Astronomy

Questions about these requirements? See the contact info at the bottom of the page. 

Committee on Academic Studies (CAS)

The Committee on Academic Studies (CAS) in the Department of Astronomy has the primary responsibility for administering the graduate program. The purpose of the committee is to ensure that students receive adequate guidance, to see that uniform academic standards are applied, and to define the professional qualifications expected by the department for advanced degrees in astronomy. At regular intervals, the committee reviews the progress of each graduate student. It also reviews and approves study programs and research plans, and names dissertation examination committees and dissertation advisory committees.

Advising

An initial academic advisor is assigned to each incoming graduate student to help a student make informed decisions about coursework and research opportunities when registering in my.harvard for the first time. 

Each first-year graduate student must identify a Research Advisor by December 15 of G1. At the same deadline, the student should submit to the Director of Graduate Studies (DGS) and department office a brief (abstract level) summary of the research project, along with a suggested Advising Committee (AC). The DGS and CAS will finalize the AC assignment and inform the student by January 15 of G1, at which point the student will schedule the first meeting of the AC, to take place prior to Spring Break in the spring term of G1.   

The student, in consultation with their research advisor, should select a research project, read relevant background material, and submit to the AC at least one week prior to the AC meeting a draft of the research proposal to be discussed in detail with the AC at the first meeting. The research proposal should be 2-4 pages long and include a description of the intended work with relevant references to the literature, expected outcomes, and a timeline for timely completion of the project (see below).   

Following the first AC meeting, and taking into account feedback, the student will submit the final research proposal to the DGS and department office by May 15 of G1. 

Subsequently, the student will meet with their AC once per semester, with the meeting time scheduled by September 30 (fall term) and January 31 (spring term). 

Course Requirements

The course requirements in astronomy are designed such that a student receives a broad knowledge of astronomy while also having access to courses focused on specific fields of astrophysics research. There are three general course requirements:

1. Each student must receive a satisfactory grade (A or B) or pass an oral examination in one core course: Astronomy 200 (Radiative Astrophysics)

2. Each student must receive a satisfactory grade in at least five electives chosen from the list below: 

• Astronomy 201: Astrophysical Fluids & Plasmas
• Astronomy 202a: Extragalactic Astronomy & Cosmology I
• Astronomy 202b: Extragalactic Astronomy & Cosmology II
• Astronomy 2033: Interstellar Medium & Star Formation
• Astronomy 204: Stellar Astrophysics
• Astronomy 205: Machine Learning for Astrophysics
• Astronomy 209: Exoplanet Systems
• Astronomy 210: Exoplanet Formation (under development)
• Astronomy 214: Observational Astronomy
• Astronomy 215: Relativistic Astrophysics
• Astronomy 218: Radio Astronomy (under development)
• Physics 210: General Relativity
• Data Analysis (Physics 200 or Applied Math 207 but not both)
• Earth & Planetary Science (EPS 220 or EPS 237 but not both)  

3. Each student is expected to complete for credit one 200-level course outside the department. Known as the practical elective, this course should pertain to a student’s research field of interest or assist the student in furthering research skills in such areas as data analysis, engineering, geology, chemistry, or biology (writing courses will not count).  Any one of the non-astronomy courses listed as electives in category 2 above can be used as the practical elective, but taking one course cannot be used to meet two requirements.  The DGS must approve your choice of the practical elective. 

4. The Graduate School requires 32 units of "residency" for the PhD degree.  Students are allowed four units of Astronomy 300 to make up this total.  

Astrophysics Assessment

In October of the fall term, the astrophysics oral assessment will be conducted with each first-year student individually. This focuses on the basic concepts and core knowledge of astronomy and astrophysics as covered by the undergraduate text An Introduction to Astrophysics by Bradley W. Carroll and Dale A. Ostlie. Early in the fall term, the students will be provided with a list of 100 questions from which the assessment questions will be drawn. This then serves as a guide for your personal or group study. After the exam, if needed, the DGS will make specific remedial recommendations for each student to address particular areas of concern. 

