Priyamvada Natarajan wins 2025 Dannie Heineman Prize for Astrophysics

Indian American astrophysicist at Yale wins the prestigious prize for her path-breaking research focused on the invisible universe

By Arun Kumar

Priyamvada Natarajan, an Indian American astrophysicist at Yale has won the prestigious 2025 Dannie Heineman Prize for Astrophysics for her path-breaking research focused on the invisible universe, including the nature of dark matter and understanding the origin of black holes.

The Heineman Prize, awarded jointly by the American Astronomical Society (AAS) and the American Institute of Physics (AIP), honors excellence in mid-career astrophysics research. Natarajan is the first Yale faculty member to win the prize since it was first awarded in 1980.

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Natarajan’s seminal contributions involve the development of novel theoretical ideas and methods that permit direct comparison to observational data to answer fundamental open questions in theoretical astrophysics, according to a university release.

“I am delighted and deeply honored to be recognized by the AAS and AIP,” said Natarajan, the Joseph S. and Sophia S. Fruton Professor and Chair of Astronomy and professor of physics in Yale’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS). “I have had the great fortune to be working at the frontier of astronomy and astrophysics research at this very special time, when it has been possible to put my conceptual and theoretical ideas to the test swiftly, against abundantly available data.

“Never before has the gap between proposing and validating ideas been this short in science — I feel so lucky to be a scientist engaged in research now,” she said.

Natarajan, who joined the Yale faculty in 2000, is also director of Yale’s Franke Program in Science and the Humanities.Among her many honors, she is an elected fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the AAS, the American Physical Society, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. She also is the recipient of Guggenheim and Radcliffe fellowships and the Liberty Science Center’s Genius Award.

In 2024, she was included in Time Magazine’s list of the 100 most influential people in the world. Natarajan has conducted seminal research for more than two decades — work that is now guiding colleagues as they look deeper into the universe with a new generation of powerful telescopes.

Among Natarajan’s most prominent research contributions are her theoretical work on the formation and growth of black holes at the earliest epochs of the universe and the role that black holes play in galaxy formation – ideas that have been validated with multiple observational discoveries. In addition, her groundbreaking work using gravitational lensing to map dark matter has provided new insights into the nature of dark matter.

“I am grateful to have had the opportunities to be able to contribute to this exciting field and want to thank all my mentors, collaborators, and colleagues who continue to inspire me,” she said. “I am thrilled to celebrate this honor with my mother, whose encouragement and unwavering support has made everything possible.”

The Heineman Prize for Astrophysics, which comes with a $10,000 award, was announced Jan. 16 at the AAS meeting in National Harbor, Maryland.