UCSC Astronomy & Astrophysics
Prospective Graduate Student FAQ
Scott Seagroves
with the Dept.
last update: Jan 14, 2002
Contents
1 Is this it?
2 Can I talk to some current grads?
3 What is the graduate curriculum?
4 Will I get a job?
5 Who can I work with, and what can I work on?
6 What are all those acronyms?
7 Will I have money?
8 OK, that's great, what else do people do?
9 Where will I live?
1 Is this it?
This document is not exhaustive, and it's not meant to be.
If you're really interested in coming to Santa Cruz to pursue a
PhD in astronomy & astrophysics, you should explore all the information that's
available at http://www.astro.ucsc.edu, as well as the
main University site at http://www.ucsc.edu. Since
you're probably considering several grad programs, this document is
supposed to be a succinct guide through all that available
information.
This document lives on the web at
http://www.ucolick.org/~board/grad/faq/faq.html, so
check there for updates (or just start at
http://www.astro.ucsc.edu/grads.xml).
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Table 1: Current Astronomy & Astrophysics graduate students
as of January 2002.
|
| | Name | Email1
| Year2
| Previous Education | Current Advisor(s) |
| Phil Choi | pchoi | AC | Wesleyan | Guhathakurta |
| Ian Dobbs-Dixon | iandd | 1 | UC-Santa Cruz | ... |
| Shawfeng Dong | dong | AC | U. of Science & Tech. (China) | Lin |
| Marla Geha | mgeha | AC | Cornell, NMSU | Guhathakurta |
| Justin Harker | jharker | 1 | U. of Wisconsin-Madison | ... |
| Justin Howell | jhhowell | ~ 4 | Caltech, Columbia | Guhathakurta |
| Patrik Jonsson | patrik | AC | Uppsala (Sweden) | Primack, Faber |
| Michael Kuhlen | mqk | 2 | Caltech | Woosley, Madau |
| David Lai | david | 1 | Reed | ... |
| Laura Langland-Shula | laura | 1 | ... | ... |
| Sarah Martell | martell | 1 | U. of Washington | ... |
| Alex McDaniel | alexm | 2 | Princeton | Laughlin |
| Jason Melbourne | jmel | 1 | Wesleyan | ... |
| Anne Metevier | anne | AC | Northwestern | Koo |
| Greg Novak | novak | 1 | Harvard | Lin |
| Lynne Raschke | lynne | 4 | Haverford | Faber |
| Tami Rogers | tami | 3 | U. of Arizona | Woosley |
| Linda Schroder | linda | AC | Arizona State | Brodie |
| Scott Seagroves | scott | 3 | UNC-Chapel Hill | Thorsett |
| Andrew Sheinis | sheinis | AC | UMass-Amherst, Worcester | Miller |
| Kim-Vy Tran | vy | AC | U. of Arizona | Illingworth |
| Kurtis Williams | williams | 5 | Penn State | Bolte |
| Weiqun Zhang | zhang | AC | U. of Science & Tech. (China) | Woosley |
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2 Can I talk to some current grads?
Table 1 has some information on the current
graduate students. If you're
interested in hearing about the experience of people from your background, or
who work with an advisor you're interested in, try getting in touch with the
right student.
|
Table 2: Current Astronomy & Astrophysics graduate students
as of January 2002.
