Greek astrophysicist liodakis receives 2020 Gruber Foundation award

Young Greek astrophysicist, Ioannis Liodakis, a postdoctoral fellow at the Finnish Centre for Astronomy with ESO (FINCA), University of Turku, has been selected by the International Astronomical Union (IAU), to receive a Gruber Scholarship.

Established in 2011, the Gruber Fellowship is awarded annually by the IAU, supported by The Gruber Foundation (TGF), to assist promising young researchers in astrophysics.

Two researches are normally selected (and given US$25,000 each), however this year funding for the Gruber Fellowship increased and the committee selected a third outstanding early-career astrophysicist- Ioannis Liodakis. He was also granted US$25,000.

Liodakis has recently embarked on a postdoctoral appointment studying the emission processes in blazars, a subclass of active galactic nuclei (AGN) that host the most massive black holes at their centres and produce highly relativistic jets. He plans to use a portion of the fellowship to promote diversity and inclusion within astronomy through international visitor programmes at FINCA, having previously led similar projects at Stanford University.

“I am greatly honoured to be selected as one of the 2020 TGF fellows,” Liodakis said.

“It is incredibly rewarding to see my work recognised by the community. The Gruber Fellowship will not only support my research, but will also allow me to continue my efforts to increase diversity and inclusion in astrophysics, by supporting collaborative trips from researchers in typically underrepresented countries," he continued.