Graduate Program

Department of Astronomy

The Department of Astronomy at the University of Texas is one of the largest in the United States, with twenty-two active teaching faculty, seventeen research scientists, a number of research associates and postdoctoral fellows, and about 45 graduate students. The research activities of the faculty and staff span virtually all of modern astronomy.

	Prospective Graduate Student Information Information for Current Graduate Students

In recent years the faculty have won five of the major awards of the American Astronomical Society, as well as numerous other honors and fellowships, placing the Department among the top few American astronomical institutions. The low student-teacher ratio allows students to work closely with experts in their field of interest.

The association between the Department of Astronomy and McDonald Observatory provides excellent opportunities in optical astronomy.

We offer strong programs in millimeter and submillimeter astronomy, infrared astronomy, radio astronomy, space astronomy, and theoretical astrophysics.

Collaborations with groups in physics, aerospace engineering, electrical engineering, computer science, and geological science are also common.

Visiting scientists from around the world join our astronomers in research; astronomers and graduate students, in turn, frequently use national radio and optical observatories and facilities elsewhere.

See: McDonald Observatory Facilities

McDonald Observatory

The Observatory complex is located 450 miles west of Austin in the Davis Mountains, one of the darkest sky areas in the continental United States. At present, there are four operating telescopes: 9.2-m Hobby*Eberly Telescope (HET), 2.7-m Harlan J. Smith Telescope, 2.1-m Otto Struve Telescope, and the 0.8-m Telescope. The HET is an innovative departure from classical telescope design and is dedicated primarily to the spectroscopic analysis of light.

The Observatory is equipped with a wide range of state-of-the-art instrumentation for optical and infrared imaging and spectroscopy, as well as operating one of the first and most productive lunar ranging stations. In addition to its own facilities, McDonald Observatory has a share in a submillimeter wave telescope on Mauna Kea. Our astronomers and students also make frequent use of national and international facilities, including the Hubble Space Telescope and the NASA Infared Telescope Facility. The Whole Earth Telescope project, led by Texas astronomers, involves simultaneous observations on telescopes worldwide.

Graduate students typically receive about 25% of the nights on the two largest telescopes at McDonald, with additional time being granted to their advisors for joint projects. Students doing dissertation research receive high priority on all telescopes.

Austin Facilities

The University of Texas at Austin is a leading institution of higher education and research, the largest state-supported university, and the oldest and largest of the University of Texas System. It is second only to Harvard in the number of endowed faculty positions and many of the faculty are members of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, as well as Pulitzer or Nobel Prize winners.

The University offers many excellent facilities and resources to graduate astronomy students. The University of Texas at Austin has the sixth largest academic library system in North America, the fifth largest in the United States, with more than eight million volumes. Robert Lee Moore Hall is home to a large Physics-Math-Astronomy Library and the Astronomy Department itself houses a wealth of astronomical reference materials in the Péridier Library. A 16-inch telescope on the roof of Robert Lee Moore Hall and a 9-inch telescope in nearby T.S. Painter Hall offer students and the public an introduction to the night sky. The Astronomy Department and the Observatory also offer up-to-date computer facilities, including sophisticated networks of workstations and personal computers. Machine and electronic shops, as well as specialized equipment, are also available.

Graduate Astronomy Program

The Graduate Program includes courses which will introduce students to the basic ideas of modern astronomy and astrophysics, as well as more advanced material including:

Additional course information is available in the Graduate Catalog.

Students select seven courses from a list of ten required courses and two elective courses from the list above. AST 185C, a conference course designed to introduce students to the scientific literature and our faculty, is also required and is taken in the first year. We offer a number of advanced courses, as well as five seminar series, which allow faculty, research staff, students, and visiting scientists to present their current research.

Throughout their graduate career, students carry out research projects designed to introduce them to the frontiers of modern astronomy. At the end of their second year, students defend their research to date. Students have the option of taking a Masters Degree at this time, and then continuing with the doctoral program or going directly into the doctoral program without applying for a Masters Degree. We have lists of current graduate students and their research projects, as well as the research interests of our faculty and research scientists.

Check here for our graduation statistics as well as a list of former graduate students.

For more information:

Graduate Admissions
Department of Astronomy
2515 Speedway, Stop C1400
Austin, TX 78712-1205

phone: (512) 471-3350
fax: (512) 471-6016
email: Grad Coordinator