|
| | Name | Email3
| Year4
| Previous Education | Current Advisor(s) |
| Phil Choi | pchoi | AC | Wesleyan | Guhathakurta |
| Ian Dobbs-Dixon | iandd | 1 | UC-Santa Cruz | ... |
| Shawfeng Dong | dong | AC | U. of Science & Tech. (China) | Lin |
| Marla Geha | mgeha | AC | Cornell, NMSU | Guhathakurta |
| Justin Harker | jharker | 1 | U. of Wisconsin-Madison | ... |
| Justin Howell | jhhowell | ~ 4 | Caltech, Columbia | Guhathakurta |
| Patrik Jonsson | patrik | AC | Uppsala (Sweden) | Primack, Faber |
| Michael Kuhlen | mqk | 2 | Caltech | Woosley, Madau |
| David Lai | david | 1 | Reed | ... |
| Laura Langland-Shula | laura | 1 | ... | ... |
| Sarah Martell | martell | 1 | U. of Washington | ... |
| Alex McDaniel | alexm | 2 | Princeton | Laughlin |
| Jason Melbourne | jmel | 1 | Wesleyan | ... |
| Anne Metevier | anne | AC | Northwestern | Koo |
| Greg Novak | novak | 1 | Harvard | Lin |
| Lynne Raschke | lynne | 4 | Haverford | Faber |
| Tami Rogers | tami | 3 | U. of Arizona | Woosley |
| Linda Schroder | linda | AC | Arizona State | Brodie |
| Scott Seagroves | scott | 3 | UNC-Chapel Hill | Thorsett |
| Andrew Sheinis | sheinis | AC | UMass-Amherst, Worcester | Miller |
| Kim-Vy Tran | vy | AC | U. of Arizona | Illingworth |
| Kurtis Williams | williams | 5 | Penn State | Bolte |
| Weiqun Zhang | zhang | AC | U. of Science & Tech. (China) | Woosley |
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3 What is the graduate curriculum?
In roughly chronological order, here's how you get from where you are
now to a PhD:
Classes
Table 2 lists the classes usually taught
in our curriculum. In approximately your first two
years (that's 6 quarters, not 4 semesters),
you will take 12 ``real'' classes, plus 2 others. Let me
get the ``others'' out of the way first: one (Intro. to Research)
is simply a course where each faculty member comes by to chat with your
class of first-years about his or her research; the other is
Independent Study, which you must take in connection with your
Research Project. Read more about that below.
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Table 3: Astronomy & Astrophysics courses.
(Boldface indicates a required class; 14 total required.)
|
| | Physics (3)5 | Stars (3) | Galaxies (3) | Other (2) |
| E&M/Plasmas | Stellar Structure
| Galaxies A | Intro. to Research |
| General Relativity | Star Formation | Galaxies B | Ind. Study |
| Physics of Astrophysics A | Star Death | Galaxies C | Observation Techniques |
| Physics of Astrophysics B | Accretion | Cosmology | Radio/Sub-mm |
| Gas Dynamics | Compact Objects | Low-Density | Instrumentation |
| QM sequence6
| Atmospheres | Stellar Dynamics | Planetary Science |
| Classical Mechanics | | | Numerical Techniques |
| Magnetohydrodynamics | | | |
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As for the 12 ``real'' classes: You will be required to take 3 classes in
particular. One is an E&M class on radiation and plasma physics;
one is a standard course in stellar structure & evolution; one is a standard
course on galaxies. After that, you must take at least 2 more classes from
the ``physics'' column, 2 more from the ``stars'' column, 2 more from the
``galaxies'' column, and then take whatever you like until you have 12.
TA
At least one quarter you must be a Teaching Assistant.
Typically students do this early, when they don't necessarily have a regular
research advisor for financial support anyway.
Research Project
Ideally during the summer between your 1st and 2nd year,
you will work on a roughly Master's-thesis-size project. A good thing
to do is to use the
Independent Study course in the spring before or
the fall after that summer, either to prepare for your project or to
finish it up. When you're done, if you can get a publication out of it,
that's great; if not you must submit a journal-style writeup to the
Dept. to help fulfill this requirement. You must also give a talk
(in the form of a FLASH, see below) on your Research Project.
FLASH
FLASH (the Friday Lunch Astronomy Seminar Hour) is a weekly
talk given by visitors, faculty, postdocs, or grads.
In connection with the Research Project, you must give
a FLASH by the end of your 2nd year to finish the completion of this
requirement.
Prelims
The prelims are two 3-hour written examinations: one is on basic physics and
the other is on graduate-level astronomy & astrophysics. The department offers the
prelims every June. You may pass either
or both exams in your first attempt. You really should pass both
sections by the summer after your 2nd year, i.e., after your second
attempt. However, see the Dept. Review.
