showers that will facilitate precision mass composition measurements for cosmic-rays in the ~100 PeV energy range.
Floor Broekgaarden
2024 recipient
For foundational and groundbreaking studies of the formation and evolution of gravitational wave source populations using state-of-the-art population synthesis models that explore for the first time a broad range of stellar, binary, and cosmic evolution paths.
Kaeli Hughes
2023 recipient
For leading the lowest threshold ultra-high energy astrophysical neutrino search to date, with data from the Askaryan Radio Array, and her efforts toward the development of future radio detectors for ultra-high energy astrophysical and cosmogenic neutrinos.
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.