Image Credit: Giant Magellan Telescope – GMTO Corporation
Northwestern University is a founding partner of the Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT), an enormous ground-based telescope currently under construction in Chile’s Atacama Desert.
Once construction is complete in the 2030s, GMT will be the world’s most powerful optical telescope. By producing images 10 times sharper than the Hubble Space Telescope, GMT will explore both the near and distant Universe, including the search for signs of life outside Earth’s solar system.
GMT Leadership at CIERA
Prof. Vicky Kalogera is a member of the Giant Magellan Telescope’s Directors Board
Prof. Adam Miller is a member of the Giant Magellan Telescope’s Science Advisory Council
GMT Science at CIERA
Northwestern researchers will develop and apply AI tools to enhance GMT’s abilities to search for Earth-like planets across the Milky Way, probe the universe’s most energetic explosions and explore the relationship between galaxies and black holes. Northwestern is committed to maximizing GMT’s discovery potential and enabling new breakthroughs not otherwise possible with current facilities. More broadly, NU/CIERA provides:
- Engineering expertise in the development of Infrared Cameras with record-breaking sensitivity for astronomy
- Computer science and AI knowledge for the creation of bio-Inspired AI algorithms that unblur the cosmos
- Observational and theoretical expertise in exoplanet imaging, transient astrophysics, stellar evolution simulations, and the chemical evolution of galaxies
GMT Travel and Research Fund
The CIERA GMT Interdisciplinary Research and Travel Award Fund is a crucial initiative to ensure Northwestern students and faculty can actively contribute to the groundbreaking work of GMT. The fund was made possible by the Kent family, through the Morningstar Foundation.
This fund is designed to empower CIERA faculty to start fresh interdisciplinary projects, engage students, and foster collaborations within the GMT consortium.
The fund will:
- Provide critical travel and research grants for faculty and students to engage with the GMT consortium.
- Facilitate innovative, interdisciplinary research across CIERA, SkAI, and other university programs.
- Create new opportunities for education and collaboration, ensuring the next generation of scholars thrives.
The international consortium comprises 15 distinguished institutions from 7 different countries, including Harvard University, Carnegie Science, University of Chicago, Smithsonian Institution, University of Arizona, Arizona State University, University of Texas, Texas A&M University, the Weizmann Institute for Science in Israel and Australian National University.