Dept. Review
Typically just before your 3rd year the faculty review your progress.
By the time of the Dept. Review, you should have completed your
classes, your Research Project and its FLASH, and passed the prelims.
``Passing'' the Dept. Review typically means being granted a Master's
and being encouraged toward thesis work. In other instances
you may be provisionally passed with the
opportunity to re-take the prelims or an extension on your FLASH. In
principle, the faculty could choose not to pass you.
Qual
After completing classes, prelims, and all
Research Project requirements, it's time to start thinking about a thesis.
The Qualifying Exam is the place to propose and defend a thesis topic; that
means you don't necessarily have to complete lots of the thesis work before
this exam. The Qual is a defense-style exam: you give some presentation but
also face comments, objections, and suggestions from your committee.
Students are encouraged to complete their Qual by the end of their
3rd year, and are required to do so before the end of their 4th.
More FLASHes
You need to give a couple more FLASHes as you
progress on your dissertation work; this is good practice for your thesis
defense and all the talks you'll have to give as you apply for postdocs.
Defense
Finally, of course, you must write a thesis and defend
it in front of your committee. Hopefully your thesis is composed of
several publications you've written while you worked; that will help with
your postdoc applications. Then you're done!
Table 4: Recent Astronomy & Astrophysics graduates.
|
| | Name | PhD Year | First Position
| Current Position |
| | | (if different) |
| Caryl Gronwall | 96 | Wesleyan postdoc | Researcher, Johns Hopkins |
| Rob Hoffman | 96 | LLNL postdoc | LLNL researcher |
| Kathryn Johnston | 96 | Inst. for Adv. Study | Wesleyan faculty |
| André Martel | 96 | STScI postdoc | Researcher, Johns Hopkins |
| Eric Sandquist | 96 | Northwestern postdoc | San Diego St. faculty |
| Matt Shetrone | 96 | ESO postdoc | HET astronomer |
| Greg Wirth | 96 | U. Victoria postdoc | Keck instrument scientist |
| Chris Churchill | 97 | Penn St. postdoc | Researcher, Penn St. |
| Jarita Holbrook | 97 | UCLA postdoc | faculty, UCLA archaeoastronomy |
| Kim Sepulver | 97 | NASA Ames postdoc | Malin Space Sciences, Inc. |
| Rachel Somerville7 | 97 | Hebrew U. postdoc | U. Michigan faculty |
| Natalie Stout-Batalha | 97 | Brasil postdoc | Researcher, NASA-Ames |
| Scott Trager | 97 | Carnegie fellow | Hubble fellow (Carnegie Obs.) |
| Debra Fischer | 98 | UC Berkeley postdoc | Researcher, UC Berkeley |
| Jeremy Heyl | 98 | Caltech Prize fellow | Chandra fellow (Harvard) |
| Dan Kelson | 98 | Carnegie fellow | Researcher, Carnegie Obs. |
| Ian Walker | 98 | Hebrew U. postdoc | (finance?) |
| James Bullock | 99 | Ohio St. postdoc | |
| Romeel Davé | 99 | Spitzer fellow | Hubble fellow (Steward/Arizona) |
| Jon Fulbright | 99 | DAO postdoc | |
| Ari Maller | 99 | Hebrew U. postdoc | |
| Neal Turner | 99 | U. Maryland postdoc | |
| Geoffrey Bryden | 00 | JPL postdoc | |
| Anthony Gonzalez | 00 | CfA fellow | |
| Jason Harris | 00 | STScI postdoc | |
| Jennifer Johnson | 00 | Carnegie fellow | |
| Andrew MacFadyen | 00 | Caltech Prize fellow | |
| Dave Reitzel | 00 | UC Irvine postdoc | |
| Katherine Wu | 00 | U. Florida postdoc | |
| Kathleen Flint | 01 | Carnegie fellow | |
| Amy Nelson | 01 | UCSC (teaching) | |
| Risa Wechsler | 01 | U. Michigan postdoc | |
| Anouk Shambrook | 01 | UCSC (teaching) | |
|
4 Will I get a job?
The department has an extraordinary record of placing its graduates
into postdoctoral positions. Those who wish to continue in the field
almost universally do so, proceeding through postdocs and on to
permanent positions. Recently students' first positions
have increasingly been prestigious fellowships, indicating the quality
of the PhD program here. Not only are our grads getting jobs, they
are getting some of the best jobs available.
