Astronomy
103 Astronomy Building
1002 West Green Street
Urbana, IL 61801
(217) 333-3090
E-mail: astronomy@illinois.edu
Major: Astronomy
Degrees offered: M.S., Ph.D.
Graduate Concentration:Astrochemistry (Ph.D. only)
Graduate Degree Programs
The Department of Astronomy offers graduate programs leading to the Master’s of Science and Doctor of Philosophy degrees. The goal of the graduate program in astronomy is to provide broadly based training in modern astrophysics and astronomy for a small and carefully selected student body. Individually designed programs involving close contact with faculty members are encouraged, and an understanding of fundamental principles and techniques and their applications to research problems of current interest is emphasized. Students are expected to acquire a solid knowledge of modem physics as well as of general astronomy. A major objective is to maintain an exciting intellectual environment in which students can develop their scientific creativity and their enthusiasm for astronomy.
Admission
Admission to the astronomy graduate program requires an outstanding record of accomplishment and clear evidence of considerable academic promise, as judged by test scores, resume (or c.v.), letters of recommendation, personal statement, and strong intellectual achievements. A bachelor’s degree or its equivalent in astronomy, physics, chemistry, mathematics, or another related technical field from an accredited college or university in the U.S. or an approved institution of higher learning abroad is required for admission.
A minimum grade point average of 3.0 (A = 4.0) and satisfactory scores on the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) (verbal, quantitative, and advanced physics portions) are required for admission. Course preparation in intermediate and advanced undergraduate physics and astronomy are essential. Students are expected to make up deficiencies during the first graduate year.
All applicants whose native language is not English are required to submit the results of the TOEFL or IELTS as evidence of English proficiency, as required by Graduate College policy. More information on the English Proficiency Requirement can be found at the Graduate College Admissions Web site.
Admission decisions are normally made once a year in the spring. Applications for admission and financial assistance must be received by January 15. In rare circumstances, applicants may be admitted for the spring semester, in addition to the customary fall semester admissions.
See the Astronomy graduate admissions Web site (www.astro.illinois.edu/academics/grad.shtml) for more information and application materials.
Degree Requirements
*For additional details and requirements refer to the department's Graduate Programs and the Graduate College Handbook.
Master of Science
| Required Courses | Required Hours |
|---|---|
| ASTR 502, 503, 504, and 590 | 16 |
| Additional 500-level ASTR courses | 8 |
| Electives from approved departmental list | 8 |
| Research/Project/Independent Study Hours (min/max applied toward degree): | 4/4 |
| Total Hours | 32 |
Minimum Hours Overall Required Within the Unit: |
24 |
Minimum 500-level Hours Required Overall: |
24 |
| Other Requirements:* | |
| Minimum GPA: | 3.0 |
Doctor of Philosophy
| Required Courses | Required Hours-Entering with approved M.A./M.S. degree | Required Hours-Entering with approved B.A./B.S. degree |
|---|---|---|
| ASTR 502, 503, 504, and 590 | 161 | 16 |
| ASTR graduate courses (up to 8 hours of approved cognate, non-ASTR graduate courses may be substituted) | 0 | 32 |
| Research/Project/Independent Study Hours (min/max applied toward degree): | 4-20 | 4-20 |
| Thesis Hours Required– ASTR 599 (min/max applied toward degree): | 32-48 | 32-48 |
| Total Hours | 64 | 96 |
Minimum Hours Overall Required Within the Unit: |
48 | 72 |
Minimum 500-level Hours Required Overall: |
48 | 48 |
| Other Requirements:* | ||
| Minimum GPA: | 3.0 | 3.0 |
| Masters Degree Required for Admission to PhD? | No | No |
| Qualifying Exam Required | Yes | Yes |
| Preliminary Exam Required | Yes | Yes |
| Final Exam/Defense Required | Yes | Yes |
| Dissertation Deposit Required | Yes | Yes |
1. Students entering with an approved M.A. or M.S. degree may proficiency out of ASTR 502, 503, and/or 504 with departmental approval. Other ASTR graduate courses must be taken for substitute credit hours.
