2024 Program

Who are we?

Program Staff:

• James Schottelkotte – Director
• Michael Stroh – Computational Lead
• Kierstin Sorensen – Brinson Mentor, Computation Instructor
• Jonathan Roberts – Brinson Mentor, Reach Further Mentor Lead
• Nathalie Jones – Programs Coordinator
• Christine Ross – Administrative Support
• Kari Frank – CIERA Director of Operations

Instructors:  Program material will be taught by  CIERA graduate students, postdocs, faculty, and staff. Our CIERA community places particular emphasis on excellence in scientific communication and our researchers are experienced in communicating astronomy to a variety of audiences.

Research Mentors:  Research projects  and mentors are drawn from our diverse  community of active researchers  in Astronomy. Each year’s program page includes a list of mentors and their projects!

What will you do?

Core Program

• Learn to work with data! This includes an extensive introduction to programming and scientific data analysis with the Python programming language, with additional topics such as: 
  • Working with astronomical images 
  • High Performance Computing (supercomputers) 
  • Data visualization 
• Learn about Astronomy! Learn about stars, planets, galaxies, and cosmology while putting the programming skills you are learning to work with hands-on computer programming activities.
• Research projects! Put your computer programming skills to good use by working on real astronomy research projects put together by CIERA scientists from their own research interests. At the end of the core program, you’ll give a presentation on what you found! 
• Extracurriculars! Learn about the college experience, astronomy powered career paths, science communication. Participate in other social events, including solar observing.

REACH Further – limited availability

• Students participating in REACH Further will conduct an mentored research project with a CIERA scientist. These students will work with their mentors to set daily and weekly goals as they dive deeper into astronomy research, culminating in a presentation on their work at the end of the session. 
  • Meetings with cohort and program coordinator twice per week
  • Daily meetings with mentor (may be virtual) 
  • Independent work on research project by the student, with an expectation of approximately 5 hours a day. Exact hours are flexible, and the student can opt to do much of the work remotely. 

What are the research topics?

Potential research projects for both sessions during Summer 2024 currently include, but are not limited to: 

• • The Velocities of Stars in the Milky Way 
  • The Habitable Zones of Other Worlds in the Cosmos 
  • The Effects of Stellar X-Ray and UV Flares on Exoplanetary Atmospheres 
  • Climate Models of the Earth
  • Short Gamma Ray Burst Afterglow Fitting 
  • How Bright are Accreting Black Holes in Binary Systems? 
  • Stellar Evolution – The Dynamic Lives of Stars 
  • Binary Stars with COSMIC 
  • How Can You Extract Energy from Black Holes? 

Projects are modified or added each year, so options may vary

Research projects for the extended portion of the program are drawn from ongoing research at CIERA, an overview of which can be found here. 

When and where?

There will be two sessions offered for Summer 2024, with the option to participate in REACH Further (limited availability) following either session.

Core Program Dates

Session 1:  June 10 – June 28, 2024

Session 2: July 8 – July 26, 2024

Time: 10am – 4pm

REACH Further Dates

Session 1: July 8 – July 26, 2024

Session 2: July 29 – August 16, 2024

Location: 1800 Sherman Avenue, 8th Floor, Evanston, IL

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