Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (MNRAS) is delighted to announce the winners of the 2025 MNRAS Student Prize.
The annual award recognises papers that, in the view of the MNRAS Editorial Board, are the best submitted in a given 12-month period with a student as the corresponding author.
The quality of papers was exceptionally high this year and the MNRAS editors selected six papers to share the prize for the best paper published in the journal by a student scientist.
The winners of the 2025 MNRAS Student Prize are: Jesús Carrillo-Santamaría, Ignas Juodžbalis, Konstantinos Kilmetis, Dávid Puskás, Natasha Van Bemmel, and Hanyuan Zhang.
Natasha's paper, An Optically Led Search for Kilonovae to z∼0.3 with the Kilonova and Transients Program (KNTraP), is scientifically important in constraining the overall kilonova rate.
MNRAS editor Professor Omer Blaes said this was "an exciting and timely problem given the discovery that these are associated with double neutron star merger gravitational wave sources".
Natasha said: "I am honoured and very humbled to have my paper recognised for this award. It's work I am proud of, and I feel very lucky to have had a great team to work alongside."
MNRAS editor Dr Carla Cacciari described Hanyuan’s paper, Kinematics and dynamics of the Galactic bar revealed by Gaia long-period variables, as "both novel and significant".
"It uses new tracers to map the kinematics of the inner Milky Way in great detail and with great accuracy, and this new tool will impact future studies especially in the infrared," Dr Cacciari added.
Hanyuan said: "This recognition has brought new energy into my academic journey. It's a true honour to receive this prize, which I would like to share with my supervisors and colleagues for their incredible support and collaboration."
Dávid’s paper, Constraining the major merger history of z∽3–9 galaxies using JADES: dominant in-situ star formation, explores a wide cosmic epoch offered by JWST data in order to constrain one of the major mechanisms to grow galaxies.
MNRAS editor Professor Claudia Maraston said "the results will allow strong constraints to simulations at high redshift".
Dávid said: "I am very grateful for the student prize I received for my first ever first-author paper. This recognition makes me feel rewarded for the considerable time and effort I invested in this work, which took much longer to write than I initially expected.
"Receiving this prize boosts my motivation for further research and emphasises that dedicating more time to a single project by enhancing its depth and quality is also valued."
MNRAS editor Professor Andrew Collier Cameron describes Konstantinos’s paper, Magnetic Field Evolution of Hot Exoplanets, as "an excellent example of classic stellar and planetary-interior astrophysics, coupled to dynamo theory and used to make inferences about the role of atmospheric mass fraction on the strength and evolution of the planetary magnetic field".
Konstantinos said: "I am honored to receive such a prize for my work. MNRAS's commitment in supporting and uplifting early-career researchers, both as an institution and through this prize, is admirable.
"My gratitude goes to my supervisors Aline, Andrew and Daria without which this work would not be possible. It further extends to my loved ones who supported me during the conduction of this work and in every step of the way that led me there."
MNRAS editor Professor Mark Gieles described how Jesús's paper, The role of wind asphericity in dynamical friction, "presents numerical simulations to study the effect of non-spherical winds on dynamical friction. It very nicely explains how stars or BHs can experience a 'negative dynamical friction', with a wide range of applications".
Jesús said: "It is a great honour to be awarded this prize. When I got the notification, I was speechless.
"Getting this award for my first published paper is very encouraging to keep working and trying to make every future paper better than the last.
"I am totally grateful to the editorial board for considering my work and will continue to pursue this level for the rest of my PhD studies and beyond."
Ignas's paper, JADES - The Rosetta Stone of JWST-discovered AGN: deciphering the intriguing nature of early AGN, studies the components of a JWST-bright but X-ray weak AGN.
MNRAS editor Professor Diana M. Worrall said this "is likely to guide the interpretation of other such sources – in particular the claimed new population of JWST-discovered AGN at high redshift (Little Red Dots) containing outer dusty tori".
Ignas said: "I am grateful for this award and would like to thank my co-authors, friends and family for their support in my endeavours."
To find out more about the MNRAS Student Prize, visit https://academic.oup.com/mnras/pages/student-awards.
ENDS
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Images & captions
Caption: Konstantinos Kilmetis won for the paper: "Magnetic Field Evolution of Hot Exoplanets" by K Kilmetis, A A Vidotto, A Allan, and D Kubyshkina.
Credit: Supplied
Caption: Natasha Van Bemmel won for the paper: "An Optically Led Search for Kilonovae to z∼0.3 with the Kilonova and Transients Program (KNTraP)" by Natasha Van Bemmel, Jielai Zhang, Jeff Cooke et al.
Credit: Supplied
Caption: Ignas Juodžbalis won for the paper: "JADES - The Rosetta Stone of JWST-discovered AGN: deciphering the intriguing nature of early AGN" by Ignas Juodžbalis, Xihan Ji, Roberto Maiolino et al.
Credit: Supplied
Caption: Jesús Carrillo-Santamaría won for the paper: "The role of wind asphericity in dynamical friction" by Jesús Carrillo-Santamaría, Diego López-Cámara, Fabio De Colle, Enrique Moreno Méndez, and F J Sánchez-Salcedo.
Credit: Supplied
Caption: Hanyuan Zhang won for the paper: "Kinematics and dynamics of the Galactic bar revealed by Gaia long-period variables" by Hanyuan Zhang, Vasily Belokurov, N Wyn Evans, Sarah G Kane, and Jason L Sanders.
Credit: Supplied
Caption: Dávid Puskás won for the paper: "Constraining the major merger history of z∽3–9 galaxies using JADES: dominant in-situ star formation" by Dávid Puskás, Sandro Tacchella, Charlotte Simmonds et al.
Credit: Supplied
Notes for editors
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