Two graduate students from RIT receive prestigious NASA funding to pursue groundbreaking astrophysics research

Rochester, New York – In a major achievement that highlights the strength of its astrophysics program, Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) is celebrating the success of two graduate students who have been awarded highly competitive NASA research grants.

Allen Wen and Sadie Coffin, both Ph.D. students in RIT’s astrophysics programs, were named recipients of NASA’s FINESST award — the Future Investigators in NASA Earth and Space Science and Technology program. Their projects were two of only 24 proposals selected in the astrophysics category from a total of 456 submissions nationwide.

Wen’s work focuses on simulating the multiwavelength signals emitted during binary neutron star mergers, while Coffin’s project uses citizen science to identify galaxy pairs hidden in vast amounts of astronomical data. Each award provides $50,000 annually for up to three years to support their groundbreaking research. More notably, the FINESST program requires that student applicants be the primary author of the research proposals — a mark of academic independence and rigor.

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With this success, RIT becomes one of only two institutions in the country to have multiple awardees in the astrophysics category this year — and impressively, the two winners hail from separate research centers within the university. Wen is based in the Center for Computational Relativity and Gravitation, while Coffin works within the Laboratory for Multiwavelength Astrophysics.

“It speaks to the emphasis on excellence that we have in the program,” said Professor Yosef Zlochower, Wen’s advisor. “It’s unusual to get one student winning. Two is quite remarkable.”

Wen’s research builds on a 2017 scientific milestone — the first detection of both gravitational waves and light from a single cosmic event involving the merger of two neutron stars. That event opened a new era in multi-messenger astronomy, but also left behind plenty of unanswered questions. Wen plans to create large-scale simulations to explore why the light signals from such mergers look the way they do, what mechanisms produce them, and how various factors influence the electromagnetic signatures we detect from Earth.

“We have a very open and collaborative environment,” Wen explained. “I could get help from other grad students, junior researchers, and professors and get all sorts of feedback. The collaboration helps in both writing this one proposal and in day-to-day research, as well.”

Wen credits his research group’s supportive dynamic as a critical part of his success — a hallmark of RIT’s graduate research ecosystem.

Meanwhile, on a very different front in astrophysics, Sadie Coffin is tackling a problem that is growing as fast as the universe itself — the overwhelming volume of astronomical data.

Under the guidance of Associate Professor Jeyhan Kartaltepe, Coffin is leading the Redshift Wrangler project, a citizen science initiative aimed at identifying distant galaxy pairs using spectroscopic data. With astronomical surveys producing millions of new observations in the coming years, scientists are turning to volunteers for help sifting through the digital haystacks.

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“We have this problem that the spectra we have right now are somewhat manageable, but over the next several years, we’re going to be inundated because there will be a lot of instruments providing millions of spectra,” said Kartaltepe. “Nobody will be able to look at every single object anymore. Projects like this where you can crowdsource some of the measurements can be really useful.”

Citizen scientists participating in the Redshift Wrangler project receive training and contribute to classifying and analyzing galaxy interactions, helping Coffin and her team build a much larger and more diverse dataset than traditional methods alone could achieve.

“I’m really excited about making science more open,” said Coffin. “We welcome anyone to be a part of our scientific research. We benefit from diverse perspectives. It’s fun to see the different paths to studying these big questions about the universe.”

Beyond supporting her personal research goals, the FINESST award will also help Coffin expand public participation in high-level astrophysics and create more opportunities for people around the world to engage in real science.

Together, Wen and Coffin’s accomplishments reflect not only their individual brilliance and dedication, but also the strength of RIT’s interdisciplinary approach to space science.

“These are two different types of projects, and yet both show innovation, curiosity, and a drive to push the boundaries of what we know,” said a university spokesperson. “It’s exciting to see RIT students at the forefront of NASA’s research priorities.”

With their NASA-funded research underway, both students are now positioned to make significant contributions to our understanding of the universe — whether by modeling the light from some of the most violent cosmic events imaginable, or by inviting everyday people to help map the distant reaches of space.

As the pace of discovery accelerates and the volume of astronomical data continues to expand, researchers like Wen and Coffin are showing that the future of space science will be shaped not only by cutting-edge technology, but by collaboration, creativity, and community.