Awards and Fellowships
Aspen Institute Italia Award for scientific research and collaboration between Italy and the United States
Wind from the black hole accretion disk driving a molecular outflow in an active galaxy. This is the title of the project that has been declared winner of the second edition (2017) of the Aspen Institute Italia Award for scientific research and collaboration between Italy and the United States. The research project was Nature's cover story on March 26, 2015.
By crossing data received from two different space telescopes, the authors demonstrate that wind coming from black holes contributes to the formation of new stars inside different galaxies. In particular, they prove that the evolution of galaxies depends on the black holes at their center. This research project continues a long line of scientific results - begun by Bruno Rossi and Riccardo Giacconi (2002 Nobel Prize in Physics) - from Italians and Americans who have collaborated in X-ray astrophysics.
The Award
The Aspen Institute Italia Award for scientific research and collaboration between Italy and the United States was launched in December 2015 in keeping with the Institute's commitment to encouraging and developing international leadership and transatlantic relations. Every year, the prize will be awarded to a research project studying applied or theoretical natural sciences, in which scientists and/or organizations from Italy and the US collaborate. The Prize consolidates the Institute's commitment towards initiatives and meetings on important topics in the fields of science and technological innovation, with particular reference to their relevance to Italy. The Jury comprises Aspen Italia Chairman Giulio Tremonti (chair), Luciano Maiani, Professor Emeritus of Theoretical Physics at Rome's La Sapienza University, and Lucio Stanca, Vice Chairman of Aspen Institute Italia and former Minister for Innovation and Technology. In 2016, the Award was given to Spatiotemporal spread of the 2014 outbreak of Ebola virus disease in Liberia which created a mathematical model to interpret the spread of Ebola.
University of Maryland - Postdoctoral Scientist Prize for Excellence 2015-16
The Postdoctoral Scientist Prize for Excellence was established by the Department of Astronomy to honor outstanding postdoctoral scholars. Eligible candidates include both traditional 2-3 year postdocs and recipients of fellowships such as Hubble, Einstein, CTC, etc. Selection is made in May by a committee drawn from the department's diverse membership, and the winner is announced at the department's End of the Year Celebration in June. The selected candidate receives a $500 award.
NASA Postdoctoral Program Fellowship 2009
The NASA Postdoctoral Program (NPP) provides early-career and more senior scientists the opportunity to share in NASA's mission, to reach for new heights and reveal the unknown so that what we do and learn will benefit all humankind.