2025 Early Career Award

2025 LAD Early Career Award Goes to Chintan Shah

The Laboratory Astrophysics Division (LAD) of the American Astronomical Society (AAS) is presenting its 2025 Early Career Award to Dr. Chintan Shah of the John Hopkins University (JHU), working at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC). The award recognizes Dr. Shah’s contributions in the field of modeling and X-ray/UV spectroscopy of atoms in astrophysical plasma environments. Dr. Shah’s work is instrumental in benchmarking of key electron-photon-ion processes for astrophysical plasma modeling, particularly in resolving the long-standing Fe XVII line emission problem.

The LAD Early Career Award is given to an individual who has made significant contributions to the field within 10 years of receiving their Ph.D. Dr. Shah has established an outstanding career in investigating X-ray spectroscopy of highly ionized atoms in astrophysical plasmas, since receiving his Ph.D. This work leading to laboratory benchmarks, is critical for interpreting data from space-based X-ray observatories such as Chandra, XMM-Newton, Hitomi, and XRISM, as well as planned or proposed future missions such as Athena, LEM, Arcus, and Lynx.

Dr. Shah completed his B.Sc and M.Sc degrees in Physics at the M.S. University of Baroda, India and moved to Germany to carry out his Ph.D. work at the University of Heidelberg, where he graduated in 2015 under the supervision of Dr. Stanislav Tashenov and Prof. José Ramon Crespo López-Urrutia. As a postdoctoral fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics (MPIK) in Heidelberg, Germany, Dr. Shah performed several laboratory measurements using electron beam ion traps (EBITs) and advanced X-ray/UV spectrometers. In 2019, Dr. Shah received a prestigious NASA Postdoctoral Program Fellowship and joined the X-ray microcalorimeter group in code 662 at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. Currently Dr. Shah is working at NASA-Goddard as an Associate Research Scientist through Johns Hopkins University and serves as a Co-Investigator on several NASA-funded projects. Dr. Shah has authored 30 publications, including ten as first author and three as the lead last author. He actively mentors undergraduate and graduate students in their research at NASA Goddard and MPIK.

The LAD Early Career Award includes a cash award, a framed certificate, and an invited lecture by the recipient at a meeting of the Laboratory Astrophysics Division.

Contacts:
Murthy S. Gudipati
LAD Past Chair
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology
+1 (818) 536-9028

Rachel L. Smith
LAD Secretary
North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences /
Department of Physics and Astronomy
Appalachian State University
+1 (919) 707-8239

Chintan Shah
Department of Physics and Astronomy, Johns Hopkins University &
NASA/GSFC
Mail Code 662
Greenbelt, MD 20771

+1 (301) 286-2666

The AAS Laboratory Astrophysics Division (LAD) advances our understanding of the Universe through the promotion of fundamental theoretical and experimental research into the underlying processes that drive the cosmos, in collaboration with astronomical observations and other complementary fields.

The American Astronomical Society (AAS), established in 1899 and based in Washington, DC, is the major organization of professional astronomers in North America. The mission of the AAS is to enhance and share humanity’s scientific understanding of the universe.