If a student does not pass the assessment, they will be required to retake the assessment the following year. Since a strong understanding of undergraduate astrophysics knowledge is required for success in our graduate-level courses and research, students who do not pass the assessment the second time may be required to withdraw from the program by the end of G2. 

Research Project

Before beginning work on a dissertation, a student must complete one research project. The purpose of the project is to introduce students to methods of research and to ensure that they can organize material and present it cogently in written form. The topic may be in the area of their intended thesis work, although research in another area is encouraged. No research project or paper carried out before the student has registered for graduate study at Harvard will be accepted for this requirement.

The identification of the research project adviser and topic, as well as the assignment of an Advising Committee and the meeting cadence with the AC, are provided above. 

The deliverables of the research project are a written research project report describing the results of the research project, and the research exam, administered by the AC (this will count as the semesterly meeting of the AC for the semester in which the research exam takes place). The report should be in the style of a paper submitted for publication in a professional journal (e.g. ApJ, MNRAS, A&A) and should be written primarily by the student, with input from the advisor. It is not required that the report be submitted for publication, but we note that this is nearly always the case. The Report should be submitted to the AC at least two weeks prior to the research exam.  

The research exam consists of a presentation by the student describing the completed work, with questions from the AC covering the primary research topic, as well as its broader context within astrophysics. The exam should be scheduled for 1.5 hours. The student's presentation should focus on the motivation for the research, the results obtained, and the astrophysical implications. It is the responsibility of the student to bring to the exam the requisite forms. 

We strongly encourage students to complete the research project report and the research exam prior to the beginning of the fall term of G3.  Specifically, we strongly encourage students to schedule the research exam before the end of May of G2, as summer meetings are generally challenging to schedule due to travel. In our experience, timely completion of the research exam will enable a timely five-year PhD.  

Students who have not completed their research exam before the start of their G3 year will be required to meet with their AC by October 15 of G3 to discuss research progress and present a written plan detailing a path to completion of the research project as early in G3 as possible. Based on discussion at that meeting and possible revision of the plan, the AC chair will, by November 1, convey the plan to the CAS, along with their own short assessment of the schedule risk. If the research exam has not been completed by the end of the fall semester, the student must meet again with their AC by February 28 to offer a final plan, which the AC chair will again convey to the CAS by March 15. 

The final deadline for the research exam is May 15 of G3.  Students who do not meet this deadline are liable to be withdrawn from the program. 

Public Outreach Project

Our graduate students, past and present, have been distinguished nationally by their commitment and contributions to the greater astronomy community, including the lay public. ComSciCon and Astrobites are just two examples of efforts that were initiated by and continue to thrive thanks to students at Harvard. In that tradition, the faculty feels it important that every student be asked to contribute in some meaningful way to interact with our numerous stakeholders: outside scientists, students, the lay public, politicians, entrepreneurs, and funders, to name a few.

This contribution can take the form of creating outreach products (websites, software, games relating to your PhD thesis) or services (teaching or mentoring in other programs, volunteering in professional societies, organizing events for the public, political activism, etc.). Responsibility for approving and validating such projects rests with the DGS presently. Please consult the department’s website for the appropriate forms and deadlines.

Foreign Language Requirement

The Department of Astronomy has no formal requirement in foreign languages. Students should, however, be familiar with the scientific literature in foreign languages that relates to their own work.

Master of Arts (AM)

Graduate students in astronomy are admitted to the PhD program only. The AM degree will be awarded upon satisfactory completion of the University residence requirement: a minimum one year of full-time study in residence or equivalent. Candidates for the master’s degree must successfully complete the above departmental requirement of one core astronomy course (Astro 200) and five additional electives. Neither the research exam nor the practical elective need be completed before the AM degree can be conferred.

Teaching Requirements

Department of Astronomy graduate students are required to satisfactorily teach for two terms. A student’s teaching will be evaluated by the course head. Students who are not proficient in the English language are required to demonstrate to the course head their proficiency before they will be allowed to teach. Various routes to improving English communications skills are available through the University; the department will help students achieve the necessary proficiency. The Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning offers activities and services to aid those who teach, and is especially useful for new teaching fellows or those who are unfamiliar with teaching in the American classroom setting.

