Congratulations for surviving your first year of graduate school! Now you get to do it all again, but with a twist: the Second-Year Project. The Second-Year Project is your chance to explore a possible thesis topic without fully committing to it. After presenting your project near the end of the Spring semester, you are free to switch to a different project and/or a different advisor.

In Fall 2006, the Astronomy Department offers the following courses that you might be interested in:

ASTR610 Instrumentation
ASTR688 Planetary Science
ASTR699 Second-Year Project

Recall that Instrumentation is a required course and Planetary Science is an elective. You can find other possible electives from the course offerings of other departments; Physics, Aerospace Engineering, Meteorology, Computer Science are good places to look. Two classes, the Second-Year Project, and a TA-ship is a reasonably full load. You may want to consider adding an additional course if you have a fellowship or are extremely Gung-Ho! I have cleared all of you to register for the above three classes - talk to me about other electives and/or if you are considering an extra course.

Cheers,
Doug Hamilton
Graduate Director