2026 Program

Program Staff

Who are we?

Program Staff:

  • James Schottelkotte – Director
  •  – Brinson Mentor, Computation Instructor
  •  – Brinson Mentor, Reach Further Mentor Lead
  •  – Programs Coordinator
  •  – Administrative Support

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!

Program Content

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 at Northwestern’s historic Dearborn Observatory.

REACH Further (RF) – 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 RF cohort and Brinson RF Mentor Lead 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 if necessary. 
Program Schedule

When and where?

There will be two sessions offered for Summer 2026, with the option to participate in REACH Further (limited availability) following either session.

 

Core Program Dates

Session 1:  June 15 – July 2, 2026
Time: 9:30am – 4:30pm
No programming on June 19th or July 3rd.

 

Session 2: July 6 – July 24, 2026
Time: 9:30am – 3:30pm
For Week 1 only, program hours are 9:30am – 4pm

 

REACH Further Dates

Session 1: July 6 – July 224, 2026

Session 2: July 27 – August 14, 2026

 

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

Click here for a virtual tour of our space.

 

Research Projects

What are the research topics?

Potential Core program research projects for both sessions during Summer 2026 currently include, but are not limited to: 

    • The Velocities of Stars in the Milky Way 
    • The Habitable Zones of Other Worlds in the Cosmos 
    • How Bright are Accreting Black Holes in Binary Systems? 
    • How Can You Extract Energy from Black Holes? 
    • Image Processing of Distant Galaxies
    • Simulating Planetary Systems with Rebound
    • The Classification of Supernovae
    • and more

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.

Program Poster