2025 Program

Who are we?

Program Staff:

• James Schottelkotte – Director
• Michael Stroh – Computational Lead
• TBD – Brinson Mentor, Computation Instructor
• TBD – Brinson Mentor, Reach Further Mentor Lead
• TBD – Programs Coordinator
• TBD – 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 Python programming and how to work with data! The bulk of REACH includes an extensive introduction to programming and scientific data analysis, with additional topics such as: 
  • Working with astronomical images and simulations
  • 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. 

When and where?

There will be two sessions offered for Summer 2025, with the option to participate in REACH Further (limited availability) following either session.

Core Program Dates

Session 1:  June 16 – July 3, 2025
Time: 9:30am – 4:30pm
No programming on June 19th or July 4th.

Session 2: July 7 – July 25, 2025
Time: 9:30am – 3:30pm
For Week 1 only, program hours are 9:30am – 4pm

REACH Further Dates

Session 1: July 7 – July 25, 2025

Session 2: July 28 – August 15, 2025

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

Click here for a virtual tour of our space.

What are the research topics?

Potential Core program research projects for both sessions during Summer 2025 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

REACH Further projects vary each year and are dependent on the mentors recruited. Projects align with ongoing research at CIERA, an overview of which can be found here. REACH Further mentor pairing occurs during the preceding Core Session, based on students’ interests.