Degrees Awarded
The Departments of Astronomy and Physics each offer programs of research
in astronomy and astrophysics leading to the Ph.D. degree (see Physics Programs for
information on that degree's requirements). The degrees of Master of Arts
and Master of Philosophy in Astronomy may also be obtained after one or
more years of course work, but students are not normally admitted to
pursue these degrees only. Advanced standing can be granted for students
admitted with post-bachelor's degrees, based on individual evaluation.
The PhD is awarded for independent, original research. As such, it
is qualitatively different from all other degrees and, for most students,
from anything they have encountered in their first sixteen years or so of
schooling, where the knowledge base was already established, the choice of
topics was the teacher's, and success was defined by achievement on papers
and exams. Thus, the Astronomy Department has designed its program so that
incoming students are engaged in research beginning in the very first week
they are on campus. The year begins with ASTROFEST, a day-long event at
which all the faculty, post-docs, and current graduate students (and even
a few senior undergrads) present talks and posters on their research
(accompanied by a generous allocation of comestibles and libations).
The following week, first-year students participate in a series of one-hour
meetings as a group with each faculty member designed to showcase the range of
reasearch projects available; all students must have chosen a project by the
end of September. To ensure all students have adequate time to devote to this
project, they are exempted from most teaching responsibilities during the
first year. This project, along with two, or at most three courses per
semester, constitute the work of the first year.
Over the course of the first two years and the two summers following them,
students are expected to complete at least two research projects, each with a
different faculty member in a different area of astronomy. Both a written
report (either an article for publication or something written in the same
style) and an oral presentation on the project results are due each
September. Often, one of these projects then evolves into the dissertation
project, a written proposal for which is to be presented in the first
semester of the third year. A three-member faculty committee is assigned to
each student to monitor his or her progress throughout the student's time
at Columbia.
Coursework includes five required graduate courses (3 points each)
plus three additional electives in Astronomy, Physics, or some other
department in the Graduate School. Thirty points must be accumulated to obtain
the Master of Science degree (3 credits each year for the required research
projects accumulate toward this total). By the end of the second year, it
is expected that students will have completed the Master's course
requirements which includes the 30 points of graduate credit and the two
years of residence as a full-time student in the program. Students
entering with a Master's degree may be granted advanced standing depending
on their performance; this action waives
the point and residence units requirements, although most such students
still take courses from the curriculum.
The Graduate Student Handbook
provides more details on the program and the department.
There is no qualifying examination for PhD candidacy; the final exams of
the five required courses fulfill this requirement along with successful
completion of the two research projects.
Students admitted to candidacy are expected to complete a written
dissertation proposal in their third year, present it to their faculty
committee, and begin the project. At the end of the third year of
residence, the Master of Philosophy Degree is awarded.
The national median time to obtain an Astronomy PhD has remained at
7.0+-0.2 years since 1982. At Columbia over the last ten years, the
median time to degree has been 6 years, with a range of 4 to 8; only three
students have taken seven years or more. There is, however, no strict time
limit -- the only criterion for continued support is that the student be making
satisfactory progress toward the degree.
In 2007 we had positions for six students from an applicant pool of
88. Of the 48 students who have entered the program in the last ten
years (1998-2007), 18 have already received the
PhD and 28 are still enrolled in the program. Complete, up-to-date statistics
for our program in the format sanctioned by the American Astronomical Society
can be found here.
Since their inception fifteen years ago years, three of our graduates have won
Hubble Fellowships;
four have won Chandra Fellowships, and two have won the annual
Trumpler Award for the Outstanding Dissertation by a Student in North America.
Others have gone on to postdoctoral fellowships at institutions such as
Berkeley, Princeton, Caltech, SAO, Washington, and Munich.
The Astronomy Department is a partner in the MDM Observatory
Consortium and has a 25% share of the 1.3-meter McGraw-Hill telescope
and the 2.4-meter Hiltner telescope. Graduate students doing
observational research receive a large fraction of the 150 nights per year
of observing time on the two telescopes. In addition, the Observatory
provides the opportunity for designing, building, testing, and using
innovative optical and near-IR instrumentation developed in our
laboratories.
