Pratika Dayal

Dr. Pratika Dayal is a Professor at the Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics (CITA) within the University of Toronto. Her research focuses on fundamental questions in astrophysics and cosmology, particularly the formation of early galaxies, dark matter properties, and habitability in the universe.

• Principal Investigator of the DELPHI project (ERC Starting Grant 717001)
• Specializes in cosmic reionization, dark matter characterization, and galaxy evolution
• Active in observational strategy development for James Webb Space Telescope and Square Kilometre Array

Her work combines cosmological simulations with semi-analytic modeling to investigate the interplay between galaxy formation and reionization processes, using Lyman Alpha Emitters and 21cm signal correlations to map the topology of the early universe's ionization state.

Scientific achievements include:

• Developing observational frameworks for reionization studies
• ERC Starting Grant recipient for dark matter research
• Advancing cross-correlation techniques between LAEs and 21cm data