This is an outstanding achievement for the humble professor who had held the SARChI Chair in Cosmology with Multi Wavelength Surveys from 2013 to 2017. To become an NRF rated scientist, one should produce top-quality, internationally-recognised and field-transforming work.
The NRF honours only the top researchers in the country for their contributions to knowledge-creation and dissemination.
In yet another achievement in November last year, Prof Davé, along with 18 other UWC academics, was also honoured by Stanford University in the US as being among the world’s most impactful researchers.
Stanford University placed these researchers from UWC among the world’s top 2% of most-cited scientists in various fields - sharing research that makes a difference.
Prof Davé is pleased with his latest A1-rating. “I’m delighted that my group’s efforts are recognised as being internationally leading. It is a testament to the hard work of many students and postdocs at UWC and beyond that have contributed to this honour for me,” he said.
“This once again affirms that UWC is a place where one can engage in forefront, world-leading science in galaxy evolution and cosmology.”
He now holds the Chair of Physics at the University of Edinburgh, but maintains strong ties with UWC, including working with several post-graduate students and postdocs.
Prior to arriving at UWC, he was a professor of astronomy at the University of Arizona for nine years. Prof Davé is a leading expert on using supercomputer simulations to understand the formation and evolution of galaxies within a cosmological context.
While at UWC, he began the Mufasa simulation project and he now leads its successor, the Simba simulations - a world-class suite of hydrodynamical galaxy formation models that can be used to understand the evolution of the visible universe as seen with state of the art telescopes such as South Africa’s MeerKAT radio array.