The general qualifying examination must be passed no later than the beginning of the third year of study. The preliminary examination must be passed no later than the end of the fourth year of study. Completion of an original research project culminating in a thesis publishable in whole or in part is required. Students may add a graduate concentration in Astrochemistry.
Graduate Teaching Experience
Although teaching is not a general Graduate College requirement, experience in teaching is considered an important part of the graduate experience in this program.
Faculty Research Interests
Research activity includes astrophysical fluid dynamics; magnetohydrodynamics and radiation hydrodynamics; and observational and theoretical investigations of a wide array of astronomical objects: comets (chemistry), stars (formation, structure and evolution, atmospheres, nucleosynthesis, novae, supernovae, pulsars, and stellar statistics), the interstellar medium (multiple phases, molecular clouds, HII regions, bubbles and superbubbles, planetary nebulae, supernova remnants, magnetic fields, and galactic structure), extragalactic systems (galaxy structure and evolution, interacting galaxies, active galaxies, jets, and quasars), and large-scale structure of the universe (galaxy clusters, cosmic nucleosynthesis, cosmic microwave background, and cosmology).
Astrophysics is also a strong research interest of several faculty members in the Department of Physics. Current activity there centers on the physics of dense stellar matter, accretion phenomena, and high energy and relativistic astrophysics, with broad interests in the application of modern physics to astronomy. Students in astronomy may select thesis supervisors from faculty members in the Department of Physics as well as in the Department of Astronomy.
Facilities and Resources
- The Combined Array for Research in Millimeter-wave Astronomy is operated jointly by a consortium of the California Institute of Technology, the University of California Berkeley, the University of Chicago, the University of Illinois, and the University of Maryland, with the partner Universities having guaranteed observing time. At a new high-altitude site in eastern California, CARMA provides unparalleled sensitivity, broad frequency coverage, sub-arcsecond resolution and wide-field heterogeneous imaging capabilities, along with innovative technologies and educational opportunities. It is currently the most powerful telescope of its type in the world.
- The Blanco 4-m telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory and other facilities at the National Optical Astronomy Observatories are available through special arrangement for University of Illinois staff members and graduate students.
- The UnISIS (University of Illinois Seeing Improvement System) laser guided adaptive optics system at the Mt. Wilson 2.5-m telescope produces near-diffraction limited images over the wavelength range 900 nm to 2.5 µm. Two imaging cameras, one for visible wavelengths and one for near-IR, simultaneously collect data.
- A number of projects in the Department of Astronomy are partnering with the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) at Illinois. This includes development and application of astrophysical simulations such as the FLASH package and general relativistic magnetohydrodynamic codes that provide insight into the nature of structure formation and the physics of black holes. Astronomy faculty also leverage NCSA's pioneering development of cyberinfrastructure environments to facilitate data transport for the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), the Palomar-Quest project, the CARMA project, the Dark Energy Survey, and the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope. NCSA and the Astronomy Department also jointly founded the Laboratory for Cosmological Data Mining to apply novel algorithms to the rich datasets now available for cosmological analysis, including those from the SDSS and Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe.
- The department is also involved in ESA/NASA's Planck space mission to obtain the definitive maps of the cosmic microwave background anisotropies. The department is one of only a few selected U.S. institutions to be involved in this major international endeavor in cosmology.
Financial Aid
University fellowships are available and may be combined with part-time teaching assistantships. Most resident students are supported for their first two or three years by half-time teaching assistantships. The typical teaching assistant takes two or three graduate courses per semester and spends twenty hours per week handling quiz sections in elementary astronomy courses. Teaching assistantships are responsible positions, and the concomitant duties are considered to be a valuable part of the student’s educational experience. Advanced students may compete for research assistantships offered by faculty members whose research is partially supported by federal grants.