Table 3 gives the basic information on recent UCSC
PhDs. In the past five years or so, out of 31
graduates, 29 are still in astronomy. One chose to leave research
before her first postdoc, and the other chose to leave after his first
postdoc. Neither left astronomy against their will.
5 Who can I work with, and what can I work on?
Astrophysicists at UCSC are among the world's experts in the field.
Their studies range from theoretical cosmology to observations of
planets, and everything in between. The theorists work both
analytically and numerically; the observers work in a broad range of
wavelengths. The research is probably the main reason you'd want to
come here.
Faculty
Without further ado, then, what follows is a concise,
definitely non-exhaustive summary of each faculty member's
interests. Listed in the ``Notes'' field are current major projects
or collaborations that person is affiliated with; see §6
for descriptions of these projects.
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GEORGE BLUMENTHAL
Office: 439B Kerr Phone: 459-2005
Email: george@ucolick.org
Notes:
Issues in theoretical cosmology, including: the role of dark matter;
the origin of structure in the universe; galaxy evolution; voids;
inflation; perturbations in the CMB. Also: AGNs; accretion
disks; GRBs.
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PETER BODENHEIMER
Office: 415F Kerr Phone: 459-2064
Email: peter@ucolick.org
Notes: CODEP
Theoretical studies of star and planet formation, including:
calculation of protostellar collapse; multiple-star
system formation; evolution of protostellar disks and the formation
of planets within them; giant planets; solar system formation.
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MICHAEL BOLTE
Office: 401 Kerr Phone: 459-3896
Email: bolte@ucolick.org
Notes: CELT
Primarily observational studies of globular clusters as tests of
theories about stellar structure & evolution, star formation, and for
constraining the age of the universe. Also: stellar populations;
dwarf galaxies; effects of environment on galaxies; instrumentation.
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JEAN BRODIE
Office: 141B Kerr Phone: 459-2987
Email: brodie@ucolick.org
Notes:
Observational studies of Galactic and extragalactic globular
clusters; galactic dynamics and chemical evolution;
instrumentation.
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HARLAND EPPS
Office: 133A Kerr Phone: 459-3454
Email: epps@ucolick.org
Notes: HST NICMOS
Astronomical instrumentation: optical design, fabrication, and
testing.
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SANDY FABER
Office: 470 Kerr Phone: 459-2944
Email: faber@ucolick.org
Notes: DEEP, DEIMOS, CfAO, HST WFC
Observational and theoretical studies of the formation
and evolution of galaxies, including: stellar populations; black
holes in galactic nuclei; dark matter; velocity
fields; high-z galaxies. Also: adaptive optics and
astronomical instrumentation.
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JOHN FAULKNER
Office: 403 Kerr Phone: 459-2815
Email: johnf@ucolick.org
Notes:
Theory of stellar evolution, including: red giants and horizontal
branch stars; solar models; dwarf novae; nucleosynthesis.
Also: cosmology; mathematics; history of science.
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RAJA GUHATHAKURTA
Office: 481 Kerr Phone: 459-5169
Email: raja@ucolick.org
Notes: DEEP, CfAO, CELT
Observational studies of globular clusters, galaxies, and
galaxy evolution, including: interacting galaxies; dwarf
galaxies; faint blue galaxies;
Tully-Fisher relation; dust and reddening; stellar populations;
gravitational lensing; dark matter. Also: adaptive optics.
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GARTH ILLINGWORTH
Office: 467 Kerr Phone: 459-2843
Email: gdi@ucolick.org
Notes: DEEP, HST ACS, NGST
Observational studies of high-z galaxies; galaxy formation
and evolution, including: structure; kinematics;
stellar populations. Also: space telescopes.
