Have you wondered how galaxies formed in the early Universe? What happens to material as it spirals into a black hole? Are you interested in using astronomy to explore the fundamental physics of the Universe? Or, closer to home, how did our Solar System form and how are planets forming around other stars? A Ph.D. in astronomy from the University of Maryland at College Park can launch you on a successful pursuit of answers to these questions.

About the Department

The University of Maryland at College Park is a dynamic research university with highly ranked programs in astronomy, physics, computer science and aerospace engineering, among many others. It is a university of more than 35,000 students, in a classic campus setting of tall trees and Georgian brick buildings, just 10 miles from the bustle of Washington, D.C.

The Department of Astronomy is large, with 16 professorial faculty, 33 graduate students, and approximately 30-40 research scientists. We are also one of the country's foremost astronomy departments, and provide our student with unique research opportunities. Our students work hard, but the payoff -- in the form of new discoveries and the launching of their careers -- is very real and exciting. As a Maryland graduate student you will have the opportunity to conduct research using some of the world's most sophisticated observational satellites and ground-based observatories, or to use powerful supercomputers to attack theoretical problems. Observational and theoretical research are partnered to produce surprising insights into the formation of planets and stars, to advance the study of our own and other galaxies, and to produce ground-breaking work in areas as diverse as high-energy astrophysics and space weather.

Read on to learn more about the Department of Astronomy and its many research opportunities:

Major Resources

What are some of the exciting facilities and collaborations available to graduate students at the University of Maryland?

• Combined Array for Research in Millimeter-Wave Astronomy - CARMA is a 23-telescope millimeter array in California operated by the University of Maryland in partnership with Caltech, UC Berkeley, U. Illinois, and U. Chicago. It conducts cutting-edge scientific research and provides unique learning opportunities for the next generation of instrumentalists and astronomers.
• UMD-NOAO Collaboration - This is a partnership with the National Optical Astronomy Observatory under which UMD receives approximately 20% of the scientific nights on the Kitt Peak 4 meter telescope in Arizona. In return, the department provides software development for new astronomical instruments at the observatory. Summer schools give department graduate students experience in writing observing proposals, reviewing them, and carrying out the proposed observations.
• Deep Impact/EPOXI - This two-part space mission is providing major advances in our understanding of how our solar system formed and evolved. The initial visit to Comet 9P/Tempel opened up our understanding of cometary composition and structure, and more data is anticipated from a follow up fly-by of Comet Hartley 2.
• Center for Research and Exploration in Space Science & Technology - CRESST is the most visible of our many interactions with NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, located only 5 miles away. UMD researchers work together with Goddard scientists on many topics, ranging from the study of neutron stars, black holes, and extremely hot gas throughout the universe to the study of planets in our Solar System. This partnership offers an exciting array of opportunities for graduate students to work with Goddard scientists and facilities on their Ph.D. theses.
• Center for Theory and Computation - The CTC, a strong group of theoretical astrophysicists within the department, built and maintains a Beowulf cluster to perform computational analyses and simulations across a range of research areas. We are also partners in the University of Maryland's High Performance Computing Cluster, which has over 1000 CPUs and has been invaluable to our students in completing computationally-intensive thesis projects.

Research Areas

What kind of research would you like to do?

Research in the Astronomy Department covers the entire electromagnetic spectrum, from radio waves to gamma-rays, and it addresses a range of scales from our solar system to the frontiers of cosmology. A broad assortment of national observatories, satellites, and supercomputers are used on a guest investigator basis. Department research can be categorized under the following headings, though members of the department are typically involved with more than one area.

