The Adolph C. and Mary Sprague Newsletter MILLER INSTITUTE Spring 2021 for Basic Research in Science Rewinding the Orbital Histories of INSIDE THIS EDITION Satellite Galaxies Miller Fellow Focus 1, 6, 7 Miller Fellow Focus: Ekta Patel Call for Nominations/Applications 2, 3 Miller Fellowship Awardees 4, 5 ust as the Moon orbits around the JEarth and the Earth orbits around the Next Steps 5 Sun, some galaxies also orbit around one another. My work focuses on local In the News 7 small galaxies (called satellite galaxies) Welcome & Thank You 8 orbiting around larger, more massive host galaxies. Satellite galaxies are espe- cially important because they directly shape the evolutionary pathways of Call for Nominations galaxies like our own Milky Way. Over the course of billions of years, satel- lite galaxies spiral inwards and eventu- Visiting Miller Professorship ally merge into their host galaxy, fueling Departmental Nominations their growth. As a Miller Fellow, I aim to Deadline: September 3, 2021 constrain the orbital histories of local timeline of satellite galaxies around the satellites galaxies to gain crucial insight Milky Way, highlighting that the num- Miller Research Fellowship on the interplay between satellite gal- ber of known Milky Way satellites prior Nominations axies and their host galaxies, which ulti- to the year 2000 was only about a doz- Deadline: September 10, 2021 mately helps build on our understand- en, but then doubled between 2000- ing of hierarchical galaxy formation. 2010 and doubled again between Miller Research Professorship 2010-2020! Applications ur Milky Way is just one of many Deadline: September 14, 2021 Ogalaxies in our galactic neighbor- ome of most recently discovered hood known as the Local Group. The satellite galaxies, the “ultra-faint S "The experience [as a Miller Professor] of be- Local Group also includes Andromeda, dwarf galaxies,” only have stellar masses ing amongst postdoctoral researchers, faculty our neighboring massive spiral galaxy between 100-100,000 times the mass colleagues from across campus, and visiting and the dozens of low mass satellite of the Sun and are thought to be fossils professors who are all asking and answering galaxies orbiting around both the Milky of the first galaxies to form in the Uni- fundamental questions has reminded me of the joy of pure inquiry and the excitement of pur- Way and Andromeda. In total, there verse. For comparison, the stellar mass suing the unknown, partially insulated from the are approximately 60 known satellite of the Milky Way is about ten times normal day-to-day constraints of faculty life. I galaxies of the Milky Way and nearly higher and the total mass of the Milky am grateful to the Miller Institute, the staff, and 35 known satellite galaxies around the Way, including all of the stars, gas, dust, the Miller community as a whole for the lasting impact that my Miller Professorship has had on Andromeda galaxy. However, it was and invisible dark matter amount to me and my lab.” not until very recently that most of nearly one trillion times the mass of the - Dan Fletcher these satellite galaxies were discovered. Sun. Theoretical predictions suggest Figure 1 (page 6) shows the discovery that the Milky Way could host in excess Miller Professor 2019-2020 Bioengineering, UC Berkeley Faculty Scientist, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Investigator, Chan-Zuckerberg Biohub CONTINUED ON PAGE 6 > 1 miller.berkeley.edu The Adolph C. and Mary Sprague Miller Institute for Basic Research in Science Call for Visiting Miller Professor Nominations Online Nomination Deadline: September 3, 2021 Visiting Miller Research Professorship AY 2022-2023 The Advisory Board of the Miller Institute for Basic Research in Science invites Berkeley faculty to submit online departmental nominations for Visiting Miller Research Professorships and the Gabor A. and Judith K. Somorjai Visiting Miller Professorship Award for terms in Fall 2022 or Spring 2023. The purpose of these Visiting Miller Professorships is to bring promising or eminent scientists to the Berkeley campus on a short-term basis for collaborative research interactions. It is required that awardees be in residence at Berkeley during their appointment term. Faculty members or research scientists from around the world are eligible to be consid- ered for sponsorship. Non-US citizens must be eligible for J-1 Scholar visa status in order to be awarded. Faculty members at other UC campuses are eligible to be nominated for this program. The Miller Institute, as the sponsor and administrative department, will extend an invitation after advising the department of its selection. Beginning in June 2021, nominations will be accepted from UC Berkeley faculty for Visiting Professorship