MIT Accepts 2025 Heising-Simons Foundation Fellow Jess Speedie under the 51 Pegasi b Program in 2025
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology's (MIT) School of Science has welcomed Jess Speedie as the recipient of the 2025 51 Pegasi b Fellowship. The fellowship, named after the first exoplanet discovered orbiting a sun-like star, was established in 2017 to provide postdocs with an opportunity to conduct research in planetary astronomy.
The Heising-Simons Foundation made the announcement on March 27. Speedie, an astronomy Ph.D. candidate at the University of Victoria, Canada, is set to complete her studies this summer. She will be hosted by the Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences (EAPS) at MIT, under the guidance of Kerr-McGee Career Development Professor Richard Teague.
Speedie's research focuses on studying the birth of planets and the processes of planetary formation. She plans to combine observational data and simulations to delve into the formation of planets, particularly by analyzing the signs left by newly formed planets within their planetary systems.
Her work centers around understanding "cosmic nurseries" and the detection and characterization of the youngest planets in the galaxy. Speedie has developed a novel approach to find signals in the data of gravitational instability in protoplanetary disks, a method of planetary formation.
A significant question in the planetary science community revolves around the whereabouts of planets. Speedie aims to address this issue by developing an algorithm to carefully align and stack a decade's worth of observational data from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA). This process should correct for a blurring effect when combining images captured at different times, resulting in the sharpest and most sensitive images of early planetary systems to date.
In addition to her work with ALMA, Speedie is interested in studying infant planets, particularly those forming in disks around protoplanets rather than stars. Modeling the behavior of these materials in orbit could provide astronomers with a method for measuring the mass of young planets.
The 51 Pegasi b Fellowship provides up to $450,000 of support over three years, offering independent research, a generous salary, mentorship, an annual summit for professional networking and collaboration, and an option for another grant to support a future position in the United States.
Joining Speedie in the 2025 fellowship are Nick Choksi (Caltech), Yan Liang (Yale University), Sagnick Mukherjee (Arizona State University), Matthew Nixon (Arizona State University), Julia Santos (Harvard University), Nour Skaf (University of Hawaii), and Jerry Xuan (University of California, Los Angeles).
- Jess Speedie, as the recipient of the 2025 51 Pegasi b Fellowship, will conduct research in planetary astronomy at MIT's School of Science.
- Speedie's research will focus on understanding the birth of planets, using a combination of observational data and simulations.
- Her work aims to delve into the formation of planets, particularly by analyzing the signs left by newly formed planets within their planetary systems.
- The 51 Pegasi b Fellowship offers more than just financial support; it includes mentorship, an annual summit for networking and collaboration, and an option for another grant.
- Speedie's research at MIT, under the guidance of Professor Richard Teague, will center around understanding "cosmic nurseries" and the detection and characterization of the youngest planets in the galaxy.
- Speedie's interest extends beyond ALMA, as she is also interested in studying infant planets forming in disks around protoplanets, which could provide astronomers with a method for measuring the mass of young planets.