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BURT JONES
Office: 473A Kerr Phone: 459-2384
Email: jones@ucolick.org
Notes:
Observational studies of stellar dynamics and stellar evolution,
including: astrometry and proper motion studies; spectroscopy
of young and low-mass stars; the rotation, lithium abundance, age,
and chromospheric activity of solar-type stars.
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DAVID KOO
Office: 435 Kerr Phone: 459-2130
Email: koo@ucolick.org
Notes: DEEP, DEIMOS, CfAO
Observational cosmology: angular and redshift distributions of
galaxies, quasars, and gas; clustering; stellar populations;
galaxy evolution. Also: adaptive optics and astronomical
instrumentation.
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GREG LAUGHLIN
Office: 464 Kerr Phone: 459-3208
Email: laugh@ucolick.org
Notes: CODEP
Theoretical astrophysics, including topics in planet formation
and evolution; extrasolar planet searches;
multiple-planet systems; dynamical interactions; evolution of
the universe into the distant future.
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DOUG LIN
Office: 461 Kerr Phone: 459-2732
Email: lin@ucolick.org
Notes: CODEP
Theoretical astrophysics: star and planet formation; dynamical
evolution of planetary, stellar, and galactic
systems; galaxy formation; galactic structure; globular clusters
and dwarf galaxies; interacting galaxies; astrophysical fluid
dynamics; AGNs; accretion.
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PIERO MADAU
Office: 473 Kerr Phone: 459-3839
Email: pmadau@ucolick.org
Notes:
Theoretical astrophysics, including: early structure
formation; reionization; the intergalactic medium;
universe at high-z; radiative transfer; high-energy
astrophysics.
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BILL MATHEWS
Office: 421 Kerr Phone: 459-2074
Email: mathews@ucolick.org
Notes:
Theoretical studies of astrophysical gas dynamics, including:
galactic winds; cooling flows; elliptical galaxies;
instabilities and dynamics in cores of quasars and AGNs.
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CLAIRE MAX
Office: 14 Kerr Phone: 459-2049
Email: max@ucolick.org
Notes: CfAO
Adaptive optics instrumentation; science with adaptive optics;
solar system science.
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JOSEPH MILLER
Office: Nat. Sci. II Annex Phone: 459-2991
Email: miller@ucolick.org
Notes: Director of UC Observatories, CELT
Observational studies of AGNs.
Also: astronomical instrumentation and telescopes.
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JERRY NELSON
Office: 463 Kerr Phone: 459-5132
Email: jnelson@ucolick.org
Notes: CfAO (Director), CELT
Design of giant telescopes; astronomical instrumentation; adaptive
optics.
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JOEL PRIMACK
Office: 209 Kerr Phone: 459-2580
Email: joel@ucolick.org
Notes: UCSC Physics Dept., SCIPP, DEEP
Theoretical cosmology, including: nature and composition of
dark matter; galaxy formation and evolution by analytic and
semi-analytic methods; N-body and hydrodynamical simulations
of structure formation and galaxy interactions.
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JASON X. PROCHASKA NEW FACULTY MEMBER,
ARRIVING SUMMER 2002
Office: Phone:
Email: @ucolick.org
Notes:
Observational cosmology and galaxy formation, including:
quasar absorption line systems, chemical abundances at
high-z and in the Galaxy, missing baryons, high-z galaxy
dynamics, star formation. Also: ISM, cosmological
simulations, metal-poor stars.
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GRAEME SMITH
Office: 149 Kerr Phone: 459-2907
Email: graeme@ucolick.org
Notes:
Observational studies of old stellar populations; stellar evolution;
Galactic chemical evolution; red giants; comets.
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STEVE THORSETT
Office: 439A Kerr Phone: 459-5170
Email: thorsett@ucolick.org
Notes: HETE, GLAST
Observational studies of compact objects, including:
pulsar timing, dynamics, & ages; neutron stars; GRBs & GRB
afterglows. Also: radio observations & instrumentation;
high-precision VLBI; GRB host galaxy observations; high-energy
astrophysics.
