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 continue with it, switch to a different project, or even switch to a different advisor. If you do not have a second-year project lined up at this time, please come see me!

In Fall 2011, the Astronomy Department offers the following courses that you might be interested in:

ASTR615 Computation
ASTR620 Galaxies
ASTR699 Second-Year Project (2 credits)

Recall that it is a requirement that you take either Instrumentation (offered next fall) or Computation and that you take either Planetary Science (offered next fall) or Galaxies. You can find other possible electives from the course offerings of other departments; Physics, Aerospace Engineering, Meteorology, and 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 - please talk to me about other electives and/or if you are considering an extra course.

Cheers,
Doug Hamilton
Graduate Director