Perimeter’s programs to attract and retain more women in science are collectively referred to as the Emmy Noether Initiatives, named after groundbreaking German mathematician Emmy Noether, whose work underpins much of modern physics. The Emmy Noether Initiatives aim to empower and support women and girls to enter, and succeed in, physics.
The initiatives include outreach to high school students through the “Inspiring Future Women in Science” event, support of graduate students through the Emerging Talent Fund, and career development opportunities for women researchers. The initiatives are supported, in part, through the generosity of the Emmy Noether Council and donors in the Emmy Noether Circle.
Simons Emmy Noether Fellows program
With support from the Simons Foundation, the Simons Emmy Noether Fellowship program enables visiting women scientists to spend up to one year (under the faculty stream) or three months (under the postdoctoral stream) in Perimeter’s thriving multidisciplinary community. The scientists gain a unique opportunity to pursue their work intensively, free of teaching and administrative duties, and to develop new international peer networks.
Flexibility is a key feature of the program, and one that helps mitigate the barriers faced by women in physics. Perimeter works with fellows to tailor their stays, which may include arranging teaching buyouts with their home institutions, nearby accommodation, and childcare if required. The fellows also receive support to bring graduate students and/or postdoctoral researchers, as well as administrative and logistical support. Many Simons Emmy Noether Fellows return in subsequent years, continuing to build ties to Perimeter and the wider scientific community. Hence, the program has lasting impact for past fellows.
Due to the shift in Perimeter’s fiscal year, no new Emmy Noether Fellows or Postdoctoral Fellows were appointed in the 2024/25 reporting year due to misalignment of the offer and acceptance schedule with the truncated fiscal year. Letters of acceptance have been sent to the 2025/26 cohort, and results will be published on Perimeter’s website in the coming months and included in 2025/26 Annual Report.
In March 2025, Perimeter hosted the Emmy Noether Workshop: Quantum Space Time with support from the Simons Foundation to bring together researchers from a wide range of viewpoints and give them an opportunity to exchange ideas and gain new insights. Of the 15 speakers at the conference, 7 were previously appointed Emmy Noether Fellows or Postdoctoral Fellows. This conference saw 32 attendees, including researchers and students from the Perimeter community and Fellows from previous cohorts of Emmy Noether Fellows and Postdoctoral Fellows.
“The [Simons Emmy Noether Fellowship] program is invaluable and the flexibility offered by it allowed me to tailor my visit to get the most out of it. The generosity and hospitality offered by the program and Perimeter allowed me to fully and efficiently focus on physics during my stay. The longer length of the visit is also conducive to establishing meaningful connections with the resident researchers. Perimeter is an inspiring place, and it is one of the few places in the world with such a high density of researchers tackling foundational questions. I benefitted scientifically and professionally from the many conversations (both spontaneous and planned) I had with other researchers during my stay. Having the dedicated time during my visit to think about some aspects of my research helped give me more clarity on the direction I want to take the work. I also very much appreciated the opportunity to bring my student with me on my visit.”
—Yasaman Kouchekzadeh Yazdi, 2024/25 Simons Emmy Noether Postdoctoral Fellow
PI People: Simons Emmy Noether Fellow
Cora Uhlemann
Eyeglasses for a space telescope
The European Space Agency’s Planck spacecraft captured the first light ever to travel freely through the universe, at a period about 380 million years after the big bang. It’s known as the cosmic microwave background (CMB), and it shows that initial conditions had only slight fluctuations in temperature and density – unlike the vast cosmic web of stars and galaxies we see today. Now, cosmologist Cora Uhlemann and her research group are seeking to understand how we got from those observed initial conditions to a web-like structure of galaxies, using new methods of statistical analysis.
As part of this research, the team also is working with an effect called “weak gravitational lensing,” which occurs when massive cosmic structures distort and stretch the appearance of background galaxies around it. By understanding gravitational lensing, cosmologists can precisely measure the total mass of the matter causing the lensing, the dark matter within it, and the objects behind it.
Eight new (2024) Simons Emmy Noether Fellows are ready to make waves
The previous year’s (2024) cohort of faculty-stream Emmy Noether Fellows are exemplars of the best physics has to offer, grappling with big questions from quantum to cosmos. The program supports talented women in physics, helping them jumpstart their burgeoning careers and pursue cutting-edge research. The winning fellows make extended visits to Perimeter, work and collaborate with Perimeter researchers, and set aside their usual administrative and teaching duties to advance their research. The program is named for an exceptional 20th-century physicist, Emmy Noether, whose work earned her a place alongside last century’s greats like Einstein, Bohr, and Curie.