The Columbia Astrophysics Laboratory, a joint endeavor involving the
Astronomy and Physics Departments, has extensive experience in the design
and construction of new astronomical instruments for rocket, satellite and
Space Shuttle missions as well as ground-based telescopes. Facilities at
our Nevis site include laboratories and equipment for testing and
assembling experiments, an electronics shop and a well-equipped and
highly-skilled instrument machine shop. A fully-equipped machine shop
available for student use as well as additional laboratories for
instrument development are located in the Department's space in Pupin
Labs. Current projects include the X-ray spectrometer
on the ESA Newton X-ray Observatory
mission, two hard X-ray/gamma-ray telescope balloon payloads, millimeter
receivers for Cosmic Microwave Background experiements, instrumentation
for the Laser Interferometer Gravity-wave Observatory, UV instrumentation,
and CCD cameras for optical astrometry.
The Physics and Astronomy library contains over 40,000 volumes, including
essentially all journals relevant to astronomy. The Astronomy Department
also has its own supplemental collection of reference books and current
major journals.
We hold weekly meetings at which the most important recent papers are
discussed. Every
week, both Physics and Astronomy colloquia are given by invited speakers.
Each Tuesday we meet for Pizza Lunch, at which short communications
from visitors, faculty and students keep everyone apprised of the research
activities in astronomy and astrophysics in the two Departments.
The Astrophysics Laboratory and Astronomy Department maintain a large
network of Linux Workstations, three linux clusters,
100 terabytes of disk storage, high density
tape drives, monochrome and color laser printers, PC's and graphics
terminals. All offices have connections to these machines through an
Ethernet network, and all students are provided with a workstation on their
desks. Full versions of AIPS, FIGARO, IRAF, XTOOLS,
IDL and other standard astronomical packages are supported.
In addition to MDM, we regularly observe with telescopes at KPNO, CTIO,
Lick, and Keck observatories as well as with the VLA and other radio
facilities. Faculty have current active programs using past, present, and
future space missions including RXTE, Chandra,
XMM-Newton, HST, GALEX, and Spitzer. The systems
administrator on the staff of the Astrophysics Lab maintain all the data
analysis systems used for these facilities.
Admission to the Ph.D. program in Astronomy carries with it a commitment
of full financial support subject only to the condition that the student
is making satisfactory progress toward the doctoral degree. This position
carries a stipend of $28,000 (in 2007-2008) for twelve months plus
full waiver of tuition and fees. Consistent with our emphasis on early
research involvement, first-year students are not required to assume formal teaching
obligations, although to provide useful exposure to the scope of their
future educational role, they are expected to provide some assistance to
the regular teaching fellows in setting up laboratory sessions (this
amounts to less than 5 hours per week for eleven weeks each semester). The
principal activities of first-year students are course work and the
vigorous pursuit of the initial research project. In the next two years,
most students act as laboratory instructors and graders for professors
teaching the introductory astronomy courses (10-12 hours per week).
During the first two summers, students are expected to concentrate on
their research projects in preparation for their presentations in
September. Some students will spend some or all of a summer at a national
observatory or some other research facility, while many will remain in New
York to work with their faculty mentors.
Some students receive fellowships carrying no specific duties which are
awarded by federal agencies and private foundations; information
concerning such awards is available in your department or by contacting
the Department of Astronomy at Columbia. Foreign students are invited to
apply; they receive the same level of support throughout as US students.
The University provides housing near campus for graduate students who are
registered full time. There are two types of housing: traditional
dormitory facilities through University Residence Halls, and University-
owned apartments managed by Columbia Real Estate Management. The
dormitory facilities include single rooms as well as suites and apartments
for single and married students; furnishings and utilities are included.
Rates vary according to size of room, type of accomodation, and length of
stay (9 months versus 12 months). The University-owned apartments are
leased on an annual basis. Rents vary according to size and location and
whether furnishings are included. Housing is guaranteed for the first
five years; beyond five years of study it is continued at the discretion of the
Dean's office and is determined by availability and by timely progress
towards the degree. This guarantee of nearby, subsidized
housing makes living in New York City on a graduate student stipend both
practical and convenient, and helps foster the sense of community on which
our Department prides itself -- most of the faculty also live in
University housing within six blocks of campus.
For further information about Astronomy at Columbia, the University, and
its surroundings please consult the following resources.
The Program
Philosophy
The Program Results
Facilities
Financial Aid
Housing
Further Information
Addresses
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| 2006 November 30 | djh@astro.columbia.edu |