Professor René Doyon receives a Killam Research Fellowship

The Center for Research in Astrophysics of Quebec (CRAQ) congratulates René Doyon of the Université de Montréal, member of the CRAQ and director of the Observatoire du Mont-Mégantic  (OMM) and the Institute for Research on Exoplanets (iREx), who received a Killam Fellowship from the Canada Council for the Arts.

René Doyon receives this award for his work on the development of cutting edge astronomical instrumentation for various observatories, both ground and space-based. He also participates in various observation programs targeting the research and characterization of brown dwarfs, exoplanets and low-mass young stars. In 2008, with his colleagues Christian Marois (HIA) and David Lafrenière (CRAQ), René Doyon contributed to the discovery, using imaging technique, of three exoplanets. He is now very involved in the development of the future James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), the most complex and powerful telescope ever built, scheduled for launch in 2020. He is also involved in the development of SPIrou and NIRPS, two high-precision instruments dedicated respectively to the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (USA) and the 3.6m telescope of La Silla (Chile). These instruments will identify the nearest Earth-like exoplanets. These will be prime targets for the NIRISS instrument aboard the JWST to characterize their atmosphere and possibly detect the first signs of remote biological activity.

About the Killam Research Fellowships

The Killam Research Fellowships are release time awards that provide support to scholars of exceptional ability who are engaged in research projects of broad significance and widespread interest within the disciplines of the humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, health sciences, engineering, or studies linking any of these disciplines. The fellowships are valued at $70,000 per year and are awarded for a period of two years.

These prizes, which are among the most distinguished research awards in Canada, were established by the Killam Trusts by means of a bequest and gift of Mrs. Dorothy J. Killam in memory of her husband, Izaak Walton Killam, and his outstanding achievements.

Source:

Robert Lamontagne
Public outreach
Center for Research in Astrophysics of Quebec
Phone: (438) 495-3482
lamont@astro.umontreal.ca