Canadian Astronomical Society
J.S. Plaskett Medal
The Royal Astronomical Society of Canada and the Canadian Astronomical Society have established an award entitled The Plaskett Medal in recognition of the pivotal role played by John Stanley Plaskett in the establishment of astrophysical research in Canada. The award, consisting of a gold medal, is to be made annually to the Ph.D. graduate from a Canadian university who is judged to have submitted the most outstanding doctoral thesis in astronomy or astrophysics within the last two calendar years. The recipient is invited to address one or the other of the sponsoring Societies (at his or her choice) at their Annual Meeting, and to submit an invited article for the Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada (JRASC). The recipient will receive a $750 honorarium and all expenses to attend the meeting will be covered by that Society.
At most one candidate may be nominated by the head of their department from among the graduates of that university. The candidate need not have carried out his/her work in an astronomy or physics department, however, to be considered for the award, the candidate must be a CASCA member in good standing or must have been a CASCA member in good standing for at least two years during their doctoral studies. As part of the internal initial selection process within a department to determine the one candidate to be nominated for the Plaskett Medal, it is recommended to allow and encourage self-nominations.
Nomination Requirements
For consideration for the 2025 award, the department chair (or a faculty member delegated by the department chair to act on their behalf) should send, in pdf format, the following materials to the chair of the Awards Committee:
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A letter of nomination in support of the candidate/thesis (maximum three pages) (see nomination guidelines). Nomination letters should be written in the third person, without reference to nominator identity, and without institutional letterhead or other identifiers. This ensures that self- and non-self nominations are not distinguishable.
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a copy of the thesis;
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a letter of support solicited from the external examiner of the thesis. If a letter from the external examiner can not be obtained, a copy of his/her report of the thesis/defence is acceptable.
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All nomination documents should be in a single PDF document
Note that if the thesis does not clearly indicate how much of its content represents the original work and ideas of the author, this should be addressed in the nomination letter. No other material should be submitted.
Note that the phrase “within the last two calendar years” in the eligibility rules makes it possible to re-nominate a candidate for whom an unsuccessful nomination was made in the preceding year. Because none of the documentation of previous nominations is retained for the use of the current selection committee, all re-nominations should be submitted with full documentation.
2026 Plaskett Medal
CASCA is pleased to announce Dr. Alan Knee as the recipient of the 2026 J.S. Plaskett Medal for the most outstanding doctoral thesis in astronomy or astrophysics. Dr. Knee received his PhD in 2025 under the supervision of Dr. Jess McIver at the University of British Columbia, and is now a postdoctoral researcher at the University Michigan. His thesis, entitled "Searches for novel gravitational-wave sources with ground- and space-based detectors," explores undiscovered gravitational wave sources along diverse fronts, from our own galaxy to the far reaches of the Universe. Knee’s work enables novel insights into the ultra-dense matter of neutron stars, the dynamics of the galactic centre, and the origin of distant LIGO-Virgo sources. Knee’s achievements required building mastery with ground-based and space-based detector instrumentation as well as cutting-edge statistical approaches. In pushing multiple frontiers of disparate gravitational-wave sources, types of detectors, and methodologies, Knee’s PhD thesis is exceptionally broad in the span of its high-impact work. CASCA is delighted to recognize Dr. Knee's achievements with this award.