Ma Chung-pei facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Ma Chung-Pei
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| 馬中珮 | |
| Born | |
| Alma mater | Massachusetts Institute of Technology (BS, PhD) |
| Awards | Member of the National Academy of Sciences Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science Fellow of the American Physical Society Fellow of the American Astronomical Society Sloan Research Fellowship Simons Foundation fellow Annie Jump Cannon Award in Astronomy Maria Goeppert-Mayer Award |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Cosmology, astrophysics |
| Institutions | University of California, Berkeley |
Ma Chung-Pei (Chinese: 馬中珮; pinyin: Mǎ Zhōngpèi) is a scientist from Taiwan and America. She is an astrophysicist and cosmologist. This means she studies space, stars, and how the universe began and changed. She is a professor at the University of California, Berkeley. From 2011 to 2016, she led teams that found some of the biggest black holes known.
Contents
About Ma Chung-Pei
Ma Chung-Pei was born in Taiwan. She started playing the violin when she was four years old. When she was 16, she won a national violin competition in Taiwan.
Education and Early Career
She went to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). There, she earned her first degree in physics in 1987. She then got her Ph.D. in physics from MIT in 1993. For her Ph.D., she studied theoretical cosmology and particle physics. These are advanced topics about the universe and tiny particles. Even while studying science, she continued her violin lessons.
After MIT, Dr. Ma worked at the California Institute of Technology from 1993 to 1996. Then, she became a professor at the University of Pennsylvania. While teaching there, she won an award for being an excellent teacher. In 2001, she became a professor of astronomy at the University of California, Berkeley.
Discoveries and Research
Dr. Ma's research focuses on big questions about the universe. She studies the large-scale structure of the universe, which is how galaxies and clusters of galaxies are arranged. She also researches dark matter, a mysterious substance that we cannot see but makes up a lot of the universe. Another area of her work is the cosmic microwave background. This is leftover radiation from the Big Bang, the event that started our universe.
One of her most famous achievements was leading the teams that found the largest known black holes. These discoveries happened between 2011 and 2016. Black holes are areas in space where gravity is so strong that nothing, not even light, can escape.
Dr. Ma also worked as a scientific editor for The Astrophysical Journal. This is an important magazine where scientists publish their research about space.
Awards and Honors
Dr. Ma Chung-Pei has received many awards for her important work.
- 1997 – Annie Jump Cannon Award in Astronomy (from the American Astronomical Society)
- 1999 – Sloan Research Fellowship
- 2003 – Maria Goeppert-Mayer Award (from the American Physical Society)
- 2009 – Named a Fellow of the American Physical Society
- 2012 – Named a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science
- 2012 – Named a Simons Foundation Fellow
- 2020 – Became a Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
- 2022 – Named a Fellow of the American Astronomical Society
- 2022 – Became a Member of the National Academy of Sciences
- 2024 – Became an Academician of Academia Sinica
See also
In Spanish: Ma Chung-pei para niños
