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| AST 185C · Conference on Modern Astronomy |
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Books, Resources
A couple of books I like are: 1. "A Ph.D. is Not Enough! A Guide to Survival in Science,"
Peter J. Feibelman (1993), Addison-Wesley paperback. 2. "To Boldly Go: A Practical Career Guide
for Scientists," Peter S. Fiske (1996), American Geophysical Union. These and other materials, including a
looseleaf notebook for this course, will be on a shelf in Peridier Library labelled "Careers." There is also a
lot of material on the Web these days. Note in particular the Career Services site of the AAS,
http://www.aas.org/career/index.htm, and the
on-line "early career" advice website of the AAAS's Science magazine,
http://nextwave.sciencemag.org.
Topics for discussion in Ast 185C (not necessarily in this order)
- Introduction to research at Texas:
- research facilities at McDonald Observatory (and elsewhere)
- research activities at Texas, reviewed by research area (five sessions)
- Survival and success in the UT Astronomy program:
- the official program (A to Z)
- perspectives from several graduate students who are further along in the program
- Survival and success in an astronomy career:
- statistics on the current job market in astronomy & how UT grads have fared
- how to get yourself and your work known, job hunting strategies & advice from post docs
- grantsmanship, professional norms, & ethical issues
- non-academic careers, e.g. "industry," soft-money, and observatory or mission support
- Professional and communication skills
- we'll do short practice oral presentations (before you have to do it in a seminar or class)
- and discuss what goes on in the peer review process for journal articles & grant proposals
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