Armagh astronomer receives two-million-euro EU grant to study first stars after the Big Bang

The Independent reported that Professor Jorick Vink, an astronomer at Armagh Observatory and Planetarium, received a European Research Council Advanced Grant of two million euro. The award funds research into what ended the universe’s Cosmic Dark Ages and ignited the first stars after the Big Bang.

The grant will create up to eight new research positions at the observatory over the project period.

It forms part of the EU’s Horizon Europe programme and targets ambitious projects by senior researchers. ” His work examines how stellar winds shaped massive stars and why stars and black holes were likely more massive in the early universe. The project also explores the origin of chemical elements that form life, including oxygen, iron, nitrogen and carbon.

The earliest stars are believed to have been much larger than the sun, with brightness that flooded the universe with light now observable by the Hubble Space Telescope and the James Webb Telescope. Professor Vink has been based at the observatory for 17 years after moving from the Netherlands.

The award follows Professor Vink’s recent appointment as vice president of the Royal Astronomical Society and a separate announcement of major investment at the site to build a new science and discovery centre.

Professor Vink said the observatory “will be transformed” over the next couple of years. He noted that ERC grants carry cultural value because humans seek to understand their origins, alongside benefits for science and the economy.