Doubly Honored: Rossi Prize, Descartes Prize

Dr. Chryssa Kouveliotou, a scientist at the National Space Science and Technology Center in Huntsville (AL), has won two prestigious awards for research in astrophysics. 

The Rossi Prize recognizes Kouveliotou's research and scientific observations to confirm the existence of magnetars, neutron stars with extraordinarily strong magnetic fields, and the Descartes Prize recognizes her contributions to the study of powerful explosions known as 'gamma ray bursts.' Awarded by the High Energy Astrophysics Division of the American Astronomical Society, the Rossi Prize recognizes significant contributions to high-energy astrophysics, emphasizing recent, original work.

The Descartes Prize recognizes scientific breakthroughs from European collaborative research in any scientific field. This marks the first time the Descartes Prize honors research in astrophysics.

"Winning these awards is wonderful because it provides stimuli to propel the research further -- hopefully toward many more discoveries," said Kouveliotou, a senior research scientist with the Universities Space Research Association in Huntsville.  Kouveliotou is a member of the Space Science group at the National Space Science and Technology Center in Huntsville.

Kouveliotou shares the 2003 Bruno Rossi Prize with Drs. Robert Duncan of the University of Texas, at Austin, and Christopher Thompson, of the Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics, in Toronto.  Duncan and Thompson were cited for their prediction of magnetars, neutrons stars with extraordinarily strong magnetic fields; and Kouveliotou was cited for her observational confirmation of the existence of these objects.

Kouveliotou is the only U.S. team member who shares the Descartes Prize with Dr. Edward van den Heuvel of the University of Amsterdam and a team of scientists from the Netherlands, Italy, Denmark, Spain, Germany, and the United Kingdom.  The group earned the award for its research on gamma-ray bursts - the most powerful explosions in the universe, second only to the Big Bang.

Kouveliotou, who joined the Marshall Center in 2000 on special assignment from the Universities Space Research Association (USRA) based in Columbia (MD), has directed the USRA Astronomy Program in Huntsville since 1998. Since 1995, she also has served as deputy director of the Institute for Space Physics, Astronomy and Education - a joint research venture of the University of Alabama in Huntsville and the Universities Space Research Association.

FMI: www.nsstc.org