Astrophysicist Maria Charisi receives the 2024 L’Oréal-UNESCO Hellenic Award for Women in Science in the field of natural sciences. This award recognizes Greek women in science under the age of 40 for their overall contribution and achievements in their field.
Three awards are given to recognize excellence in STEM research, for which Charisi received hers for work in the field of natural sciences. In addition to the award recognition, she will also receive a cash prize.
“I’m excited and honored to receive this award. I’m glad to be part of this great initiative by L’Oréal-UNESCO that celebrates the achievements of early career women in STEM,” said Charisi.
Charisi joined the award ceremony by video last month, where the event took place in Greece. Hosted by L’Oréal, the ceremony included members of the Greek cabinet in attendance.
“It’s important to recognize women — who still remain underrepresented in sciences and particularly in physics — to inspire other young women to pursue science and show that there is space for them,” said Charisi.
Charisi specializes in black holes, specifically on supper massive black holes that are millions or billions of times the mass of the sun located in the centers of galaxies. She became interested in the field as an undergraduate doing research in astrophysics. While attending a presentation, she was introduced to gravitational wave detection with ground-based detectors, such as the one in Hanford, Washington.
Charisi specializes in black holes, specifically on supper massive black holes that are millions or billions of times the mass of the sun located in the centers of galaxies.
One technique in her research is a relatively new area that uses gravitational waves, which are tiny ripples in space-time.
“My research focuses on two broad areas (gravitational waves and electromagnetic observations), and how you can combine the different ways to observe the universe and get a more complete picture of black hole binaries,” said Charisi.
Charisi approaches her first-year anniversary at WSU next month as an assistant professor. She is splitting her time between Pullman and Greece, where she is fulfilling work from a European grant awarded last year.
The grant has enabled Charisi to build a group in Greece to conduct further research in multi-messenger astrophysics. She plans to set up an exchange program between universities.
“I am looking for opportunities for my groups in WSU and in Greece to collaborate,” she said.
Moving forward, Charisi has plans to delve further into electromagnetic observations and multi-messenger astrophysics, which she described as like combining different windows of the universe.
The L’Oréal-UNESCO Women in Science Foundation was established in 1998 to recognize and encourage women in science. The Foundation’s programs not only recognize distinguished women scientists whose achievements have contributed to the advancement of scientific knowledge, but also provide support to promising young women in their fields.
Charisi obtained her BSc in Physics from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece, and her PhD in astronomy from Columbia University in the City of New York.
