Undergraduate Program
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The Astronomy & Astrophysics Department supports a wide variety of undergraduate research opportunities. Researchers in the department work in a number of exciting fields, including star formation and evolution, the structure and evolution of galaxies, stellar and supermassive black holes, exoplanets, cosmology, and astronomical instrumentation. Research can be supported via course credit in ASTR 99, 99H (for Regents Scholars), 199, and 199H (for students in the honors program). There are additional opportunities for funded research, especially during the summer. Below we provide information on research opportunities in the department.
Undergraduate students may request to enroll in a Special Studies course under the supervision of a faculty advisor. You can see a list of research areas and who the lead faculty are for each one here.
Undergraduate students are encouraged to initiate contact with faculty in their interested area of research to see if they would be willing to act as an advisor for their reading or research project. If approved, these students will then make a Special Studies request in the Enrollment Authorization System (EASy) for their faculty advisor to review and approve.
98s, 99s
199s are intended for students who are looking to do an undergraduate reading or research project with a faculty member in a particular area of study and would like to earn academic credit for this work:
199Hs
Instructions on how to request enrollment in Special Studies classes can be found here.
Undergraduate students may enroll in graduate level courses with the consent of the instructor. We recommend that this consent only be given to exceptional undergraduate students who have shown mastery of their undergraduate coursework.
Undergraduate students requesting to enroll in graduate level courses must use the Enrollment Authorization System (EASy).
These requests may be placed on hold until Astronomy PhD students have first had an opportunity to enroll in their core graduate coursework.
The Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics offers an honors program to those students who have demonstrated excellence in either of the majors. Students may receive departmental honors if they complete the following in addition to their major requirements:
Instructions for how to apply for honors are coming soon!
Researchers in Astronomy & Astrophysics participate in the Summer Training Academy for Research Success (STARS) program. More information can be found at this link.