Associate Professor Takuma Izumi of the NAOJ ALMA Project and Associate Professor Teruyuki Hirano of the NINS Astrobiology Center (concurrently appointed to Subaru Telescope) received the Young Scientists’ Award in The Commendation for Science and Technology by the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology in 2024.

Associate Professor Izumi received the award in recognition of his observational research on the diverse structures of material around active galactic nuclei.

When a large amount of matter falls into the supermassive black hole at the center of a galaxy, it creates a brightly shining region referred to as an active galactic nucleus (AGN). Although AGNs are important observational targets for elucidating the growth process of supermassive black holes and the birth and coevolution of supermassive black holes and galaxies, the details of the material state around AGNs has not been clarified due to their very small size and the complexity of the various types of materials mixed therein. Associate Professor Izumi conducted observations taking advantage of ALMA's high resolution. He was the first to observe that multiphase materials such as molecules, atoms, and plasmas take on unique chemical compositions in the immediate vicinity of a black hole, and then dynamically interact to give rise to the black hole's accretion flows and gas outflows.

Associate Professor Hirano received the award in recognition of his work on observations of exoplanets around low-mass stars.

Among the rapidly advancing field of exoplanet exploration, the study of terrestrial planet (habitable planet) candidates around low-mass stars that are cooler and dimmer than the Sun is attracting particular attention. Associate Professor Hirano has distinguished himself as an important member of an international research team to search for such planets by independently analyzing data obtained by space telescopes and conduct follow-up observations. Along with leading to the discovery of dozens of planets, his work has produced new observational knowledge, such as a correlation between the radius of a planet and the metallicity of its host star. In addition, he laid the foundation for surveys of planets orbiting low-mass stars by establishing a new data analysis method to obtain the radial velocity of low-mass stars with unprecedented accuracy using the near-infrared high-dispersion spectrometer IRD on the Subaru Telescope.

The Young Scientists’ Award in The Commendation for Science and Technology by the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology recognizes young researchers who have made outstanding achievements demonstrating advanced research and development capabilities in exploratory research and research from an original perspective. The awards ceremony was held on April 17, 2024 at the main office of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo).