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Department of Astronomy

The table below lists staff/faculty members in the UT Astronomy Department who have opportunities for undergraduate research in astronomy.

    Other useful links:

    Research Groups

    Gallery!

    Astronomy Undergrads presenting at the CNS Undergraduate Forum 2006

    Funding

    Departmental aid and awards to support UG research (publications; posters; travel to conferences, McDonald, and other observatories)

  • Click on the staff/faculty name to access their contact info and homepage
  • The "Topics" entry describes the topic/focus of potential projects
  • The "Skills" entry describes the pre-requisite skills that the UG would ideally need to have for the project. If you do not have all the skills, but are very motivated for a project and are willing to work hard to develop the relevant expertise, then do not be shy. Contact the faculty member to discuss a waiver of the pre-requisite skills or the possibility of taking the project after you take extra courses.
  • Once you start to work on a research project, please make sure to email the name of your research supervisor and the project topic to the UG Astronomy Advisor (Prof. Shardha Jogee; sj@astro.as.utexas.edu). We need this information in order to nominate you for research awards and prizes.
  • Here is a partial list of UGs currently involved in research projects.

Faculty/Staff
Research Topics and UG Pre-requisite Skills

 BROMM 
topics:
The James Webb Space Telescope and the first supernovae
skills:
Any
date:
Fall 2008

 COCHRAN 
topics:
extrasolar planets, solar system
skills:
familiarity with computers (text editing, basic UNIX commands, simple programming) preferred
date:
Fall 2008

 EVANS 
topics:
Star/Planet Formation; Working with infrared data from the Herschel Space Telescope. Assisting with collecting/archiving datasets, plus other science projects based on interests.
skills:
Computer competence required; knowledge of IDL a plus but not required.
website:
Herschel DIGIT project
date:
Fall 2009

 GEBHARDT 
topics:
Black Holes
skills:
Any
date:
Fall 2008

 HEMENWAY 
topics:
Undergraduate research assistant position in Astronomy Education and Public Outreach (usually paid position).
skills:
Ability to use small telescopes for observing sessions and possess good writing skills for preparing reports on educational materials.
date:
Spring 2009

HILL / MURPHY 
topics:
Instrumentation for the VIRUS instrument
skills:
Interest in instrumentation. 10hr/week, 1 year committment.
date:
Posted on 8/25/08

 JAFFE 
topics:
 
skills:
After instrumentation course
*
Supervising 2 UG students.
date:
Fall 2008

 JOGEE 
topics:
Formation and evolution of galaxies and black holes.
skills:
Preferably computer/programming experience, or a course on galaxies.
date:
Fall 2008

 KOMATSU 
topics:
 
skills:
Any
date:
Fall 2008

 KUMAR 
topics:
Gamma-ray bursts and other topics related to stellar explosions.
skills:
Strong Theory preference
date:
Fall 2009

 LACY 
topics:
Data reduction project
skills:
Computer experience (for data reduction)/instrumentation experience
date:
Fall 2008

 LAMBERT 
topics:
Stellar atmospheres; chemical composition of stars; chemical evolution of the universe.
skills:
Depends on specific project. Some experience with IRAF desirable.
date:
Fall 2008

 MILOSAVLJEVIC 
topics:
Formation of massive black holes and its impact on the firstgalaxies
skills:
Some programming experience (Fortran, C, C++, or IDL)
date:
Fall 2008

 ROBINSON 
topics:
 
skills:
Reducing and analyzing data
date:
Fall 2008

 SCALO 
topics:
 
skills:
Some programming experience
date:
Fall 2008

 SHIELDS 
topics:
Black Holes, Nebulae
skills:
Any
date:
Fall 2008

 WINGET 
topics:
White dwarfs, open clusters, planets, debris disks
skills:
Some programming or IRAF experience
date:
Fall 2008

 WHEELER 
topics:
Supernovae, gamma-ray bursts
skills:
ROTSE data
date:
Fall 2008