candidates for the 2022-2023 academic year. Nominations are judged competitively and are due by September 3, 2021. It is anticipated that be- tween four and ten awards will be made. For more information, and to access the nomination form, visit miller.berkeley.edu/visiting-professorship. Call for Miller Professor Applications Online Application Deadline: September 14, 2021 Miller Research Professorship AY 2022-2023 The Miller Professorship program is looking with a view to the future in announcing the call for applications for terms in the academic year 2022-2023. The objective of the Miller Professorship program is to provide opportunities for faculty to pursue new research directions on the Berkeley campus and to participate in the vibrant Miller Institute interdisciplinary scientific community. Appointees are encouraged to follow promising leads that may develop in the course of their research. In order to accommodate a range of fac- ulty members, the Miller Professorship program offers appointees, in consultation with their Departmental Chair, the option of taking teaching relief or continuing to teach during their Miller Professorship term. Funds will be distributed differently depending upon the choice selected. The primary evaluation criteria will continue to be research excellence. Proposals to write books are not viewed as competitive. Ap- plicants are also encouraged to describe their interest in participating in the Miller Institute community and providing mentorship to the Miller Research Fellows. Beginning in June 2021, applications will be accepted from UC Berkeley faculty for terms in the 2022-2023 academic year. Applica- tions are judged competitively and are due by September 14, 2021. It is anticipated that between four and ten awards will be made. For more information, and to access the application, visit miller.berkeley.edu/professorship. :: Nomination & Application details: miller.berkeley.edu :: Questions? [email protected] 2 miller.berkeley.edu The Adolph C. and Mary Sprague Miller Institute for Basic Research in Science Call for Nominations: Miller Research Fellowship 2022-2025 Term Nomination Deadline: September 10, 2021 he Miller Institute for Basic Research in Science invites department chairs, faculty advisors, professors and research scientists at institu- Ttions around the world to submit nominations for Miller Research Fellowships in the basic sciences. Through this program, the Miller Institute seeks to discover and encourage individuals of outstanding talent, and to provide them with the opportunity to pursue their research on the Berkeley campus. Fellows are selected on the basis of their academic achievement and the promise of their scientific re- search. Miller Fellows also have a keen curiosity about all science and share an appreciation for an interdisciplinary experience. The Miller Institute is the administrative home department for each Miller Fellow who is hosted by an academic department on the Berkeley cam- pus. A list of current and former Miller Research Fellows can be found at: https://miller.berkeley.edu/fellowship/members/all-mf-by-name. he Miller Institute also welcomes nominations for the Kathryn A. Day Miller Postdoctoral Fellowship award for the 2022-2025 Fel- Tlowship cohort. Named in honor of the Institute's retired Chief Administrative Officer Kathy Day, this award is intended for an early career scientist who, in addition to excelling in their pursuit of basic science research, also engages in outreach in support of science. iller Research Fellowships are intended for exceptional young scientists of great promise who have recently been awarded, or who Mare about to be awarded, the doctoral degree. Miller Fellows are expected to begin their Fellowship shortly after being awarded their Ph.D. A short period as a postdoctoral fellow elsewhere does not exclude eligibility, but applicants who have already completed more than two years of postdoctoral experience are not eligible for nomination. A nominee cannot hold a paid or unpaid position on the Berkeley campus at the time of nomination or throughout the competition and award cycle which may extend into February 2022. Nominees who are non-US citizens must show eligibility for obtaining J-1 Scholar visa status for the duration of the Miller Fellowship. Non-US citizens will be required to prove English language proficiency prior to award. The Miller Institute does not support H1B visa status. Eligible nominees will be invited by email by the Institute to apply for the Fellowship after the nomination has been reviewed. Direct applications and self- nominations are not accepted. All nominations must be submitted using the online nomination system at:miller.berkeley.edu/fellowship. Nominators will need the following