Galaxy evolution pioneer wins major international prize

Professor Richard Ellis Professor Richard Ellis (UCL Physics & Astronomy) has been awarded the 2023 Gruber Cosmology Prize for his pioneering work both studying galactic evolution dating to the "cosmic dawn" and designing innovative instruments with which to do so. Professor Ellis will receive a $500,000 USD (£ 399k) award for his contributions to the fields of galaxy evolution and developments in optical astronomy at a ceremony that will take place this summer in Marseille, France. As an observer, Professor Ellis has redefined cosmology, the science that studies the growth of the universe. As the speed of light is finite, astronomers can trace the evolution of galactic structures in reverse, starting with the nearest and most mature and extending to the earliest and most primitive. Over the decades Professor Ellis has repeatedly led surveys of galaxies farther and farther, earlier and earlier across the cosmic landscape. As "the leading authority on galaxy evolution," as one Gruber nominator called him, Professor Ellis has for decades been a fixture on astronomical projects requiring deep probes. In the mid-1990s he was the sole Europe-based member on the committee to outline the scientific goals for what was then the Next Generation Space Telescope and is now the James Webb Space Telescope.