Introduction to Research Skills in Astro

Participation in research is an essential component of a complete undergraduate science education, and is mandatory for those students wishing to go on to the PhD. This course is designed to introduce students to doing astronomy beyond the classroom. It will cover basic topics including but not limited to: coding in astronomy, utilizing international archives, manipulating data, running simulations, reading academic papers, making and giving presentations, academic culture, time management, working in collaborations, and career paths. Students will engage in first-hand research on a specific astronomical topic in order to put their skills to practice; the first year, the selected topic is galactic dynamics and the power of stellar streams to probe the mass distribution and history of the Galaxy. By the end of the course, students should be fully prepared to enter a summer research internship and make the most of their time there. We encourage students considering majoring in Astronomy or Astrophysics who are interested in astrophysical research to take this course. Priority will be given to those interested in majoring in Astrophysics who have no prior research experience. Students should have taken at least one semester of college-level physics and have a knowledge of calculus. No prior experience in python coding is required.