No one can deny that 2025 has been a whirlwind of a year! Between Astronomy on Tap, the Dunlap Summer School, incredible celestial events and astronomical discoveries, there was certainly enough to keep us busy. Happy holidays from all of us at the Dunlap Institute, and all the best in 2026!

📣 Applications are open for the Summer Undergraduate Research Program (SURP), which runs from May to August! This is a great opportunity for undergraduate students to prepare for a career in scientific research. Apply by Jan. 30! To learn more & apply: https://www.dunlap.utoronto.ca/training/surp/

📣 Applications are now open for the 2026 Dunlap Institute Summer School, which this year will have a focus on optical astronomy! Summer School dates: July 20-24, 2026 Application deadline: January 30, 2026 Learn more and apply at www.dunlap.utoronto.ca/training/sum...

Meet our third speaker, Alicia Savelli! At #AstronomyonTapTO, she will be telling us about how you can see a black hole! ⚫ Join Alicia, Mairead, and Simran next week at The Great Hall Toronto on November 21st! More info: https://www.facebook.com/share/1CqzNYxZDk/

Join us at The Great Hall on November 21st for #AstronomyonTapTO, where our second speaker, Mairead Heiger, will tell us about where (some of) the elements come from! Learn more at https://www.facebook.com/share/1CqzNYxZDk/

Welcome to Prof. Sara Seager, who is joining CITA this September! She will be cross-appointed with the David A. Dunlap Department for Astronomy & Astrophysics, the Departments of Physics and Chemistry, with funding from the Dunlap Institute for Astronomy & Astrophysics. https://uoft.me/saraseager

New constellation of academic stars headed to #UofT. Innovation scholar Jacquelyn Pless, economist Mark Duggan & astrophysicist Sara Seager will join the university next year ➡️ uoft.me/bZu

📣 We're hiring! Seeking a postdoctoral researcher to work on scientific and technical problems related to the Polarization Sky Survey of the Universe’s Magnetism (POSSUM), a new wide-field polarimetry survey on the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP). https://uoft.me/postdocradiopol

Meet our first speaker for #AstronomyonTapTO on Nov. 21! Simran Nerval will be giving a talk about how we can learn about the Universe from the oldest light we can see! See https://www.facebook.com/share/1CqzNYxZDk/#AstronomyonTapTOfor more details!

Congratulations to Prof. Renée Hložek who was awarded the #NSERC Arthur B. McDonald Fellowship at a ceremony in Ottawa yesterday! Read more about Prof. Hložek and the award here: https://www.dunlap.utoronto.ca/professor-renee-hlozek-awarded-2025-arthur-b-mcdonald-fellowship/

✨Happy 15th anniversary to Dunlap Institute Director Suresh Sivanandam!✨ On October 25, 2010, Suresh started as a Dunlap Fellow at the Institute, was hired as an assistant professor in July, 2015, and took up the mantle of director in January, 2024. Congratulations for 15 years with the Institute!

Congratulations to Aishani Chaudhuri for winning this year's Mercedes T. Richards Award for Excellence in Summer Undergraduate Research! Read more: https://www.dunlap.utoronto.ca/utsc-astronomy-student-is-the-2025-mercedes-t-richards-award-for-excellence-in-summer-undergraduate-research-recipient/

Dr. Hannah Diamond-Lowe joins AstroTours this month for their annual Keynote Lecture to talk about planets detected by JWST! Stick around for tours and activities after the talk! 🗓️: Oct. 23 ⏰: 7 PM 📍: Rm. 1050, 22 Ursula Franklin st. 💸: Free and no registration! More info: UofT.me/AstroTours

CHORD is the next-generation radio telescope that will leverage Canadian astronomical leadership to unveil the mysteries of the cosmos. Details: perimeterinstitute.ca/news/chord-w... @dunlapinstitute.bsky.social @mcgillscience.bsky.social

📣 New research alert! An international collaboration of astronomers, including members from the University of Toronto, have detected the brightest Fast Radio Burst (FRB) to date, and using the network of CHIME Outrigger telescopes, have been able to pinpoint its location in a nearby galaxy.

This year's Steacie Prize lecture features Prof. Jo Bovy who will delve into the new view of the Milky Way—complex, dynamic, and very much in the process of evolving—and what it implies about galaxy formation, galaxy evolution, and the nature of dark matter.

Professor Emeritus John Percy explores the question of whether or not life can exist on other worlds in his talk next week at the Runnymede @torontolibrary branch! Date: Wednesday April 16 Time: 2 - 3:30pm Location: Runnymede Toronto Public Library, 2178 Bloor Street West

✨Learn about the first stars in the universe at tomorrow night's AstroTour with PhD candidate Sam Berek! This free lecture will be followed by telescope and lab tours, and hands-on demos. - Thu Apr 3, Lecture at 8-9pm, demos and tours at 9-10pm - Rm 102, 60 St. George st www.astro.utoronto.c...

Join us for #AstronomyOnTapTO this Friday, March 14 at The Great Hall in Toronto! We hope to see you there! For more information: www.facebook.com/sha...