CCAPP is proud to announce Dhayaa Anbajagane (U. Chicago) and Jason Hinkle (U. Hawaii) as the winners of the 2023 Price Prize in Cosmology and Astrophysics!              

Dhayaa's research program focuses on extracting weak lensing data from photometric surveys (like DES, DELVE etc.) and then on using these data to probe the physics of the early Universe, such as that of inflation. He develops simulation-based tools for modeling the lensing signal and thereby constraining such physics. His work shows that with the recent advances in simulation modeling and photometric data quality, the next decade of weak lensing will have a unique role to play in our pursuit of the high-energy frontier in cosmology.

Jason’s research aims to understand the breadth of accretion behaviors occurring on supermassive black holes. He uses a wide array of space and ground-based telescopes across the electromagnetic spectrum to investigate nuclear transients discovered by optical transient surveys. In addition to his work on tidal disruption events and active galactic nuclei, he has helped establish the growing class of ambiguous nuclear transients, which seem to defy typical observational types.

About the Prize

The Dr. Pliny A. and Margaret H. Price Prize recognizes research excellence and exceptional promise in areas related to CCAPP initiatives. Two recipients are selected annually by the CCAPP Science Board based on a review of their research in the areas of cosmology and astroparticle physics. CCAPP hosts Prize recipients for a week during which they give a Price Prize seminar on their research, establish long-term collaborative relationships, and receive a $2,000 honorarium.

Together, Steve Price and his wife Jill Levy created and endowed the Dr. Pliny A. and Margaret H. Price Prize, with generous gifts in honor of Steve's parents beginning in 2009.