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Letter to Prospective Students
Dear Prospective Applicant:
Thank you for your interest in the Astronomy graduate program at The University of Texas at Austin, one of the leading academic
institutions of astronomy and astrophysics in the United States. The Department of Astronomy and McDonald Observatory have
many exciting opportunities for graduate training and research. We welcome your application and further inquiries. You will find
application materials and instructions, as well as information concerning our program on our website. The Department of Astronomy
at the University of Texas is one of the largest in the United States, with 22 teaching faculty, 21 research scientists, over a dozen
research associates and postdoctoral fellows, and 44 graduate students. The research activities of our faculty and staff span
virtually all of modern astronomy. Our faculty have won several of the major prizes of the American Astronomical Society, as well
as the 1979 Nobel Prize in Physics and the 1987 Heineman Prize for Astrophysics from the American Institute of Physics and
American Astronomical Society. Numerous other prizes and fellowships have been awarded to our faculty members, placing us
among the top few American astronomical institutions. The large number of highly qualified research astronomers means that
every student can receive individual attention and work closely with some of the top people in their field of interest. A list of our
faculty and research scientists with a brief description of their main research interests can be found on
our website as well.
The University of Texas operates McDonald Observatory, located in the Davis Mountains about 450 miles west of Austin. The
night sky in this part of the country is unusually dark. At present, the Observatory operates 2.7-meter, 2.1-meter, 0.9-meter,
and .76-meter reflecting telescopes. The 9.2-meter equivalent, multi-mirror Hobby*Eberly Telescope was dedicated in October
1997. The observatory is equipped with a wide range of state-of-the-art instrumentation for optical and infrared imaging and
spectroscopy. We also have one of the first and most productive lunar ranging stations. In addition, McDonald Observatory
has a share in a submillimeter wave telescope on Mauna Kea, operated by Caltech. Graduate students traditionally are given
substantial direct access to all of the telescopes at McDonald Observatory including the submillimeter telescope, with additional
time being granted to their advisors for joint projects. In Austin, graduate students have access to the University's super-computers
(currently a Cray T3E and a pair of J916s), and numerous smaller computers, as well as to technical support for software and
instrumentation development.
Thank you for considering The University of Texas at Austin Department of Astronomy for your graduate studies.
Sincerely yours,
Neal J. Evans II
Chair, Department of Astronomy
Edward Randall, Jr. Centennial Professor
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