Hiranya Peiris awarded the Eddington Medal 2021

Cosmoparticle Director, Professor Hiranya Peiris, has been awarded the prestigious Eddington Medal 2021 by the Royal Astronomical Society for her contributions to cosmology, from fundamental theoretical ideas through the design of advanced analysis methods to the analysis of observational data.

The Medal is awarded for investigations of outstanding merit in theoretical physics. Hiranya’s research tests fundamental physics using large cosmological datasets, including the cosmic microwave background (CMB) and galaxy surveys, combining observations, theoretical physics, and advanced statistical methods.

The citation for the Eddington Medal described how Hiranya had helped shift cosmology, the branch of astronomy that studies the origin and evolution of the universe, “from a speculative area to a data-driven subject and created new links between cosmology and high energy physics”. 

Of the award, Hiranya says: “I am deeply humbled and honoured to receive this medal, which has previously been awarded to some of my scientific idols. It makes me even more determined to keep working towards this enormous challenge - to try to understand the origin of structure in the Universe, and its evolution. I am very grateful to my collaborators and my students, who have shared in that endeavour so far."

The Eddington Medal is awarded for studies of outstanding merit in theoretical astrophysics and has been awarded since 1953. Among previous winners is the 2020 Nobel Laureate in Physics, Roger Penrose, who in 1975 shared the prize with Stephen Hawking.

Links

Royal Astronomical Society awards announcement
Hirnaya Peiris' Academic profile 
UCL news article