TAP Lectureships
The TAP Lectureship series features visiting theorists who are experts in one of six key TAP Initiative research areas: Computation and Data, Cosmology, Dynamics, Gravity, Planet Formation, and Plasma Physics. The TAP Initiatives are designed to enable interdisciplinary conversations among theorists, observers, and experimentalists on these topics.
Upcoming Lectureships
Spring 2026 Lectures
Oryna Ivashtenko, Weizmann Institute of Science
Origins Seminar / TAP Planet Formation Initiative Special Talk
January 12, 2026
Noon - 1:00 pm
Title: Reliable Detection of Small Long-period Planets in Kepler Data
Roger Blandford, Stanford University
TAP Gravity Initiative Lecture
Visit dates: January 20-23, 2026
Lecture: January 21, 2026
2:00 - 3:00 pm
Title: Black Hole Binaries, Large and Small
Muni Zhou, Dartmouth College
TAP Plasma Physics Initiative Lecture
Visit Dates: March 15-21, 2026
Lecture: March 16, 2026
3:30 - 4:30 pm
Title: Magnetogenesis in a Collisionless Plasma
Munan Gong, University of Texas at El Paso
TAP Dynamics Initiative Special Talk
Visit Dates: March 24-25, 2026
Special Talk: March 24, 2026
1:00 - 2:00 pm
Title: Integrating Thermodynamics and Chemistry with MHD: Insights on Shocks in Circumbinary Disks and the Cosmic-ray Ionzation Rate in Diffuse Molecular Clouds
Dalya Baron, Stanford University
SO/NSF NOIRLab Joint Colloquium / TAP Computation & Data Initiative Lecture
Visit Dates: March 25-28, 2026
Lecture: March 26, 2026
3:30 - 4:30 pm
Title: From Data to Insight: Machine-assisted Discoveries in the Big Data Era in Astronomy
Ravi Sheth, University of Pennsylvania
TAP Cosmology Initiative Lecture
Visit Dates: May 10-23, 2026
Lecture: May 11, 2026
3:30 - 4:30 pm
Title: Back to the Future: Optimal Transport Untangling of the Cosmic Web
Ekta Patel, Villanova University
TAP Dynamics Initiative Lecture
Visit Dates: May 26-30, 2026
Lecture: May 27, 2026
2:30 - 3:30 pm
Title: Assembling Andromeda: What Orbital Dynamics Reveal About the M31 System
Previous Lectureships
Fall 2025 Lectures
Joana Kramer, Los Alamos National Laboratory
Computation & Data Initiative
Visit Dates: September 28 - October 2, 2025
Lecture: September 29th
Computational Workshops: 2 Sessions - Sep 30 & Oct 1 - both at 10-11am
Host: Chi-kwan Chan
Cristiano Longarini, Cambridge University
Planet Formation Initiative
Visit Dates: September 29 - October 10, 2025
Lecture/Colloquium: October 6th
Computational Workshop: October 7th
Host: Kaitlin Kratter
David Minton, Purdue University
Planet Formation Initiative
Visit Dates: October 19 - October 24, 2025
Lecture/Colloquium: October 20th
Computational Workshops: 2 Workshops, October 21 and 22, 11am-1pm
Host: Erik Asphaug
Caroline Piaulet-Ghorayeb, University of Chicago
Planetary Atmospheres Initiative
Visit Dates: October 26 - October 30, 2025
Lecture: October 27
Computational Workshop: October 28
Host: Brittany Miles
Peter McGill, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Computation & Data Initiative
SPECIAL SEMINAR
Visit Dates: November 23-26, 2025
Seminar: Nov 24
Host: Daniel Apai
Spring 2025 Lectures
Xianzhe Jia, University of Michigan
Plasma Physics Initiative
Visit Dates: March 3-6, 2025
Title: Extended MHD and Coupled Fluid-Kinetic Simulations of Planetary Magnetospheres: Applications to Mercury and Ganymede
Daniel Tamayo, Harvey Mudd College
Dynamics Initiative
Visit Dates: March 17-20, 2025
Title: Toward a Theory of How Chaos Drives Dynamical Instabilities and Shapes Compact Exoplanet Systems
Yixin Wang, University of Michigan
Computation & Data Initiative
Visit Dates: April 4 - 10, 2025
Talk Title: Representation Learning: A Casual Perspective
Fred Adams, University of Michigan
Planet Formation Initiative
Visit Dates: April 21 - 27, 2025
Talk Title: Revisiting the Core Accretion Paradigm for Giant Planet Formation: Analytic Framework for the Late Infall Stage and the Distribution of Planetary Masses
Carolina Cuesta-Lazaro, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Cosmology Initiative
Visit Dates: April 27-May 6
Title: Beyond the Observable: A Machine Learning perspective on modern Cosmology
Fall 2025 Lectures
Luis Lehner, Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics
Gravity Initiative
Visit Dates: October 7-11, 2024
Title: Inquiring Through Black Holes
Nicholas Wogan, NASA Ames Research Center
Planet Formation Initiative
Visit Dates: November 4-8, 2024
Title: The Photochemistry and Climate of Foreign Atmospheres: Implications for the Origin of Life on Early Earth and Understanding Exoplanets Observed by the James Webb Space Telescope
Anna Tenerani, University of Colorado, Boulder
Plasma Physics Initiative
Visit Dates: December 2-6, 2024
Title: Coronal Heating and Solar Wind Acceleration: What are we Learning from Parker Solar Probe?
Spring 2024 Lectures
Monica Valluri, University of Michigan
Dynamics Initiative
Visit Dates: May 14-24, 2024
Title: Some New Ways to Probe the Nature of Dark Matter with Tidal Streams
No Recording Available
George Wong, Institute for Advanced Study
Computation & Data Initiative
Visit Dates: April 15-26, 2024
Title: The Next Generation of Horizon-Scale Black Hole Accretion Science
Aaron Zimmerman, University of Texas at Austin
Gravity Initiative
Visit Dates: March 21-30, 2024
Title: Gravitational Waves and Searching for the Unexpected
Kedron Silsbee, University of Texas at El Paso
Planet Formation Initiative
Visit Dates: March 11-15, 2024
Title: Growth, Drift and Pile-up of Planetesimals in Binary Systems
No Recording Available
Neal Dalal, Perimeter Institute of Theoretical Physics
Cosmology & Gravity Initiatives
Visit Dates: February 14-22, 2024
Title: AGN HBT OMG
No Recording Available
Fall 2023 Lectures
Thaddeus Komacek, University of Maryland
Planet Formation Initiative
Visit Dates: October 16 - 27, 2023
Title: Characterizing the Three-dimensional Nature of Hot Gas Giant Exoplanets in the Era of JWST
Jason Tenbarge, Princeton University
Plasma Physics Initiative
Visit Dates: September 25-29, 2023
Title: New Perspectives on Diagnosing Electron Energization in Magnetic Reconnection
| Name | Affiliation | Initiative | Dates |
|---|---|---|---|
| Martin Pessah | Niels Bohr Institute | Computation & Data | March 13-17, 2023 |
| Kazumasa Ohno | Unviersity of California Santa Cruz | Planet Formation | January 12-14, 2023 |