Professor Terndrup (that’s me!) anticipates that there will be one or more paid positions for undergraduate researchers in the Autumn 2018 semester. These will require a commitment of 10 to 20 hours per week, negotiable with the selected student(s), starting approximately the first week of classes and continuing through the end of finals week. Depending on performance and other considerations, the positions may be extendable through the end of February, 2019. The positions are contingent on the availability of funding. Salary is anticipated to be $12 / hour.
The goal of the project is to understand how reliable are ages determined from stellar rotation rates. In particular, we will focus on how the orbits of stars in the Milky Way, which are different for young and old stars, are correlated with ages derived from stellar rotation.
The selected student(s) will be part of a larger group which is attacking this problem in a variety of ways. Consequently, there will be opportunities for students to focus on statistical analysis, data visualization, mining of data from the astronomical literature, or measurement of stellar properties from observational data. Preference will be given to students who have completed Astronomy 2292.
To express interest in the position, please send a short (say, 250 words) essay describing your interest in astrophysics, your current commitments for the fall semester, and what skills you can bring to the position (programming, previous research experience, etc.). Send this by email to terndrup.1@osu.edu. While there is no deadline, preference will be given to those to respond by July 1, 2018.
The submitted essay does not constitute a formal job application. Selected students will be asked to apply formally for the position during July.
You may send inquiries about these positions any time to me using the email address above.