Dr. Gagandeep Anand Receives 2026 Maryland Outstanding Young Scientist Award

The Maryland Academy of Sciences has selected Dr. Gagandeep Anand of the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) in Baltimore as the recipient of the 2026 Maryland Outstanding Young Scientist award. He received the award in a ceremony on April 29 at the Maryland Science Center, located at Baltimore's Inner Harbor.

Anand is a Senior Staff Scientist working on the Hubble Space Telescope's Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) team at STScI. A third-generation Hubble instrument, ACS is one of the two primary camera systems on the telescope.

Anand is an expert in near-field cosmology, using galaxies in our own cosmic backyard to understand the structure and evolution of the universe as a whole. Much of his work has been focused on resolving the discrepancy between the predicted expansion rate of the universe and what is directly observed, or the so-called "Hubble tension." He is playing a significant role on two separate teams in this area, including leading the first calibration that enabled the use of red giant stars to perform these measurements with the James Webb Space Telescope.

Recently, he was also lead author on a paper announcing the first confirmation of a dark-matter-dominated, failed galaxy that did not form stars. Called Cloud-9, this hydrogen cloud is a fossil remnant from the early days of the universe. For many years, scientists sought evidence of such a phantom object. But only when Anand and the team turned the sharp vision of Hubble's ACS toward Cloud-9 did they definitively confirm that this cloud was indeed a starless relic of a failed galaxy.

"Congratulations to Dr. Anand. This recognition of his groundbreaking and impactful research is very well deserved," said STScI Director Jennifer Lotz. "For example, he was first author on a recent paper reporting the discovery of Cloud-9, a new type of cosmic object. These findings were released at the January 2026 meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Phoenix, Arizona, and generated enormous media coverage. His work is bringing international attention to STScI and the state of Maryland."

Before joining STScI in 2021, Anand earned both his MS and PhD in astronomy from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, where his work focused primarily on nearby galaxies, the distance ladder, and large-scale cosmic structure. He also obtained an MA in astronomy from Boston University, where he studied optical, infrared, and x-ray emission from clusters of galaxies. He received his AB in astronomy and physics from Vassar College.

The Maryland Outstanding Young Scientist award was established in 1959 and recognizes Maryland residents who have distinguished themselves early in their careers for accomplishments in science. Award recipients are chosen by members of the Maryland Academy of Sciences' Scientific Advisory Council, which provides expertise and content review to the Maryland Science Center.

Past STScI award recipients include assistant astronomer Dr. John F. Wu, tenured associate astronomer Dr. Laurent Pueyo, and former multi-mission project scientist Dr. Jason Kalirai.

The Space Telescope Science Institute is expanding the frontiers of space astronomy by hosting the science operations center of the Hubble Space Telescope, the science and mission operations centers for the James Webb Space Telescope, and the science operations center for the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. STScI also houses the Barbara A. Mikulski Archive for Space Telescopes (MAST) which is a NASA-funded project to support and provide to the astronomical community a variety of astronomical data archives, and is the data repository for the Hubble, Webb, Roman, Kepler, K2, TESS missions and more. STScI is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy in Washington, D.C.