{{Short description|British astrophysicist}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2017}} {{Use British English|date=April 2017}} {{Infobox scientist | name = | honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|FRSE|size=100%}} | native_name = | native_name_lang = | image = TEDxUniversityofEdinburgh_-_Catherine_Heymans_(cropped).png | image_size = | image_upright = | alt = | caption = Heymans in 2014 | birth_name = <!-- if different from "name" --> | birth_date = 1978 | birth_place = Hitchin, Hertfordshire, England | fields = Astrophysics | workplaces = University of Edinburgh<br>Max Planck Institute for Astronomy<br>University of British Columbia<br>Institut d'astrophysique de Paris | patrons = | education = | alma_mater = University of Edinburgh (MPhys)<br>University of Oxford (DPhil) | thesis_title = Weak gravitational lensing and intrinsic galaxy alignments | thesis_url = https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:c86f8783-47b1-4cd0-bffa-0bc948b67974 | thesis_year = <!--(or | thesis1_year = and | thesis2_year = )--> | doctoral_advisor = {{Plainlist| * Lance Miller<ref name=heyphd>{{cite thesis|degree=DPhil|publisher=University of Oxford|url=http://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:c86f8783-47b1-4cd0-bffa-0bc948b67974|title=Weak gravitational lensing and intrinsic galaxy alignments|first= Catherine|last=Heymans|date=2003|id={{EThOS|uk.bl.ethos.398117}}|website=ora.ox.ac.uk|oclc=499971959}} {{free access}}</ref>}} | academic_advisors = | doctoral_students = | notable_students = | known_for = Weak gravitational lensing | influences = | influenced = | awards = George Darwin Lectureship (2017) <br> Herschel Medal (2022) | spouse = <!--(or | spouses = )--> | partner = <!--(or | partners = )--> | children = | signature = <!--(filename only)--> | signature_alt = | website = {{URL|www.roe.ac.uk/~heymans}} }}
'''Catherine Elizabeth Heymans''' {{post-nominals|country=GBR|FRSE}} (born 1978) is a British astrophysicist, the Astronomer Royal for Scotland, and a professor at the University of Edinburgh based at the Royal Observatory, Edinburgh.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.roe.ac.uk/~heymans/|title=Catherine Heymans|website=roe.ac.uk|accessdate=9 November 2018}}</ref><ref name="BoyleShanks2000">{{cite journal|last1=Boyle|first1=B. J.|last2=Shanks|first2=T.|last3=Croom|first3=S. M.|last4=Smith|first4=R. J.|last5=Miller|first5=L.|last6=Loaring|first6=N.|last7=Heymans|first7=C.|title=The 2dF QSO Redshift Survey -- I. The optical luminosity function of quasi-stellar objects|journal=Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society|volume=317|issue=4|year=2000|pages=1014–1022|issn=0035-8711|doi=10.1046/j.1365-8711.2000.03730.x|doi-access=free |arxiv=astro-ph/0005368|bibcode=2000MNRAS.317.1014B |s2cid=204924257 }}</ref><ref name="AmendolaAppleby2018">{{cite journal|last1=Amendola|first1=Luca|last2=Appleby|first2=Stephen|last3=Avgoustidis|first3=Anastasios|last4=Bacon|first4=David|last5=Baker|first5=Tessa|last6=Baldi|first6=Marco|last7=Bartolo|first7=Nicola|last8=Blanchard|first8=Alain|last9=Bonvin|first9=Camille|last10=Borgani|first10=Stefano|last11=Branchini|first11=Enzo|last12=Burrage|first12=Clare|last13=Camera|first13=Stefano|last14=Carbone|first14=Carmelita|last15=Casarini|first15=Luciano|last16=Cropper|first16=Mark|last17=de Rham|first17=Claudia|last18=Dietrich|first18=Jörg P.|last19=Di Porto|first19=Cinzia|last20=Durrer|first20=Ruth|last21=Ealet|first21=Anne|last22=Ferreira|first22=Pedro G.