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STEVE VOGT
Office: 129 Kerr Phone: 459-2151
Email: vogt@ucolick.org
Notes: CODEP, CELT
Design and use of high-resolution spectrometers; extrasolar planets;
quasar spectra.
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STAN WOOSLEY
Office: 433A Kerr Phone: 459-2976
Email: woosley@ucolick.org
Notes: Department Chair, CODEP, HETE
Theoretical high-energy astrophysics, including supernovae and
gamma-ray bursts. Also: stellar evolution, particularly of high-mass
stars; hydrodynamics; nucleosynthesis; nuclear astrophysics.
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Other researchers
There are other researchers affiliated with the Dept., in positions
with various titles, who are valuable resources you should know about.
They include:
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JULIAN CHRISTOU
Office: 59 Kerr Phone: 459-5775
Email: christou@ucolick.org
Notes: CfAO
Adaptive optics, especially characterization of PSFs and
deconvolution; science with AO.
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RACHEL DEWEY
Office: 415G Kerr Phone: 459-3081
Email: dewey@ucolick.org
Notes:
Radio pulsars; astronomy education and outreach.
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TERRY MAST
Office: 229 Kerr Phone: 459-3807
Email: mast@ucolick.org
Notes: CfAO, CELT
Design of giant telescopes; astronomical instrumentation;
adaptive optics and its applications.
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RUTH PETERSON
Office: 17 Kerr Phone: 459-3559
Email: peterson@ucolick.org
Notes:
Spectroscopy of stellar populations.
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DREW PHILLIPS
Office: 499 Kerr Phone: 459-3841
Email: phillips@ucolick.org
Notes: CfAO, DEEP, DEIMOS
High-z galaxies and galaxy evolution; instrumentation;
adaptive optics.
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SCOTT SEVERSON
Office: 241 Nat. Sci. II Phone: 459-5149
Email: severson@ucolick.org
Notes:
IR instrumentation, adaptive optics, science with AO.
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And of course, like any healthy department we have a large turnover
of top-notch postdocs and visitors. There are many, and sometimes graduate
students work closely with them; however they're a transient population so
it's difficult to list them here.
Astronomers vs. professors?
This is a confusing aspect you shouldn't worry about:
Some of our faculty are entirely affiliated with the Astronomy & Astrophysics Department; others are only 20% with the department, and 80%
with the U. of California Observatories/Lick Observatory (UCO/Lick).
This does affect who teaches more classes
(the ones with entirely Dept. appointments), but otherwise this is
not a concern for graduate students. In all respects all faculty
members are well-integrated in the department, and students may work
with whomever they wish.
high-energy astrophysics and/or astro-particle physics.
6 What are all those acronyms?
Members of UCSC Astronomy & Astrophysics are affiliated with large
collaborations and other major projects. Here is a brief summary of
some of them, along with a few other acronyms you've seen floating
around:
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· CfAO: http://www.ucolick.org/~cfao/
Astronomical images taken from ground-based observatories suffer blurring
from turbulence in the atmosphere. `Adaptive optics' is a set of
technologies and techniques for correcting these aberrations in
real-time, resulting in images as sharp as those taken from space.
The Center for Adaptive Optics is a major NSF-funded center based in
Santa Cruz, but with member institutions from other campuses of UC and from
across the nation. Jerry Nelson is director of the CfAO; other Center
faculty include Sandy Faber, David Koo, and Raja Guhathakurta. In addition,
further researchers (Julian Christou, Drew Phillips), a
great host of postdocs, and several grad students are affiliated with the
Center.
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· CELT: http://www.ucolick.org/~celt/
The University of California and Caltech are exploring the idea
of a 30-meter telescope, and have dubbed this project the California Extremely
Large Telescope. (If this seems giant to you, note that the Europeans have
begun planning OWL - the Overwhelmingly Large telescope - which will have
a 100-meter primary!) CELT and the CfAO are somewhat related, because CELT
is being designed for AO from the start.
Jerry Nelson and Terry Mast (who were `instrumental' in the design and
construction of the Keck telescopes) are working on this project.
Other faculty affiliates include Mike Bolte, Raja Guhathakurta,
Joe Miller, and Steve Vogt.