The first two terms of a student’s teaching are part of their compensation package from the department (unless the student has an external fellowship, see below). Many students wish to teach more than the required number. The department believes that students should have this opportunity if they are in good academic standing and are making good progress toward their degree. Students who undertake additional teaching will normally keep half of their teaching stipend if sufficient research funds are available. Students that wish to teach additional courses should obtain the consent of their advisors and, by University rules, must be in good academic standing. If a student has received an outside fellowship that permits additional support, they may keep the stipend from teaching in addition to the fellowship. Students also may not teach more than one course per term without the consent of the CAS. It is the responsibility of the student and their advisor to ensure that additional teaching (beyond the two required terms) will not slow progress toward completion of academic/degree requirements.

Teaching in the summer, while allowed, will not count toward the teaching requirement. Students are required to teach at least one semester in G2 (fall and/or spring), and complete the teaching requirements by the end of G3.  Petitions to go beyond this schedule require specific extenuating circumstances and approval from the CAS, and have to be submitted to the DGS prior to fall semester of G3.  

Dissertation

Thesis Advisory Committee

Within three months of completion of the research exam, the student will submit to the DGS and department office a thesis proposal, along with the name of the thesis advisor and a list of any requested changes to the Advisory Committee membership (the AC will become the Thesis Advisory Committee, TAC, from this point onward). The PhD thesis supervisor can be different from the research project advisor.  

As with the AC, the student should meet with the TAC every semester. It is the student's responsibility to arrange these meetings. The first TAC meeting should be no later than six months after the student has completed the research exam. Before each TAC meeting, the student should forward to TAC members the instructions outlined in the bullets below. 

• At least one week prior to the first TAC meeting, the student should provide the TAC with a copy of the thesis proposal. At the meeting, the student should make a presentation describing the research field, a draft of the intellectual questions to be addressed in the thesis, a proposed list of projects likely to be completed, and a planned timeline toward a timely completion of the thesis. The student should bring the TAC report form to the meeting. This is only required for the first meeting. 
• In advance of each subsequent TAC meeting, the student should provide committee members with a brief summary of current progress and problems. This document should include basic information such as when the student expects to graduate, how many years it has been since the student joined the graduate program, papers published or submitted, papers nearing completion, etc. 
• Subsequent TAC meetings should normally take no longer than one hour, except in those cases where the student faces problems and needs detailed advice. The student's presentation at these meetings should focus on work accomplished since the previous meeting and on immediate plans for the future. As part of the presentation, the student should provide a timeline that includes a list of tasks to be completed and an estimate of when each task is expected to be completed. The timeline should extend up to the time of graduation. 
• During and following the student's presentation, TAC members are expected to participate actively and to provide constructive advice and suggestions on the thesis research. Following this, the committee and the supervisor meet for a few minutes in the absence of the student. The TAC chair will draft an email to the DGS and department coordinator in consultation with the other members. These reports can be reasonably detailed, paying particular attention to problem areas. These reports are the primary source of information to the CAS for monitoring the academic progress of individual students. 
• After each meeting, the TAC chair should meet with the student to provide any TAC feedback, as well as any matters relating, for example, to advising or professional development.   

PhD Dissertation

On average, students complete their PhD dissertation within three years following the research exam. Before the final oral examination, the student is required to give a public lecture on the dissertation topic. Information on due dates for degree applications and submission of dissertations may be obtained from the registrar. The final manuscript should conform to the requirements described in Dissertations.

Defense Committee External Reader

At the last TAC meeting prior to the thesis defense, the student and the committee members should discuss an external examiner, who will join the TAC for the defense, and should forward these suggestions to the DGS.  By University rules, at least two defense committee members must be faculty members. Typically, the chair of the TAC will serve as chair of the Final Oral Exam Committee. The final oral examination will be confined to the thesis research and topics bearing directly on it. The typical duration is two hours. 

Contact Info

Astronomy Website

Department of Astronomy
Harvard University
60 Garden Street
Cambridge, MA 02138
617-495-3753
Email