|last23=Finelli|first23=Fabio|last24=García-Bellido|first24=Juan|last25=Giannantonio|first25=Tommaso|last26=Guzzo|first26=Luigi|last27=Heavens|first27=Alan|last28=Heisenberg|first28=Lavinia|last29=Heymans|first29=Catherine|last30=Hoekstra|first30=Henk|last31=Hollenstein|first31=Lukas|last32=Holmes|first32=Rory|last33=Hwang|first33=Zhiqi|last34=Jahnke|first34=Knud|last35=Kitching|first35=Thomas D.|last36=Koivisto|first36=Tomi|last37=Kunz|first37=Martin|last38=La Vacca|first38=Giuseppe|last39=Linder|first39=Eric|last40=March|first40=Marisa|last41=Marra|first41=Valerio|last42=Martins|first42=Carlos|last43=Majerotto|first43=Elisabetta|last44=Markovic|first44=Dida|last45=Marsh|first45=David|last46=Marulli|first46=Federico|last47=Massey|first47=Richard|last48=Mellier|first48=Yannick|last49=Montanari|first49=Francesco|last50=Mota|first50=David F.|last51=Nunes|first51=Nelson J.|last52=Percival|first52=Will|last53=Pettorino|first53=Valeria|last54=Porciani|first54=Cristiano|last55=Quercellini|first55=Claudia|last56=Read|first56=Justin|last57=Rinaldi|first57=Massimiliano|last58=Sapone|first58=Domenico|last59=Sawicki|first59=Ignacy|last60=Scaramella|first60=Roberto|last61=Skordis|first61=Constantinos|last62=Simpson|first62=Fergus|last63=Taylor|first63=Andy|last64=Thomas|first64=Shaun|last65=Trotta|first65=Roberto|last66=Verde|first66=Licia|last67=Vernizzi|first67=Filippo|last68=Vollmer|first68=Adrian|last69=Wang|first69=Yun|last70=Weller|first70=Jochen|last71=Zlosnik|first71=Tom|title=Cosmology and fundamental physics with the Euclid satellite|journal=Living Reviews in Relativity|volume=21|issue=1|year=2018|page=2 |issn=2367-3613|doi=10.1007/s41114-017-0010-3|pmid=29674941 |pmc=5897888 |display-authors=5|arxiv=1206.1225|bibcode=2018LRR....21....2A }}</ref><ref name="HeymansVan Waerbeke2006">{{cite journal|last1=Heymans|first1=Catherine|last2=Van Waerbeke|first2=Ludovic|last3=Bacon|first3=David|last4=Berge|first4=Joel|last5=Bernstein|first5=Gary|last6=Bertin|first6=Emmanuel|last7=Bridle|first7=Sarah|last8=Brown|first8=Michael L.|last9=Clowe|first9=Douglas|last10=Dahle|first10=Håkon|last11=Erben|first11=Thomas|last12=Gray|first12=Meghan|last13=Hetterscheidt|first13=Marco|last14=Hoekstra|first14=Henk|last15=Hudelot|first15=Patrick|last16=Jarvis|first16=Mike|last17=Kuijken|first17=Konrad|last18=Margoniner|first18=Vera|last19=Massey|first19=Richard|last20=Mellier|first20=Yannick|last21=Nakajima|first21=Reiko|last22=Refregier|first22=Alexandre|last23=Rhodes|first23=Jason|last24=Schrabback|first24=Tim|last25=Wittman|first25=David|title=The Shear Testing Programme – I. Weak lensing analysis of simulated ground-based observations|journal=Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society|volume=368|issue=3|year=2006|pages=1323–1339|issn=0035-8711|doi=10.1111/j.1365-2966.2006.10198.x|doi-access=free |display-authors=5|arxiv=astro-ph/0506112|bibcode=2006MNRAS.368.1323H |s2cid=16439414 }}</ref>
==Early life== Heymans grew up in Hitchin, Hertfordshire and was educated at Hitchin Girls' School.<ref name="The Comet">{{cite news |last1=Derrick |first1=Maya |title='I never thought I'd get quite this far!' - Professor on Astronomer Royal appointment |url=https://www.thecomet.net/news/prof-heymans-on-astronomer-royal-8017728 |access-date=26 January 2022 |work=The Comet |date=1 June 2021}}</ref><ref name="THE">{{cite news |last1=Matthews |first1=David |title=Interview with Catherine Heymans |url=https://www.timeshighereducation.com/people/interview-catherine-heymans |access-date=26 January 2022 |work=Times Higher Education' |date=3 January 2019}}</ref>
She received a first class Master of Physics (MPhys) degree from the University of Edinburgh in 2000. In 2003, she received her doctorate from the University of Oxford for research, supervised by Lance Miller, and in collaboration with Alan Heavens, on gravitational lensing.<ref name=heyphd/>
