Marta Burgay

Marta Burgay is an Italian radio astronomer. Her initial claim to fame was being the discoverer of PSR J0737-3039, the first double pulsar, through using the 64-metre Parkes [radio telescope] in Australia.

Education

In 1995, she graduated from Liceo Classico XVI Febbraio: Aosta, specialising in classical studies.
In 2000, she graduated from University of Bologna with a Laurea degree in Astronomy.
In 2004 she obtained her Ph.D. in Astronomy from the University of Bologna.

Her thesis on radio pulsars won the 2005 Pietro Tacchini Prize, awarded by the Italian Astronomical Society for the best Ph.D. thesis.
In 2005, she was part of the international group PulSE awarded the Descartes Prize for "Excellence in collaborative scientific research"
In 2006, she became the first winner of the IUPAP's Young Scientists Prize in Astrophysics award.
In 2006, she was awarded the SIGRAV prize for contribution to General Relativity and Gravitational Astrophysics.
In 2010, she was honoured with the Vainu Bappu Gold Medal by the Astronomical Society of India.
Asteroid 198634 Burgaymarta, discovered at Vallemare di Borbona in 2005, was named in her honour.The official was published by the Minor Planet Center on 5 October 2017.
In 2011, she was awarded the Marisa Bellisario prize, entitled "Women, Innovation, and Human Capital".