MadSci Network: Astronomy |
For the first question: "Is it possible to work as a math teacher
while I work on my astronomy Ph.D.?", the answer is yes, but not as
a school teacher and probably not in math. Astronomy departments at
most American universities offer positions of teaching assistants (TA)
to their graduate students in order to waive tuition fees and receive
a stipend for support. In some departments being a TA for some semesters
is also a requirement towards a degree. Academic departments at
American universities need TA's to assist faculty in their teaching
duties, and the astronomy department will want you to teach
astronomy unless a special arrangement is made with the math
department. TA's are expected to lead course sections, have office
hours for consultation with students, and grade home assignments
in undergraduate and graduate courses at their university. TA's
duties are time consuming. There are better options of financial
support like fellowships. In any case astronomy graduate
students are expected to devote full time to academic activities
within the department. Work outside the university is an unlikely
situation for an astronomy graduate student.
Let's go with the process of getting a Ph.D. in astronomy at
an American university. It all starts with an application to
be reviewed by a faculty committee. Most astronomy departments
require students to take the
GRE general and physics subject
tests.
The committee will look at your undergraduate
grades and GRE scores besides letters of recommendation and
statement of intent from you. Basically they want evidence of
exceptional achievement in science and your enthusiasm and
commitment to a graduate program. Getting involved in research
as an undergraduate will earn you strong points too.
A math degree with a physics minor should not be an impediment
to get you admitted to an astronomy program. Admissions committees
do not take the GRE physics subject score as the defining criterion,
but is one of the few ways to find out how much physics you
really know. Your academic performance towards a science
undergraduate degree is equally important. High grades in your
undergraduate courses count a lot. There has been a lot of talk
as to what makes a good physics college graduate, and there is
no consensus except for one thing: a good college education must
teach you how to think critically and independently. It is more
important how the student thinks than what the student knows.
Read the article on this issue by
Wieman and
Perkinks in Physics Today, November 2005, p. 36.
However you would have to plan how to make up for a possible
lack of background in physics. The main physics subjects that
you must know upon entering a graduate astronomy program are:
classical mechanics, electromagnetism, statistical physics and
quantum mechanics. If you take a physics minor, make sure to take
at least one course of each of those subjects. Previous knowledge
of astronomy is not a prerequisite for admission to an astronomy
department. Some astronomy departments will give you the chance
to take undergraduate courses to complete a physics background,
but do not count on it. I understand your "plan B" of
getting a teaching degree along with your math BA in case you
cannot get a job in astronomy. Unfortunately I cannot see how
this can give you an advantage in an astronomy department,
because as I said above, the department most likely will want
you to teach astronomy rather than math classes, and then
only during two or three semesters.
When you are admitted to an astronomy department, you will
be required to take courses during the first two years.
The usual load is 2 to 3 courses each semester. During the
following two to three years you will devote yourself to
conduct cutting-edge astronomy research under the supervision
of a faculty member and the overview of other faculty members.
That research will constitute your Ph.D. thesis. During the four
or five years as a graduate student, you will become an active
researcher, attending conferences, going to observatories,
giving talks and writing articles to be published
on the main professional astronomy journals. By the time you
graduate, you will have published several articles in
The Astrophysical
Journal,
which will constitute almost all your thesis,
and should give you a good chance to get a
postdoctoral position at an astronomy institution.
It sounds more complicated than what it really is.
It is mostly hard work, but it is great fun.
You will find time to exercise and check the
shows of film societies at the university, but
graduate studies demand a full-time commitment.
Being a graduate student will give you the pleasures
of doing science like the pros without worrying
about how to get the money . You are going to do
research and work as a member of your adviser's
research team, while your adviser will be writing
grant proposals to funding agencies to keep the whole
business going. You will receive a stipend to work
as a research assistant in your advisor's team.
It has been said that being a graduate student is mostly
getting things done. That is because you and your adviser
will choose a thesis topic that can be done in two or
three years. In Big Science this is a very short time.
Therefore a Ph.D. thesis research must involve solvable
problems and things that others neglected to do for
lack of time or resources. At times this may seem boring,
but after a time your creative self will start kicking.
You are going to start thinking about doing things in a
different way, or start discovering things that others
overlooked and that will surprise and please your adviser.
In the end you will become the most knowledgeable person
on Earth on your thesis topic. That's the fun of it.
I encourage you to seek more opinions on your question.
My best wishes on your college studies,
Try the links in the MadSci Library for more information on Astronomy.
Vladimir Escalante Ram�rez
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