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Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences
Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences (APS)
Graduate Assessment Report 2001-02
OVERVIEW
In our most recent program review, both the Internal Review
Committee (IRC) and the External Review Committee (ERC) found that
the APS graduate program was strong. The ERC lauded the dedication
and enthusiasm of our graduate students and complemented APS on its
academic programs. I add a few quotes from the Nov 13, 2002 ERC
report:
"We found the quality of APS is very high indeed and, if anything,
the self-study is overly modest in assessing the department's
national standing. Even the independent published rankings may
well do the department less than justice".
"It is rare to find a flourishing astronomy department that deftly
integrates and balances planetary astronomy with stellar and
extragalactic work... This unusual breadth and depth should stand
as a distinct attraction when recruiting the best graduate
students, postdoctoral fellows, and faculty."
"The enthusiasm and esprit de corps of the current crop of graduate
students in the department is notable. We were also pleased to
note the significant fraction of women students... Mentoring of
the students seemed uniformly excellent."
NUMERICAL FACTS
APS has 21 rostered faculty and 45-50 graduate students. In
addition, we have 3 research faculty and 20-25 affiliated faculty
from CU institutes (JILA, LASP), centers (CASA), and Boulder labs
(NCAR/HAO, Southwest Research Institute). Statistics on our
graduate program were recently compiled for the APS Self-Study and
Program Review (2001-2002). Some of the highlights include:
- The average time to PhD degree is 5.5 years
- Production of PhDs is 6.6/year (5-7% of US astrophysics total)
- Our graduate program is ranked #12 by the National Research Council
- A list of our students, their theses, and current positions can be found at
http://aps.colorado.edu/cgi-bin/alumni.pl.
NATIONAL RANKINGS OF THE APS PROGRAMS
As reported in the APS Self-Study Report, the CU astrophysics
department was ranked #12 among all US programs in surveys by the
National Research Council (NRC) and US News. Planetary Sciences
programs were not evaluated, but ours is highly regarded. Our high
national standing is noteworthy, since most of the top schools are
private institutions such as Caltech, Princeton, Harvard, Chicago,
and MIT. Among the 31 Public AAU institutions, Colorado is ranked
#4 behind Berkeley, Arizona, and Texas. A recent report evaluating
the NRC rankings of Research Universities (Diamond & Graham
2000)ranked Colorado #9 in research citation productivity.
The APS graduate programs (MS/PhD degrees) attract a talented
population of domestic and international students. Nationally, U.S.
institutions produce approximately 100 PhDs per year in astronomy
and astrophysics. Over the past 7 years (1995-2001) we have
produced a total of 46 PhDs (average of 6.6/yr) -- 33 in
astrophysics/solar physics and 13 in planetary/space physics. The
APS faculty also work with graduate students from other CU
departments, including Physics, Geology, Applied Mathematics, and
Aerospace Engineering. APS graduate students have won a large number
of competitive NASA and NSF graduate fellowships.
GRADUATE CURRICULUM AND PROGRAMS
The graduate curriculum and research in APS fall into three major
areas: astrophysics, planetary science, and space physics. The
department offers both M.S. and Ph.D. degrees, although we do not
normally admit students for just a Masters degree. The graduate
program integrates astrophysics, planetary science, and space
instrumentation, with strong observational and theoretical
components. We encourage students to get involved in independent
research as soon as possible, through the Research Comprehensive
Exam, in the required graduate seminars, and by obtaining a Research
Assistantship (RA). One of the issues under discussion is how to
balance the departmental teaching needs (TAs) with the goal of
getting students into RA positions early in their career.
Our graduate program is structured to facilitate interaction and
collaboration between the disciplines and to enable students to
explore a wide variety of research areas. For the Ph.D., we require
36 semester hours of coursework in courses numbered 5000 or above.
Most students also obtain a M.S. degree along the way. In their
first two years, students take core courses and disciplinary
electives, together with four required 1-unit graduate seminars in
either astrophysics or planetary science. Other than a few minor
additions, the APS graduate curriculum has been stable for the last
7 years.
The Comprehensive Examination for admission to Ph.D. candidacy
consists of two parts. Comps 1 is a written exam designed to test
basic principles in astrophysics, planetary science, and physics.
