JILA graduate student Tatsuya Akiba (left) celebrates with advisor JILA Fellow and Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences Associate Professor Ann-Marie Madigan
JILA graduate student Tatsuya Akiba, a Ph.D. candidate in the Astrophysical & Planetary Sciences department at the University of Colorado Boulder, has received the prestigious 2024 Richard Nelson Thomas Award.
"Receiving an award named after R. N. Thomas, a notable astrophysicist and one of the founding members of JILA, means a lot to me," Akiba mentioned. "JILA has hosted and trained many successful astrophysicists in the past and present, so it is a great honor to be named the astrophysics graduate student of the year at such a prestigious institution."
This honor is bestowed annually to an outstanding APS graduate student at JILA and recognizes excellence in research and academic achievements.
“Tatsuya is an enthusiastic researcher, educator, and mentor,” said JILA Fellow and Associate Professor of Astrophysical & Planetary Sciences Ann-Marie Madigan, who advises Akiba. “He won the CU Boulder Award for Excellence in Teaching in 2021. Last semester, he taught an undergraduate course on Python coding. He has served as a mentor for CU Prime, a graduate peer mentor, and the McNair programs, and he has advised several undergraduates.”
Akiba reciprocated Madigan's compliments by stating: "I couldn’t have done it without the help of Ann-Marie Madigan, who I’ve been lucky enough to work with for four years now. My research progress wouldn’t have been possible without an advisor who cares just as much as (probably even more than) me about the weird orbits of stars and planets - just look at the chalkboard in her office if you ever get the chance. In all seriousness, though, thank you to the award’s committee members, Ann-Marie, and the other members of the Madigan Group for all of your support!"
Akiba and Madigan study the gravitational dynamics of bodies in orbit around compact objects. Their current work delves into the dynamics of eccentric disks in various astrophysical contexts, including stars orbiting supermassive black holes and planetesimals around white dwarfs.
This award highlights Akiba's significant contributions to the field and underscores the innovative research being conducted at JILA. Congratulations to Tatsuya Akiba for this well-deserved recognition!
Read about Akiba's recent research at this link or listen to the podcast episode featuring Akiba below:
The Physics Frontiers Centers (PFC) program supports university-based centers and institutes where the collective efforts of a larger group of individuals can enable transformational advances in the most promising research areas. The program is designed to foster major breakthroughs at the intellectual frontiers of physics by providing needed resources such as combinations of talents, skills, disciplines, and/or specialized infrastructure, not usually available to individual investigators or small groups, in an environment in which the collective efforts of the larger group can be shown to be seminal to promoting significant progress in the science and the education of students. PFCs also include creative, substantive activities aimed at enhancing education, broadening participation of traditionally underrepresented groups, and outreach to the scientific community and general public.