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· CODEP: http://natsci.ucsc.edu/codep/
CODEP is the Center for the Origin, Dynamics, and Evolution of Planets,
and that pretty well explains what they're about. Over the next four
years, CODEP will coordinate the hiring of seven new faculty members,
some in Astronomy & Astrophysics, some in other departments.
CODEP affiliates in the Dept. include Peter Bodenheimer, Doug Lin, Steve
Vogt, and Stan Woosley. Astrophysics grads also enjoy the valuable resources
of some other CODEP faculty, including Gary Glatzmaier of the Earth
Sciences Dept. (who is an expert on magnetohydrodynamics and dynamos) and
Erik Asphaug of the Institute of Techtonics (who is an expert on impacts
within the solar system and other aspects of planetary science).
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· DEEP: http://www.ucolick.org/~deep/
The Deep Extragalactic Evolutionary Probe, composed of researchers at UCSC
in collaboration with researchers at Berkeley, Caltech, U. of Chicago,
Hawaii, and Johns Hopkins, is a long-term Keck and HST project. The broad
goals of this large-scale survey of distant, faint field galaxies include
studying galaxy formation and evolution, the origin of large-scale
structure, the nature and role of dark matter, and the overall geometry
of the universe. Phase I of DEEP, already under way, involves Keck
observations with the current suite of instruments, and HST observations.
The next phase of DEEP will employ DEIMOS, a new spectrograph for Keck
being constructed at Santa Cruz, and SIRTF, NASA's next great space
telescope.
Members of the DEEP team at Santa Cruz include Sandy Faber, Raja Guhathakurta,
Garth Illingworth, David Koo, and several postdocs.
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· DEIMOS: http://www.ucolick.org/~loen/Deimos/deimos.html
The Deep Extragalactic Imaging Multi-Object Spectrograph is an
impressive Keck instrument being built at Santa Cruz. Sandy Faber is the
PI of the project; other Santa Cruz researchers affiliated with DEIMOS
include Terry Mast, Garth Illingworth, Drew Phillips, and other DEEP team
members.
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· GLAST: http://glast.gsfc.nasa.gov
The Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope is a future
NASA mission that may launch as early as 2005. It will study high-energy
astrophysical phenomena, including but not limited to neutron stars
and GRBs.
Steve Thorsett is an interdisciplinary scientist on the GLAST team.
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· HETE: http://space.mit.edu/HETE/
The High Energy Transient Explorer mission recently launched, and the
commissioning of its instruments is under way. HETE's goal is to
provide precise localizatons of gamma-ray bursts. This will
facilitate follow-up observations of the afterglows, and further our
understanding of GRBs a great deal.
Stan Woosley and Steve Thorsett are affiliated with the project.
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· HST: http://www.stsci.edu/
Of course, one of the premier instruments of astronomy
today is the Hubble Space Telescope. Harland Epps was involved in the
optical design of the NICMOS instrument; Sandy Faber is on the WFC team.
Garth Illingworth is affiliated with the Advanced Camera, an instrument
slated to be installed on HST as a testbed for NGST technologies. Many
(if not most) researchers at UCSC work with HST data regularly.
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· NGST: http://ngst.gsfc.nasa.gov/
A high priority in major astronomy funding over the
next decade, the proposed Next Generation Space Telescope will be an orbiting
8-meter class telescope. It is intended to pick up where HST leaves off ...
Garth Illingworth has some affiliations with the project.
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· SCIPP: http://scipp.ucsc.edu
The Santa Cruz Institute for Particle Physics, primarily concerned
with accerator experiments at SLAC and CERN, is also involved in
particle and high-energy astrophysics. Current interests include
the Milagro cosmic ray airshower detector and the GLAST mission. In
addition, SCIPP supports the work of theoretical cosmology.
Joel Primack, George Blumenthal, and several members of the Physics
Dept. faculty are affiliated with SCIPP.
