Caltech associate professor of astronomy Kareem El-Badry has been selected as one of 20 Packard Fellows for 2026. The fellowship gives early-career researchers just under $990,000 in unrestricted support over five years, with money that can be directed to equipment, team members, travel, or child care as research demands evolve.
Key facts
- El-Badry is an associate professor of astronomy at Caltech.
- He was chosen as one of 20 Packard Fellows for 2026.
- The Packard Fellowships provide just under $990,000 in unrestricted funds over five years.
- His research focuses on hidden populations of black holes and neutron stars.
- He will use new data from Gaia and NASA missions including SPHEREx, the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, and UVEX.
What does this mean for students and early-career researchers?
The award strengthens El-Badry’s ability to pursue large-data astronomy projects that can shape training, collaboration, and research opportunities around Caltech and beyond. For early-career researchers, the Packard model is notable because it gives fellows flexibility rather than a tightly specified grant structure.
According to the foundation, fellows decide how to use the funds for research needs such as new equipment, another researcher on the team, conference travel, or child care during the early years of running a lab. That flexibility can matter for graduate students, postdocs, and junior faculty working in data-intensive fields where priorities can shift quickly as new results come in.
- Location: Caltech, in astronomy research tied to data from Gaia and NASA missions.
- Funding window: five years.
- Support level: just under $990,000 in unrestricted funds.
- Practical effect: more room to follow unexpected findings and build a research team.
Why are hidden black holes central to El-Badry’s work?
Black holes are difficult to observe directly, so El-Badry looks for their effects on nearby stars. He uses large-scale survey data, including Gaia, plus targeted spectroscopy to identify stellar motions that reveal unseen companions. That approach has already helped him find the closest-known black hole to Earth, 21 hidden neutron stars orbiting Sun-like stars, and the first-known black hole in a triple-star system.
His broader goal is to use the masses, velocities, and companions of hidden compact objects to reconstruct how massive stars live and die. In his own words, those dead stars form a “stellar graveyard” of black holes and neutron stars.
How did El-Badry learn about the fellowship?
He learned of the award during a Zoom call arranged by Hirosi Ooguri, the Kent and Joyce Kresa Leadership Chair of Caltech’s Division of Physics, Mathematics and Astronomy. Ooguri had invited El-Badry to discuss his research, but a representative of the Packard Foundation joined the call to deliver the news.
El-Badry said he initially thought the meeting was routine and wondered if he had done something wrong when another person appeared on the call. Ooguri said El-Badry has a strong ability to turn large astronomical datasets into discoveries about stellar evolution.
What comes next for his research?
El-Badry said he is looking ahead to new data from Gaia as well as NASA missions including SPHEREx, the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, and UVEX, where he serves on the team. Those datasets should give him more material for finding and characterizing hidden black holes and neutron stars.
His background includes an undergraduate degree from Yale University, a PhD in astrophysics from UC Berkeley, and postdoctoral research at the Harvard & Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics before joining Caltech. He was also named a Sloan Research Fellow and a MacArthur Fellow in 2025.
