In late February 2025, the Gravitational Wave International Committee (GWIC) and the Friends of Stefano Braccini announced CIERA Postdoctoral Researcher Sylvia Biscoveanu as the recipient of the 2023 GWIC-Braccini Thesis Prize. Dr. Biscoveanu’s thesis was titled “From Black Holes to the Big Bang: Astrophysics and Cosmology with Gravitational Waves and their Electromagnetic Counterparts”. As the GWIC-Braccini announcement explains, Dr. Biscoveanu was recognized “for her innovative contributions to the emerging field of gravitational wave astrophysics, including pioneering techniques for measuring binary black hole spins, characterizing neutron star properties from joint gravitational wave and electromagnetic observations, and for disentangling cosmological from astrophysical backgrounds, all of which have led to an improved understanding of the nature, origin, and evolution of compact object binaries.”
The GWIC-Braccini prize is awarded to a member of the gravitational-wave community whose Ph.D. thesis constituted particularly notable research on any aspect of gravitational wave science. Theses are judged on originality and creativity of the research, importance to the field, and clarity of presentation. Typically the 2023 prize winner would be announced in 2024, but the jury decision last year was unfortunately delayed.
“I am thrilled that my thesis work is being recognized as a significant contribution to the growing field of gravitational-wave astronomy,” shared Dr. Biscoveanu. “I am honored to receive this prize from the Gravitational Wave International Committee.”
Dr. Biscoveanu received her Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and is currently a NASA Einstein Fellow working in Professor Vicky Kalogera‘s group. In Fall 2025, Dr. Biscoveanu will join Princeton University as an Assistant Professor in Physics.