Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation

A young scientist at the University of Portsmouth has won two prestigious awards in recognition of his world-class research in cosmology.

Dr Kazuya Koyama, a senior research fellow in the Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation, has won the 2010 Young Scientist Award of the Physical Society, Japan, and a £70,000 Philip Leverhulme Prize. Both awards are for Dr Koyama’s work in theoretical astrophysics.

A University of Portsmouth cosmologist was among West End stars, inventors, entrepreneurs and stockbrokers honoured at the Women of the Future awards on Thursday.

Dr Karen Masters, short-listed in the Science and Technology category, received a special commendation for being an exceptional candidate whom the judges wanted to recognise for her huge potential.

The Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS) of the [http://www.sdss3.org Sloan Digital Sky Survey III] has just got started and has obtained "first light" on the night of September 14-15 2009. ICG members are part of the major new international project and will be using this new data for the next 5 years. See [http://research.icg.port.ac.uk/node/940 the official press release]

A University of Portsmouth cosmologist has been short-listed for the Science and Technology Women of the Future Award.

America's highest scientific award has been conferred upon an honorary graduate of the University of Portsmouth by President Barack Obama.
Cosmologist Professor Jim Gunn will receive the National Medal of Science at a ceremony in the White House early next month.
Professor Gunn was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Science by the University in 2006 in recognition of his work on the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), the most extensive three-dimensional mapping of the universe ever undertaken. In 2005 the University of Portsmouth became the first British university to join the SDSS.

A News Focus article in the Science Magazine, issue 31 July 2009, features the research by Dr Daniel Thomas and collaborators. The article describes the importance of black holes and AGN feedback in galaxy formation and highlights recent results of ICG research on this subject based on data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/summary/325/5940/532

ICG members Professor Bob Nichol and Dr Daniel Thomas are coauthors on a recently released paper detailing the discovery of 'green pea' galaxies in Galaxy Zoo.

Dennis Sciama opening Astronomer Royal, Professor Martin Rees, opened the new Dennis Sciama building at the University of Portsmouth yesterday, in the presence of cosmologists from all over the world. The new £9 million building, home to the Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation (ICG), teaching rooms and a new café for staff and students, is named after Dennis Sciama (1926 – 1999), a leading figure internationally in the development of modern astrophysics and cosmology. Over 300 guests attended the opening, inc

Members of the Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation (ICG) of the University of Portsmouth have an impressive record of leading positions in some of the leading projects launched by the international community of cosmologists and astrophysicists.

As reported by Nature, the European Space Agency (ESA) is seeking to join with two US agencies in the Joint Dark Energy Mission (JDEM). The ICG's Bob Nichol is quoted in the article.