Dr Maria Vincenzi receives UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship

24 September 2025

We’re delighted to share that Hertford fellow and University of Oxford Associate Professor of Astrophysics Maria Vincenzi has been named as one of the recipients of the UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship – a highly competitive and prestigious award that supports outstanding early-career researchers across the UK.

The programme, funded by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), provides long-term support to early-career researchers in universities and businesses to enable them to pursue ambitious, interdisciplinary research with real-world impact.

Maria completed her PhD between the Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation in Portsmouth and the Physics and Astronomy Department at the University of Southampton. Following her PhD, she held a postdoctoral position at Duke University and was later awarded a NASA Einstein Fellowship.

Her research primarily focuses on measuring the expansion history of the Universe using Type Ia Supernovae. She led the SN cosmological analysis of the Dark Energy Survey and is now deeply involved in designing and planning the next generation of Type Ia Supernova cosmology experiments, particularly the Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) at the Vera C. Rubin Observatory.

UKRI Chief Executive, Professor Sir Ian Chapman, said:

‘UKRI’s Future Leaders Fellowships offer long-term support to outstanding researchers, helping them turn bold ideas into innovations that improve lives and livelihoods in the UK and beyond. These fellowships continue to drive excellence and accelerate the journey from discovery to public benefit. I wish them every success.’

The fellowship not only provides substantial funding but also offers tailored career development support, helping fellows become leaders in their field and contributors to the UK’s innovation ecosystem.

We congratulate Maria on this achievement and celebrate the continued excellence of our academic community.