| Renée Hložek | |
| Birth Date: | 15 November 1983 |
| Workplaces: | University of Toronto Princeton University |
| Alma Mater: | University of Cape Town University of Pretoria University of Oxford |
| Thesis Title: | Probing the early universe and dark energy with multi-epoch cosmological data |
| Thesis Url: | https://act.princeton.edu/sites/act/files/hlozek_thesis.pdf |
| Doctoral Advisor: | Jo Dunkley |
| Website: | https://www.reneehlozek.com |
Renée Hložek (born 15 November 1983) is a South African cosmologist, Professor of Astronomy & Astrophysics at the Dunlap Institute for Astronomy & Astrophysics at the University of Toronto, and an Azrieli Global Scholar within the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research.[1] She studies the cosmic microwave background, Type Ia supernova and baryon acoustic oscillations. She was named a Sloan Research Fellow in 2020, and received the Rutherford Memorial Medal from the Royal Society of Canada.[2] Hložek identifies as bisexual.[3]
Hložek studied mathematics at the University of Pretoria and the University of Cape Town graduating in 2008.[4] [5] During her undergraduate studies she worked on dark energy.[6] She completed her PhD at the University of Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar in 2011.[7] Her thesis, "Probing the early universe and Dark Energy with multi-epoch cosmological data", used the Atacama Cosmology Telescope and Sloan Digital Sky Survey.[8] Her doctoral advisor was Jo Dunkley. During her time at Oxford, she appeared on Chris Lintott's Pub Astronomy podcast and 365 Days of Astronomy.[9] [10]
After her PhD Hložek joined Princeton University as a Lyman Spitzer Jr. Postdoctoral Research Fellow. At Princeton University she prepared for the polarisation-sensitive Atacama Cosmology Telescope. In 2012 she was appointed a Spitzer-Cotsen Fellow at Princeton University.[11] At Princeton she took part in a prison teaching initiative, and formed the Hope-Princeton exchange to bring young black women into Princeton's astronomy departments.[12] She took part in the Story Collider.[13] In 2013 she took part in the Science Train started by Lucianne Walkowicz at Princeton, where she took to the New York City Subway to talk to the public about astronomy.[14]
She joined the Dunlap Institute for Astronomy & Astrophysics in 2016.[15] She continues to work with the polarisation instrument on the Atacama Cosmology Telescope, alongside data from Planck and Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe and BICEP and Keck Array.[16] She looks to classify radio transient signals using the Algonquin 46m radio telescope.[17] She has worked with the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics.[18] In 2017 she took part in the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research Untangling the Cosmos event.[19] In 2020 she was named a CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholar in 2019,[20] awarded a Sloan Research Fellowship,[21] and the Rutherford Memorial Medal in 2024. She is the Spokesperson for the Vera C. Rubin Dark Energy Science Collaboration (DESC).[22]
Hložek was named a TED Fellow in 2012 and a Senior Fellow in 2014,[23] however she resigned the fellowship in 2024.[24] Her contribution to TEDed "The death of the universe" has been viewed 1.1 Million times.[25] [26] She has spoken at several TED events, including the 2014 TED conference in Vancouver. She takes part in several activities to improve gender balance in science.[27] [28] [29] [30] [31]