Richard W. Pogge
Professor of Astronomy and Vice Chair for Instrumentation
Information can be found here:
https://astronomy.osu.edu/outreach/public-lecture-series
The event is free but registration is requested.
Here’s an interesting article published last summer in Forbes magazine on success as a science student. The first suggestion is ‘go to class’. Sounds obvious, right, but in my courses I am already seeing a few students who are skipping out some or all of the time. Though they may surprise me in the end, such students are typically the ones that get grades of C or C- at the end of the semester. What do you think of these suggestions?
The Ohio State Office of Undergraduate Research and Creative Inquiry maintains a website listing research opportunities for students. A good research experience teaches you many skills, and will help you with future opportunities as a graduate student or in the scientific working world. Many potential research supervisors might be interested in Astronomy or Physics students, even if the subject of the research project is in a different area. Several of our majors over recent years have undertaken fun and interesting projects in biophysics, medical research, anthropology, or other subjects. There are other great resources that this office provides – check it out!
The International Max Planck Research School for Solar System Science at the University of Göttingen invites applications for several PhD positions to start in 2018.
Review of applications for a starting date of September 2018 will begin on 15 November 2017.
For full details, see this announcement (PDF format).
One of the nice things about studying Astrophysics is that, along the way, you have the chance to learn a lot of widely applicable skills: advanced mathematics, statistics, computer programming, research protocols, and many others.
Here’s an article summarizing a survey of the skills industry hires need. Top on the list were working on a teams and delivering on schedule and on budget. Other commonly indicated skills included networking, leadership, and understanding the business of research.
Do any of your classes emphasize these skills? For those senior students doing research, are you learning these skills along the way? What additions to the undergraduate program would help you in this way?
Here is an interesting article on the benefits of taking notes by hand – even in this era of portable computing.
Do you agree with this? What techniques do you find most effective?