Issue of May 8, 2026
eds: Jeremy Bailin, Sethanne Howard, Ferah Munshi, Stella Kafka, and Ben Keller
[We hope you all are taking care of yourselves and each other. --eds.]
This week's issues:
1. Crosspost: Assessing the status of women in physics in the 1970s
2. Policy Update (6 May 2026)
3. Nominations Are Now Open for 2027 AAS Prizes
4. WGAD is Now the Committee for Accessibility Rights and Equity (CARE)
5. Carolina Figueiredo GS named inaugural winner of Vera Rubin New Frontiers Prize
6. Remembering Candice Hansen-Koharcheck
7. Pushed by Administration policies, top U.S. battery scientist is moving to Singapore
8. Job Opportunities
9. How to Submit to the AASWOMEN newsletter
10. How to Subscribe or Unsubscribe to the AASWOMEN newsletter
11. Access to Past Issues
An online version of this newsletter will be available at http://womeninastronomy.blogspot.com/ at 3:00 PM ET every Friday.
Today's crosspost is by Anna Doel from the American Institute of Physics, posted on aip.org on May 1, 2026. In August 1971, the American Physical Society issued a call for “names, addresses, comments, and recommendations” that was published in Physics Today, Spectrum, and Science. The goal was to begin to collect data for the newly formed Committee on Women in Physics.
Read more at: https://womeninastronomy.blogspot.com/2026/05/crosspost-assessing-status-of-women-in.html
On 29 April, the House Commerce-Justice-Science (CJS) Subcommittee released their Fiscal Year 2027 (FY27) appropriations bill. The bill includes a 17% cut to the NASA Science Mission Directorate (SMD), a 20% cut to the National Science Foundation (NSF), and a 16% cut to the National Institute of Standards and Technology compared to FY26 funding levels.
Read more at: https://aas.org/posts/news/2026/05/policy-update-6-may-2026
Nominations for AAS prizes to be awarded in 2027 are now being accepted! We encourage members to nominate their colleagues — or themselves — for prizes that best fit their career stage and accomplishments.
Read more at: https://aas.org/posts/news/2026/05/nominations-are-now-open-2027-aas-prizes
The AAS Working Group for Accessibility and Disability (WGAD) has officially been approved by the Board of Trustees to become the Committee for Accessibility Rights and Equity (CARE). CARE is responsible for promoting the inclusion of and equity of opportunity for disabled astronomers, planetary scientists, and students at all career stages.
Read more at: https://aas.org/posts/news/2026/05/wgad-now-committee-accessibility-rights-and-equity-care
Physics graduate student Carolina Figueiredo GS won $50,000 as the inaugural laureate of the Breakthrough Prize Foundation’s Vera Rubin New Frontiers Prize on April 18. She was the sole recipient of the prize in its founding year, chosen for her Ph.D. research at Princeton that unearthed “hidden relations among quantum field theories.”
Candice Hansen-Koharcheck, a Planetary Science Institute senior scientist since 2010, died on April 11 after a valiant three-year battle with cancer. Her career spanned nearly 50 years, during which she authored more than 300 journal articles on topics from erupting jets on Triton and Enceladus, to outer planet satellites’ tenuous atmospheres, to carbon dioxide processes on Mars.
Read more at: https://www.psi.edu/blog/remembering-candice-hansen-koharcheck/
Shirley Meng grew up in China and earned her degrees in Singapore, but the United States is where she built her career trying to make better and cheaper batteries for a power-hungry world. After 2 decades here, the University of Chicago (UChicago) materials scientist, who also heads a Department of Energy (DOE) research hub, is now heading back to Asia.
Read more at: https://www.science.org/content/article/pushed-trump-policies-top-u-s-battery-scientist-moving-singapore
For those interested in increasing excellence and diversity in their organizations, a list of resources and advice is here:
https://aas.org/comms/cswa/resources/Diversity#howtoincrease
- The Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics at the University of Chicago and the Adler Planetarium warmly invite prospective applicants to consider proposing a joint host arrangement for the NSF Astronomy and Astrophysics Postdoctoral Fellowship in Chicago, IL (Please contact Adler Senior Director of Astronomy Dr. Geza Gyuk: ggyuk@adlerplanetarium.org)
https://www.nsf.gov/funding/opportunities/aapf-nsf-astronomy-astrophysics-postdoctoral-fellowships/nsf22-621/solicitation
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