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Programs of Study, 1997-1999
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
ASTRONOMY
Chair of the Department: Kwok-Yung Lo
Correspondence and Information: Department of Astronomy,
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 103 Astronomy Building, 1002 West Green
Street, Urbana, IL 61801; (217) 333-3090.
E-mail: astro@astro.uiuc.edu. URL: http://www.astro.uiuc.edu/
GRADUATE FACULTY
Professors: R. M. Crutcher, J. R. Dickel, I. Iben, Jr., J. B. Kaler, F. K. Lamb, K. Y. Lo, D. Mihalas, T. Ch. Mouschovias, M. Norman, S. L. Shapiro, L. L. Smarr, L. E. Snyder, L. A. Thompson, W.D. Watson, R. F. Webbink
Associate Professor: E. C. Sutton
Assistant Professors: P. McCullough, M. Meixner
Adjunct Associate Professor: H. E. Seidel
Emeritus Professors: J. H. Cahn, E. C. Olson, S. Rosen, G. Swenson, K. M. Yoss
GRADUATE DEGREE PROGRAMS
The Department of Astronomy offers graduate work leading to the master 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 modern 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 decisions are made once a year in the spring. Applications for admission and financial assistance must be received by February 15. Normal entrance requirements are a bachelor's degree in astronomy, physics, physical chemistry, or mathematics, and a one-year course in descriptive astronomy. A minimum grade point average of 3.0 (A = 4.0) and satisfactory scores on the Graduate Record Examination (verbal, quantitative, and advanced physics portions) are requisites for admission. Financial assistance is usually provided to graduate students.
MASTER OF SCIENCE
For the M.S. degree, eight units of study in graduate courses are required. There are no thesis or foreign language requirements. The eight units of course work may not include any research units (such as 490, 497, 499) except one unit of 490. At least four units must be in astronomy 400-level courses, two of which will be in Theoretical Astrophysics 402 and in Observational Astronomy 403. The remaining four units must be selected from approved courses in astronomy, physics, or mathematics, with at least one of these units in a 400-level course.
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
The Ph.D. degree requires completion of 24 units in courses in astronomy and related fields (at least eight of which involve individual study and research), satisfactory performance on a general qualifying examination no later than the beginning of the third year of study, and completion of an original research project culminating in a thesis publishable in whole or in part. Further information on exact degree requirements may be obtained from the department.
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 (planetary nebulae, molecular clouds, magnetic fields, supernova remnants, and galactic structure); extragalactic systems (galaxy structure and evolution, interacting galaxies, active galaxies, jets, and quasars); and large-scale structure of the universe.
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, 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.
RESEARCH FACILITIES
The department is a partner in a millimeter-wavelength radio telescope array, located at Hat Creek in Northern California, and operated jointly with UC Berkeley and the University of Maryland. A 1-m reflecting telescope equipped with optical and infrared CCDs, and located on Mt. Laguna in Southern California, is operated jointly with San Diego State University, which also operates 0.4-m and 0.6-m telescopes occasionally used by University of Illinois faculty and students. Transportation costs are normally provided. Optical and radio astronomers may also obtain observing time at national observatories at Kitt Peak, Cerro Tololo, Green Bank, and Socorro. Computational facilities include a departmental local area network (LAN) of Sun SPARC workstations and fileservers, with interactive image processing capability. This LAN also provides access to campus mainframes, including IBM J30 and IBM SP2 computers, and to the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) on campus. NCSA operates Silicon Graphics Power Challenge, HP/Convex Exemplar, and Connection Machine 5 parallel processor supercomputers, with advanced virtual reality visualization systems. They are used for both production data processing (radio synthesis imaging) and theoretical modeling.
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 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.
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