==Career and research== She won a series of fellowships at the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, the University of British Columbia, the Institut d'astrophysique de Paris and the University of Edinburgh.{{clarify|date=November 2018}} In 2009 she was awarded a starting grant from the European Research Council (ERC) and was subsequently appointed a lecturer at the University of Edinburgh.
Heymans is best known for her work on using the technique of cosmic weak gravitational lensing to learn more about the Universe. She led the Shear Testing Programme STEP1 competition<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.roe.ac.uk/~heymans/step/cosmic_shear_test.html |title=STEP: Shear TEsting Programme |website=roe.ac.uk |date=2007-12-05 |accessdate=2012-10-22}}</ref> and co-leads the lensing collaboration of the Canada–France–Hawaii Telescope Legacy Survey: CFHTLenS.<ref name="HeymansVan Waerbeke2012">{{cite journal|last1=Heymans|first1=Catherine|last2=Van Waerbeke|first2=Ludovic|last3=Miller|first3=Lance|last4=Erben|first4=Thomas|last5=Hildebrandt|first5=Hendrik|last6=Hoekstra|first6=Henk|last7=Kitching|first7=Thomas D.|last8=Mellier|first8=Yannick|last9=Simon|first9=Patrick|last10=Bonnett|first10=Christopher|last11=Coupon|first11=Jean|last12=Fu|first12=Liping|last13=Harnois-Déraps|first13=Joachim|last14=Hudson|first14=Michael J.|last15=Kilbinger|first15=Martin|last16=Kuijken|first16=Koenraad|last17=Rowe|first17=Barnaby|last18=Schrabback|first18=Tim|last19=Semboloni|first19=Elisabetta|last20=van Uitert|first20=Edo|last21=Vafaei|first21=Sanaz|last22=Velander|first22=Malin|display-authors=5|title=CFHTLenS: the Canada–France–Hawaii Telescope Lensing Survey|journal=Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society|volume=427|issue=1|year=2012|pages=146–166|issn=0035-8711|doi=10.1111/j.1365-2966.2012.21952.x|doi-access=free |arxiv=1210.0032|bibcode=2012MNRAS.427..146H |s2cid=24731530 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cfht.hawaii.edu/en/news/CFHTLens/ |title=News CFHT - Astronomers reach new frontiers of dark matter |website=cfht.hawaii.edu |date= |accessdate=2012-10-22}}</ref>
Heymans is one of the leaders of the European Southern Observatory (ESO) project Kilo-Degree Survey (KiDS). In 2018 she was presented with the Max Planck-Humboldt Research Award, which is worth €1.5 million and financed by funds from the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). The award is presented jointly by the Max Planck Society and the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.mpg.de/12407860/max-planck-humboldt-research-award-for-catherine-heymans?c=2249|title=Max Planck-Humboldt Research Award for Catherine Heymans|website=mpg.de|language=en|access-date=2019-12-17}}</ref> The award will be used to establish the German Centre for Cosmological Lensing at the Ruhr University Bochum.<ref>[https://gccl-rub.github.io/index Homepage of the German Center for Cosmological Lensing at Ruhr University Bochum]</ref><ref>[https://news.rub.de/leute/2019-08-09-forschungspreis-britische-wissenschaftlerin-will-die-dunkle-materie-verstehen Britische Wissenschaftlerin will die dunkle Materie verstehen, Press release RUB, August 2019]</ref>
