Two neutron stars (as luminous orbs) merging together, with a vertical jet produced between them.

Artist’s impression of two neutron stars at the point at which they merge and explode as a kilonova, an event which produces both gravitational waves and a short gamma-ray burst. Image credit: University of Warwick/Mark Garlick.

Published

3 Dec 2025

International award for outstanding collaboration on the Universe’s heaviest elements

Professor Stephen Smartt, from Oxford University’s Department of Physics, is part of an international collaboration that has been recognised with the inaugural Into Change Award by the Danish Ministry of Higher Education and Science. These awards honour outstanding European research groups whose work drives scientific breakthroughs, benefits society, and reflects core values such as curiosity, collaboration and openness.

Professor Stephen Smartt.

The award recognises the achievements of the ENGRAVE (Electromagnetic counterparts of gravitational wave sources at the Very Large Telescope) collaboration in tracing the origins of the Universe’s heaviest elements, forged in the aftermath of supernova explosions. In doing so, it has helped uncover the very building blocks of our existence. The award celebrates ENGRAVE as a model of scientific excellence and collaboration, particularly for its joint European coordination of telescopes and data, open science approach, and active involvement of young researchers.

Many of the elements in the periodic table are forged in supernova explosions but the origin of the heaviest elements, those beyond iron, has been debated for over 70 years. These elements make up two-thirds of the periodic table including the precious metals, rare earths, and the fundamental elements that form our planet and our bodies.

In 2017, Professor Smartt (then at Queen’s University Belfast) was part of a team behind a historic breakthrough which demonstrated that heavy elements such as gold, platinum and uranium were formed during the merger of two neutron stars, one of the most extreme events in the Universe. This means that rare cosmic mergers were the original factories of the heavy elements. The merging neutron system was detected in gravitational waves.

ENGRAVE was established in early 2018 to bring together astronomers, physicists, and cosmologists to build upon this discovery and search for more neutron star mergers. The goal of the collaboration was to document how these cosmic explosions create heavy elements through the so-called r-process: a rapid neutron-capture synthesis that occurs when a star collapses in a supernova explosion. To do this, the ENGRAVE collaboration has used data from the Hubble Space Telescope, the James Webb Space Telescope and radio facilities such as ALMA.

This is a new era of multi-messenger astronomy, where gravitational waves and light together help us to answer fundamental questions about our Universe and who we are; through ENGRAVE, we have demonstrated what we can achieve with European collaboration.
Professor Stephen Smartt, Department of Physics, Oxford University

Professor Smartt was one of the founding members of the ENGRAVE collaboration and the first Chair of the Governing Council. In September 2022, Professor Smartt joined Oxford University as Wetton Professor of Astrophysics and the Director of the Hintze Centre for Astrophysical Surveys.

Professor Smartt said: ‘It is fantastic to receive this award. I am very proud of the European community coming together in 2018 to combine their talents and deciding to work together on these rare sources – rather than compete for telescope time. It has been wonderful to see the younger scientists in the team enthusiastically work together, constantly sharing ideas and responding to new data in real time. There is real energy and insight from the team whenever we respond to a gravitational wave alert.’

‘This is a new era of multi-messenger astronomy, where gravitational waves and light together help us to answer fundamental questions about our Universe and who we are; through ENGRAVE, we have demonstrated what we can achieve with European collaboration.’

The Into Change Award comes with a prize money of 8 million Danish kroner (about 1 million euro). The 2025 Award was made possible through generous contributions from the Carlsberg Foundation, the Novo Nordisk Foundation and the Villum Foundation. It will be presented on December 15, 2025 at the Copenhagen Opera House.

Further information can be found on the ENGRAVE website

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