Edinburgh astronomers recognised with Euclid Consortium awards

Three astronomers from the School of Physics and Astronomy have been awarded prizes by a major space telescope consortium, the Euclid Consortium.

With over 3,600 scientists and engineers, the Euclid Consortium (EC) is one of the world’s largest astronomy collaborations. It is tasked with analysing data from the European Space Agency’s Euclid satellite. Euclid is unravelling the mysteries of Dark Matter and Dark Energy by mapping galaxies across huge swathes of the sky out to vast distances. The UK is a leading nation within the EC, and Edinburgh scientists in particular play a major role in this historic mission.

At the 2026 annual EC meeting, three Edinburgh astronomers from the School’s Institute for Astronomy were awarded highly prestigious Special Talent and Recognition (STAR) Prizes for their key individual contributions to Euclid.

James Fawcett won the Outreach Award for his outstanding outreach achievements and leadership, becoming the driving force behind Euclid outreach in the UK.

James said: 

Public engagement is an essential part of the scientific process and funding it matters more than ever. I was delighted to win this award, which gave me the opportunity to chat about our outreach efforts in the UK and raise awareness of various projects from the past year. This included partnerships with STFC, Dynamic Earth, Edinburgh Science and Glasgow Science Centre. Our collaborations led to an escape room style workshop for primary schools developed by MSc Science Communication placement students, planetarium show content, temporary exhibitions, online 'Meet the Scientist' style sessions and more.

Alex Hall won the Leadership & Coordination Award for his exemplary leadership of the Weak Lensing Science Working Group and the 3x2pt Pipeline Group, and his passion and dedication to the Consortium. 

Alex commented: 

It is a great privilege to have been awarded this prize by such a prestigious collaboration. The fact that three prizes have been awarded to Edinburgh scientists underscores the high regard held for the Institute for Astronomy by the international research and innovation community. I am very excited to use Euclid’s data to make new discoveries about our Universe, particularly the nature of Dark Matter and Dark Energy.

Maria Tsedrik won the Student Award for her exceptional scientific contributions to Euclid’s DR1 theoretical modelling for beyond LCDM cosmologies, and for her broader impact on Euclid DR1 readiness.

Maria said:

I am very grateful to have my work recognised within such an enormous collaboration dedicated to tackling the biggest unsolved mysteries in cosmology. Right now is an extremely exciting time to shed light on the dark sector of the Universe with the power of Euclid, both the instrument itself and the wonderful community of brilliant scientists behind it. I look forward to the scientific breakthroughs that will emerge from this incredible mission in the nearest future!