NSF Award Supports Study of Black Holes’ Evolution and Fisk-Vanderbilt Minority Ph.D. Program
By Vanderbilt University
December 17, 2009
Vanderbilt University Assistant Professor of Physics and Astronomy Kelly Holley-Bockelmann has been awarded the National Science Foundation’s largest ever Faculty Early Career Development grant in the field of astronomy. She will use the pestigious award to continue her studies of black holes while supporting the university’s innovative program designed to make the university the top producer of underrepresented minorities with Ph.D.s in physics and astronomy.
Due to the availability of Recovery Act funds, Holley-Bockelmann received $1.1 million over five years. CAREER awards are considered NSF's most prestigious honor for junior faculty members. According to the National Science Foundation, CAREER awards support exceptionally promising college and university junior faculty who are committed to the integration of research and education and are likely to become the academic leaders of the 21st century.
Holley-Bockelmann will use the award to address one of the fundamental mysteries that surrounds the supermassive black holes, exotic objects weighing in at millions to billions of solar masses that astronomers have found lurking at the core of most galaxies.
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