Kimberly Boddy Named a Sloan Research Fellow

Kimberly Boddy, an assistant professor of physics at The University of Texas at Austin, has been named a 2026 Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellow, one of the most competitive honors for early‑career researchers in the United States and Canada.

Each year, the Sloan Foundation selects fellows whose creativity, independent research and potential for leadership set them apart within their fields. The fellowship is among the most respected awards available to rising scholars.

“The Sloan Research Fellows are among the most promising early-career researchers in the U.S. and Canada, already driving meaningful progress in their respective disciplines,” says Stacie Bloom, president and chief executive officer of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. “We look forward to seeing how these exceptional scholars continue to unlock new scientific advancements, redefine their fields and foster the well-being and knowledge of all.”

Boddy conducts research in UT’s Weinberg Institute for Theoretical Physics and is a member of the Texas Center for Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics. A theoretical physicist, she works across cosmology, astrophysics and particle physics to explore the fundamental properties of our Universe by analyzing astronomical observations.
 

Boddy’s research areas include dark matter, cosmological structure formation and gravitational waves. She earned her doctoral degree from the California Institute of Technology and her bachelor’s of science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Past fellows have gone on to receive many of the top prizes in science, including Nobel Prizes and National Medals of Science. This year’s cohort includes 126 scholars from 44 institutions across the United States and Canada, selected from among more than 1,000 scholars nominated by their peers. Winners receive a two-year, $75,000 fellowship which can be used flexibly to advance research.