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University of Wisconsin Oshkosh Professor Nadia Kaltcheva, of the department of physics and astronomy, is the winner of the Duncan Research Award for 2011.

Kaltcheva came to UW Oshkosh in 2001 and was promoted in 2010 to the rank of professor. She received her Ph.D. at the State University of Sofia, Bulgaria in 1994, and spent seven years working there as assistant professor of astronomy. She also held post-doctoral research fellowships during this period at the University of St. Andrews, Scotland and the Niels Bohr Institute in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Kaltcheva’s research entails measuring distances to stars in space. The work is time-consuming and tedious, but fundamental and very important to astronomy. At UW Oshkosh, her research has been supported through many faculty development research grants, a Vander Putten grant, a UW System Space Consortium grant, and a National Science Foundation grant.

She has published at least one paper in refereed journals each year that she has been at the University, including four papers in the highly respected journal Astronomy and Astrophysics. She has collaborated on research with eight UW Oshkosh undergraduate students who have made sixteen presentations of their research at meetings. In 2009, Kaltcheva was selected by UW Oshkosh as the SNC Endowed Professor of International Relations.

The Duncan Research Award was established in 1970, in honor of physics Professor James F. Duncan, who held several administrative positions at UW Oshkosh including serving as physics department chair. He retired in 1970 and died in 1990.

The Duncan Fund has provided research awards in excess of $38,000 to many faculty members in the science departments at UW Oshkosh. This year’s award of $1,000 depletes the fund and is the last Duncan Research Award that will be given.

William N. Mode, geology department, submitted this announcement. Faculty, staff and students are encouraged to contribute calendar items, campus announcements and other good news to UW Oshkosh Today.