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· UCO/Lick: http://www.ucolick.org
The University of California Observatories/Lick Observatory is an
organized research unit of the UC system. Lick Observatory, located
atop Mt. Hamilton near San Jose, harbors 3-m and 1-m `workhorse'
telescopes that are extensively used by faculty and graduate students.
In addition, UCO/Lick administers the UC portion of access to Keck
Observatory atop Mauna Kea, which is shared with CalTech. The twin
Keck telescopes (10-m) are the largest in the world, and UCSC
researchers make extensive use of this facility.
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7 Will I have money?
The Dept. guarantees financial support to its graduate students.
Support comes in the form of Teaching Assistantships and the
occasional department fellowship, or support for research from an
advisor's grant money. (Note that what is called an `RA' at most
institutions is a `GSR' - Graduate Student Researcher - here.)
Of course, you should still apply for your own funding in the form
of fellowships and grants (these give you more freedom).
8 OK, that's great, what else do people do?
Q: ``What do people do around here?'' A: ``Everything. This is Santa
Cruz.''
Like nature? How do surfing, tidepooling, biking, hiking,
camping, caving, stargazing, climbing, etc., sound? How about just
enjoying a morning or evening walk by the ocean? Several redwood
parks and state beaches are right here in Santa Cruz County; the
Monterey Bay aquarium is about 45 minutes away; Big Sur is just a
half-hour or so beyond that. The UCSC campus has redwood forests,
biking and hiking trails, and a breathtaking view of the Monterey Bay,
sometimes obstructed by grazing deer.
Like sports? Play basketball with your fellow astronomers a couple
times a week. Or join one of the dozen or so local Ultimate Frisbee
teams. Work out at the UCSC gym facilities - they face out over the
Monterey Bay!
Like both nature and sports? Skiing and snowboarding at Lake
Tahoe and environs is an easy weekend trip (4-5 hours' drive).
Need assurance that Santa Cruz has the standard amenities? It does.
A multiplex theater and several smaller ones. A smaller, art-film
house. Several great bookstores within spitting distance of one
another, and a Borders, too. Coffeehouses and taquerias around every
corner. Street musicians. Teenagers on skateboards.
Like nightlife? Start small. There are bars, dancing, and
impressively good live music right here in Santa Cruz. I can easily
think of about 20 bars in town that I'm familiar with. (Perhaps I'm
bragging, or perhaps I'm ashamed...)
But if your tastes are more ultra-urban, most spots in San Francisco,
Berkeley, etc., are easily within 2 hours' drive. (Sometimes quite a
lot less - the biggest variable is traffic.) `Over the hill' the
cities of the south Bay (like San Jose) are within 45 minutes.
9 Where will I live?
There is on-campus graduate student housing available.
Most astro grads live off campus, in houses relatively downtown. Some
of us share housing with each other; others share with grads and
real-world people our age.
The campus is easily accessible by bus from virtually anywhere in the
Santa Cruz metro area; bus rides are free to students during academic
quarters. Biking to campus is entirely possible (several do it),
but be warned that the hill is longer than it looks. Parking passes
are not prohibitively expensive if you carpool.
Housing in Santa Cruz is very expensive. (If you're thinking the
on-campus option is probably cheaper, it isn't.) It's unlikely you'll
get to live alone in a spacious apartment. However, it is possible to
live alone in a cozy studio, or to find fairly spacious housing shared
among a couple/few people. Should you decide to come to Santa Cruz,
ask around for advice, because patience and a strategy are the key to
success in our housing market.
Footnotes:
1all emails are @ucolick.org
2Once a student has successfully proposed
a thesis topic (passed his or her ``Qualifying Exam''), that student
has Advanced to Candidacy (AC). At that point it becomes very easy
to lose track of how long s/he's been here ...
3all emails are @ucolick.org
4Once a student has successfully proposed
a thesis topic (passed his or her ``Qualifying Exam''), that student
has Advanced to Candidacy (AC). At that point it becomes very easy
to lose track of how long s/he's been here ...
5The minimum number of classes you must
take from each column is listed.
6These courses are taught in other departments.
7Physics Dept. graduates who worked with
Joel Primack in theoretical cosmology are included.
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