An international team of astronomers has discovered the first radio-bright tidal disruption event (TDE) occurring outside a galaxy’s center using the U.S. National Science Foundation National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NSF NRAO) Very Large Array (NSF VLA) and Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), along with several partner telescopes.
Recent News
First-ever Detection of “Heavy Water” in a Planet-forming Disk
The discovery of ancient water in a planet-forming disk reveals that some of the water found in comets—and maybe even Earth—is older than the disk’s star itself, offering breakthrough insights into the history of water in our Solar System.
Astronomers Detect Lowest Mass Dark Object Yet in Distant Universe
An international research team, using a worldwide network of radio telescopes, has detected an enigmatic dark object with a mass about one million times that of our Sun without observing any emitted light. This is the lowest mass dark object ever detected at a cosmological distance using only its gravitational influence.
Robert L. Brown Outstanding Doctoral Thesis Award
The Robert L. Brown Outstanding Doctoral Dissertation Award is administered by Associated Universities Inc. (AUI) and the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) on behalf of Bob Brown’s friends and family to honor Bob’s life and career. The Award is given each year to a recent recipient of a doctoral degree from any recognized degree granting institution in the United States, and which is substantially based on new observational data obtained at any NRAO facility and considered to be of an exceptionally high scientific standard.
Award
The Award is available to degree recipients of any nationality and consists of $1000, a framed certificate, and an invitation to give a colloquium at the NRAO.
Application Guidelines
To be eligible, the applicant must have successfully defended the thesis during the calendar year of the Award. The deadline for receipt of applications and supporting materials for any given calendar year Award is January 31 of the following year.
Applicants should send an e-mail describing their dissertation, the date of their successful thesis defense, the date of the degree award, and the name and contact information of the primary thesis supervisor to [email protected]. A copy of the thesis should be sent by e-mail to the same address or made available via a link given in the letter. Published papers or papers in press, or portions thereof, based substantially on the dissertation should accompany the application. Verification of the successful thesis defense and statement that the applicant has successfully completed all university requirements for the PhD should be sent directly by the appropriate university authority to [email protected].
Selection
The winning applicant will be selected by a committee appointed by the NRAO Director. If, in the opinion of the committee, in any given year none of the theses are sufficiently meritorious, the award will not be given in that year.
All questions should be addressed to [email protected].
Recent News
Astronomers Discover Fastest-Evolving Radio Signals Ever Observed from Black Hole Tearing Apart Star
An international team of astronomers has discovered the first radio-bright tidal disruption event (TDE) occurring outside a galaxy’s center using the U.S. National Science Foundation National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NSF NRAO) Very Large Array (NSF VLA) and Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), along with several partner telescopes.
First-ever Detection of “Heavy Water” in a Planet-forming Disk
The discovery of ancient water in a planet-forming disk reveals that some of the water found in comets—and maybe even Earth—is older than the disk’s star itself, offering breakthrough insights into the history of water in our Solar System.
Astronomers Detect Lowest Mass Dark Object Yet in Distant Universe
An international research team, using a worldwide network of radio telescopes, has detected an enigmatic dark object with a mass about one million times that of our Sun without observing any emitted light. This is the lowest mass dark object ever detected at a cosmological distance using only its gravitational influence.