Higher level technical jobs in the aerospace industry, national laboratories and observatories, or other high-tech or computer software companies may require the physical understanding of the Astrophysics track, although General Astronomy majors can compete for similar jobs in some circumstances.  The Physics Plan 1 and Physics Plan 2 (Astrophysics) curricula are similar preparation for technical industry jobs to the Astrophysics track in APS. Recent graduates from our program have obtained jobs at Ball Aerospace Corp., small technical and computer firms in the Denver/Boulder area, and observing specialist positions at the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Telescope, Apache Point Observatory, and the Large Binocular Telescope.

Students should consider taking the following courses to give themselves more practical, hands-on lab experience:

  • ASTR 2500/ASEN 1400 Gateway to Space (3)
  • ASTR 3510 Observations and Instrumentation 1 (4)
  • ASTR 3520 Observations and Instrumentation 2 (4)
  • PHYS 4510 Optics (3)
  • ASTR 5760 Astrophysical Instrumentation (3; graduate level)

Consider becoming involved in Space Grant College.  This is an interdisciplinary (APS and Aerospace Engineering) program which promotes and develops hands-on skills in space hardware development.  You would be working with engineering students in the design and fabrication of small spacecraft payloads.  To begin the program, take ASTR 2500/ASEN 1400 Gateway to Space (3).

Develop ample computer programming skills, which will serve you in obtaining a research job here at CU as an undergraduate and later in your job years.  If you do not already have programming skills, we recommend you take:

  • ASTR 2600 Computational Techniques or
  • ASTR 3800 Scientific Data Analysis & Computing (3) [requires Calculus III & ASTR 2600]

Develop ample proposal-writing skills, which will serve you in many types of technical jobs, where it's necessary to understand the requirements of program announcements and announcements of research opportunities and respond to them with clear, cogent, and precise prose.  Good writing skills should be cultivated early and often in your CU career, perhaps starting with the CU Writing Program.

We recommend you obtain some research experience while you are still an undergraduate.  There are a variety of ways to accomplish this, including laboratory assistant jobs with LASP, CASA, NSO, or JILA, or projects with individual APS faculty or researchers.  If you are aiming for industry, a job in an institute or lab would be a good choice.  Semi-independent research work is also available during the school year and is facilitated by the ASTR 4840/independent study course or a departmental Honors thesis.