Heymans teaches on the Massive open online course (MOOC) at Coursera on ''AstroTech: The Science and Technology behind Astronomical Discovery''.<ref name=mooc>{{cite web|url=https://www.coursera.org/learn/astronomy-technology|website=coursera.org|title=AstroTech: The Science and Technology behind Astronomical Discovery}}</ref> Her research has been funded by the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC).<ref name=ukri>{{cite web|title=UK government research grants awarded to Catherine Heymans|publisher= United Kingdom Research and Innovation|website=ukri.org|location=Swindon|author=Anon|year=2018|archivedate=2018-11-12|url=https://gtr.ukri.org/person/7BF33D2D-B87B-4D10-B916-14ED6525AF7A|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20181112095312/https://gtr.ukri.org/person/7BF33D2D-B87B-4D10-B916-14ED6525AF7A}}</ref>
===Awards and honours=== Heymans was awarded the George Darwin Lectureship by the Royal Astronomical Society in 2017.<ref name="ras">{{Cite news|url=https://live.newscientist.com/speakers/catherine-heymans|title=Catherine Heymans|work=New Scientist Live 2018|access-date=2018-11-08|language=en-GB|archive-date=8 November 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181108144455/https://live.newscientist.com/speakers/catherine-heymans|url-status=dead}}</ref> In 2018 she was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.rse.org.uk/fellow/catherine-heymans/|title=Professor Catherine Heymans FRSE |publisher=Royal Society of Edinburgh|access-date=2018-03-14|language=en-GB|website=rse.org.uk}}</ref>
In May 2021, she was the first woman appointed as the Astronomer Royal for Scotland, and the 11th person to hold the post.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2021-05-27|title=Dark universe expert first female Astronomer Royal for Scotland|url=https://news.stv.tv/scotland/dark-universe-expert-first-female-astronomer-royal-for-scotland|access-date=2021-05-27|website=STV News|language=en-GB}}</ref>
==Personal life== Heymans has a partner and three children. Her partner volunteered to do the major part of the childcare. In March 2022, she contracted long COVID. In May 2023, she was suffering from long Covid, but had been able to continue some research activities by working in half-hour spurts.<ref>{{Cite news | author = Alex Blasdel | title = The dark universe: can a scientist battling long Covid unlock the mysteries of the cosmos? | url = https://www.theguardian.com/science/2023/may/02/catherine-heymans-dark-universe-the-cosmologist-battling-long-covid | work = The Guardian | date = 2 May 2023 | access-date = 7 May 2023 | language = en | quote = }}</ref>
With her colleague from Edinburgh University, Joe Zuntz, Heymans has performed comedy routines based on astronomy.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Eaton-Lewis |first1=Andrew |title=Double stars: The comedy duo finding the funny in astrophysics|date=8 January 2022 |url=https://www.scotsman.com/arts-and-culture/theatre-and-stage/double-stars-the-comedy-duo-finding-the-funny-in-astrophysics-3514992https://www.scotsman.com/arts-and-culture/theatre-and-stage/double-stars-the-comedy-duo-finding-the-funny-in-astrophysics-3514992 |website=scotsman.com |publisher=The Scotsman |access-date=3 June 2025}}</ref>
== See also ==
* Timeline of women in science
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * {{INSPIRE-HEP author}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Heymans, Catherine}} Category:Academics of the University of Edinburgh Category:Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Category:Alumni of the University of Oxford Category:British astrophysicists Category:British women physicists Category:Living people Category:British women astronomers Category:Academic staff of the University of British Columbia Category:British expatriate academics in Canada Category:Year of birth missing (living people) Category:Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Category:People from Hitchin Category:1970s births