Astrophysicist Jocelyn Bell Burnell receives UCD Ulysses Medal

Astrophysicist Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell has been awarded the UCD Ulysses Medal in recognition of her outstanding scientific achievements and commitment to developing future researchers.

The Ulysses Medal, presented by University College Dublin, honours individuals who have made contributions of immense global importance. Past recipients include author Margaret Atwood, former President Mary McAleese and AI pioneer Prof Geoffrey Hinton.

Born and raised in Northern Ireland, Bell Burnell was one of only three girls studying science at her secondary school, later topping her class in physics before attending the University of Glasgow and then Cambridge for her PhD.

At Cambridge she helped develop a radio telescope and identified the first pulsar, a discovery that later earned a Nobel Prize in Physics for her supervisor Antony Hewish and colleague Martin Ryle, while she was excluded from the award.

In 2018 she donated £2.3 million from the Special Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics to establish the Bell Burnell Graduate Scholarship Fund, supporting students from under‑represented backgrounds. Prof Lorraine Hanlon of UCD praised Bell Burnell’s “peerless” advocacy for curiosity‑driven research, equity and global science diplomacy.

Source: Silicon Republic. Photo: Helena Jankovičová Kováčová / Pexels.