Questions are drawn from the three semesters of coursework
immediately preceding the exam, including core courses and elective
courses in planetary sciences and astrophysics. The current exam
allows a choice of 5 of 10 questions, including 4 core questions,
and 3 discipline questions (each) in astrophysics and planetary
science. Comps 2 is a semi-independent research project which the
student organizes, completes, and presents. The student selects an
advisor and committee after taking Comps 1, and after 4-6 months of
work provides a publication-quality written paper and an oral
presentation to the committee. The Comprehensive Exam is normally
completed after 2 years. The average time to completion of the PhD
is 5.5 years in the APS department.
GRADUATE STUDENT POPULATION
Since 1995, the year of the last APS Program Review, the graduate
student population in APS has remained relatively stable at 42-52,
with entering classes of 8-12. Starting in 2001, we are consciously
expanding our admissions to 12-15/yr, including more foreign
scholars.
Most of our graduates take jobs as postdoctoral research associates
at universities or government labs. Several of our recent alumni
are now faculty members at universities or staff members at national
laboratories or research institutions (NCAR, Space Telescope Science
Institute, NASA, Southwest Research Institute). A few examples
include: Mark Voit and Megan Donahue (STScI), Alan Stern, Robin
Canup, and Joel Parker (Southwest Research), Katia Ferriere
(Observatoire Midi-Pyrenees), Zhiyun Li (Univ. of Virginia), Mark
Lewis (Trinity College), Jim Dove (Metro State Denver), Peggy
Hartsel (Clark College), Margaret Hanson (Univ. of Cincinnati), Eric
Perlman (Univ. of Maryland, Baltimore), Sarah Gibson (NCAR). A full
list of our PhD graduates and their subsequent employment may be
found on our website (
http://aps.colorado.edu/cgi-bin/alumni.pl).
APS students continue to distinguish themselves at a national level,
with awards (currently 8 students) from the NASA Graduate Student
Researchers Program or the NSF (currently 2 students). APS students
regularly lead observing proposals for time on national facilities
(NOAO) and space instruments (Hubble Space Telescope, Far
Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer, Chandra X-Ray Observatory).
Closer to home, APS students are active in the life of APS itself.
There is graduate student representation on every major APS
committee, and every faculty search since 1997 has convened a group
of APS students to interview the short-list candidates and advise
the faculty. Every semester, 10-13 of our graduate students
typically staff the TA positions in our undergraduate curriculum.
GRADUATE TEACHING AND ADVISING:
The APS department strongly encourages the development of good
teaching skills. Most students are supported on a teaching
assistantship (TA) for their first year, and many students choose to
supplement their research with teaching later in their graduate
career. In a typical entering class of 12 students, 8 +/- 2
students hold TAs and 4 +/- 2 are offered RAs. Because we wish to
reward teaching at the same level as research, TA stipends are now
supplemented with fellowships to bridge the $1878/AY gap with RA
stipends. In the week prior to classes, entering graduate students
receive an orientation that includes an oral interview by a
faculty/student committee to discuss their background in
undergraduate physics and mathematics and design an appropriate
curriculum. The advisory committee meets with students at least
once each year. The orientation continues by assigning faculty and
senior graduate student mentors, and with extensive training in
teaching and operation of the telescopes at Sommers-Bausch
Observatory.
GRADUATE RECRUITMENT:
Because of the strength of our faculty, facilities, and students,
APS degrees are more valuable than ever. Yet we still fall just
outside the top 10 Ph.D.-granting astronomy programs. Given the
strength of our human capital, and with several key investments, we
could move into the top group in the next NRC ranking. The greatest
task confronting us in building a world-class graduate program is
attracting the best students. We are already competitive with some
top public programs (Arizona, Texas, UC Santa Cruz, UCLA) in
matriculating the best students we admit. With the proper
strategies, we can become competitive with Berkeley and many private
schools. The recruiting efforts of the last four years have borne
fruit. In 1998, we adopted the practice of inviting all admitted
students (24 last year) to visit Boulder on the same weekend in
early March. Of these 24 visitors, 12 later enrolled.
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