Submitted by Eleni Soumpourou on Tue, 23/06/2026 - 07:30
The Royal Astronomical Society (RAS) has announced the winners of its 2025 Thesis Prizes, honouring outstanding doctoral research in astronomy, geophysics, and instrumentation. Among the honourees is Dr Emilie Hertig of the University of Cambridge, who was named runner-up for the Michael Penston Thesis Prize for her work probing the early universe.
Dr Hertig’s PhD thesis, titled ‘Probes of cosmic inflation: from the CMB to quantum analogues’, explores fundamental questions about the rapid expansion of the universe in its first fraction of a second — a period known as cosmic inflation. Her research combines analysis of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) radiation with innovative quantum simulation techniques to test theories of the universe’s origin.
The Michael Penston Thesis Prize is awarded annually for the best PhD thesis in astronomy and astrophysics completed in the UK. The 2025 winner was Dr Thomas Baycroft of the University of Birmingham for his work on circumbinary exoplanets. The RAS also recognised highly commended theses from researchers at Durham, Warwick, and Cambridge.