• Planetary Astronomy - Comets, asteroids, moons, rings, orbital dynamics, the origin of the solar system and other planetary systems, space weather/ionospheric physics, and space exploration (A'Hearn, Hamilton, Papadopoulos, Richardson).
• High Energy Astrophysics - Active galaxies, black holes, neutron stars, and gravitational radiation (Veilleux, Miller, Reynolds).
• Galactic Astronomy - The interstellar medium, star and planetary formation, planetary nebulae, and radiative transfer (Ostriker, Mundy, Vogel, Harrington, Bolatto).
• Extragalactic Astronomy - Galaxy formation and evolution, starbursting galaxies, low-surface brightness galaxies, spiral galaxies, and the Small Magellanic Cloud (McGaugh, Ostriker, Veilleux, Vogel, Harris, Bolatto).
• Cosmology - The reionization epoch, the development of structure, dark matter, gravitational lensing, and cosmological parameters (Ricotti, Bolatto, Miller, McGaugh).
• Radio instrumentation (Harris) and astrobiology (Mundy).

Students begin research very quickly, usually within their first year. The curriculum includes a research project due at the end of the second year, giving students a chance to work with a professor and explore a particular topic, while allowing them to pursue a completely different Ph.D. dissertation project if they wish.

Research projects at Goddard Space Flight Center are usually satellite-based investigations in fields including high-energy astrophysics, cosmology, formation and evolution of stars and galaxies, extrasolar planets, and solar system astrophysics. Instrumentation projects are also available.

More information about individual centers and fields.

Astronomy Classes

What would you like to learn about?

Our course offerings reflect the range of subfields of astronomy, as well as the astrophysics required to understand them. They include the following topics, offered every other year unless otherwise noted:

• Radiative Processes (offered every year)
• Stellar Structure and Evolution
• Astronomical Instrumentation and Techniques
• Computational Astrophysics
• Galaxies
• The Interstellar Medium and Gas Dynamics
• High Energy Astrophysics
• Cosmology
• Planetary Astronomy

The department also offers an "Introduction to Research" course every fall, in which we give new graduate students an introduction to common astronomical software and to the research being done by individual professors.

The curriculum is divided into an observational track and a theoretical/computational track so that students may pursue their scientific methodology of choice while receiving a solid overall foundation.

Department Support

What sort of funding is available?

As a matter of policy, the Department of Astronomy commits to supporting our graduate students with teaching or research assistantships for a minimum of six years if adequate progress is being made toward the Ph.D. This support includes full tuition as well as a generous stipend. Typically, students have teaching assistantships during their first 1-2 years in the program and research assistantships thereafter. Graduate students may alternatively pursue university or federal fellowships for funding.

We firmly believe that all graduate students accepted to our department are capable of completing the Ph.D. program. We are committed to encouraging our students and aiding them in achieving their goals.

Student Life

Is there life beyond classes/research?

Absolutely! Department life offers many well-attended social activities, such as intramural sports, "Payday Pizza Fridays", daily espresso breaks in the afternoon, and the annual astronomy picnic. A good source of information about everyday student life is the GradLife wiki, maintained by the graduate students. There, you can also find out about events such as the "Unjournal Club", which provides a weekly opportunity for graduate students to present research and to field questions from fellow students without the pressure of a professor in the room.

Outside the department, Washington, D.C.--just 9 miles from campus--has hundreds of restaurants, dozens of museums, and thousands of opportunities for shopping. The Kennedy Center hosts world-renowned ballet companies, theater productions, and symphonies. The National Gallery of Art, the Hirshorn, and Phillips galleries offer art in a variety of forms. Sports fans cheer for the Nationals baseball team in the newly-built Nationals Park or visit Camden Yards to root for the O's. Visitors can also tour a variety of attractions around the city's scenic Inner Harbor. Annapolis, site of Maryland's capital, features maritime charm and provides a great place for Sunday strolls--as long as you don't have a test on Monday!

International students will find the College Park campus to be a place of great diversity. Students come from 110 countries around the world, and minorities make up more than a quarter of the student population. An eclectic mix of speakers, cultural activities, films and concerts cater to different interests.

Explore further!

To learn more about the Department of Astronomy, we encourage you to peruse our webpages or to contact the chair of the Graduate Entrance Committee, Dr. Stacy McGaugh. We look forward to having you join us at the University of Maryland!