Gravity & the Extreme Universe
What is the nature of extreme gravity, and how can it help us understand the origin and evolution of the universe?
For most of human history our only information about the Universe came from visible light. Later we learned to detect other forms of electromagnetic radiation like infrared and radio waves. Today we can finally detect gravitational waves, and that opens the door to fundamentally new ways of observing and understanding the Universe.
Gravitational waves are the “ripples” created in spacetime which are caused by massive accelerating objects. Combined with other observations, they give researchers brand new tools to understand what’s happening in the Universe. Questions include the nature of extreme gravity, the origin and evolution of the universe, and the structure of compact objects such as black holes and neutron stars, as well as profound questions about fundamental physics and astrophysics.
CIFAR’s Gravity & the Extreme Universe program unites world-leading researchers from a number of relevant fields who are taking advantage of this wealth of new information. Fellows were chosen not only for individual excellence, but also for their expertise from a variety of fields, and across theory, experiment and observation.
Path to Societal Impact
We invite experts in industry, civil society, healthcare and government to join fellows in our Gravity & the Extreme Universe program for in-depth, cross-sectoral conversations that drive change and innovation.
Academic and industrial experts in biomedical data analysis and artificial intelligence and CIFAR fellows in the Gravity & the Extreme Universe program are bringing about new technological innovations by using data science techniques from astronomy and cosmology to address complex challenges in genomics and medical imaging, and vice versa.
Areas of focus:
- Finding opportunities for advanced image analysis to be deployed across disciplines
- Identifying key areas, such as image classification or data processing, where researchers and industry can collaborate.
Founded
1986
Renewal Dates
1991, 1996, 2001, 2006, 2011, 2016
Supporters
R. Howard Webster Foundation
Interdisciplinary Collaboration
Astrophysics
Astronomy
Astroparticle, computational, high energy and particle physics
Observational cosmology
CIFAR Contact
Fellows & Advisors
Program Director
Victoria M. Kaspi
Program Director
R. Howard Webster Foundation Fellow
Fellows
Lars Bildsten
Associate Fellow
J. Richard Bond
Fellow
Mark C. Chen
Fellow
Matthew W. Choptuik
Associate Fellow
Matt Dobbs
Fellow
Richard S. Ellis
Associate Fellow
Mark Halpern
Fellow
Gary Hinshaw
Fellow
Gilbert Holder
Fellow
Vicky Kalogera
Fellow
Victoria M. Kaspi
Program Director
R. Howard Webster Foundation Fellow
Juna A. Kollmeier
Fellow
CITA
University of Toronto
Luis Lehner
Fellow
Arthur B. McDonald
Associate Fellow
Robert C. Myers
Associate Fellow
Julio F. Navarro
Fellow
Barth Netterfield
Fellow
John A. Peacock
Associate Fellow
Ue-Li Pen
Fellow
Harald P. Pfeiffer
Associate Fellow
E. Sterl Phinney
Associate Fellow
Frans Pretorius
Fellow
Scott Ransom
Fellow
Joseph Silk
Associate Fellow
Kendrick Smith
Fellow
David Spergel
Associate Fellow
Ingrid Stairs
Fellow
Neil Turok
Associate Fellow
William G. Unruh
Associate Fellow
Matias Zaldarriaga
Fellow
Advisors
Roger Blandford
Advisor
Gabriela González
Advisor
Lyman Page
Advisor
Eva Silverstein
Advisor
Scott D. Tremaine
Advisory Committee Chair
Simon White
Advisor
CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholars
Yacine Ali-Haïmoud
CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholars 2022-2024
Iair Arcavi
CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholar 2019-2021
Sarah Burke-Spolaor
CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholar 2018-2020
Maria R. Drout
CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholar 2018-2020
Daryl Haggard
CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholar 2017-2019
Renée Hložek
CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholar 2019-2021
Adrian Liu
CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholar 2018-2020
Katherine Mack
CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholars 2022-2024
Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics
Raffaella Margutti
CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholar 2019-2021
Ajith Parameswaran
CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholar 2017-2019
Shriharsh Tendulkar
CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholars 2022-2024
Tata Institute of Fundamental Research
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CIFAR is a registered charitable organization supported by the governments of Canada, Alberta and Quebec, as well as foundations, individuals, corporations and Canadian and international partner organizations.