Tell us a bit about yourself!
Hi there! My name is Armaan Goyal – I was born, raised, and attended high school in the Northwest Suburbs of Chicago, I completed my undergraduate studies in Astronomy & Astrophysics at the University of Chicago, and I’m currently pursuing a PhD in Astronomy with a minor in Scientific Computing at Indiana University! Aside from any astronomy-related interests, I’m passionate about education policy, basketball, distance running, and all things Star Wars or Avatar: The Last Airbender!
What made you want to do astronomy research?
As much as I can attribute my interest in astronomy to growing up on space-related sci-fi or making countless trips to the Museum of Science and Industry, I’d be lying if I was saying the real spark didn’t come from studying calculus in high school and college. The idea that one mathematical language could serve to both encompass and unpack some of the deepest mysteries of the universe seemed fulfilling in a way I still struggle to describe, and there’s hardly anything more enthralling than continuing to see what new scientific pursuits can be constructed from a single set of such elegant tools.
What was your Astronomy background before you came to work with Dr. Fong? What have you learned since?
Prior to working with Dr. Fong, I had attained a B.S. in Astronomy & Astrophysics from my undergraduate institution and completed two short-term research experiences respectively involving young stellar spectroscopy and galactic halo enrichment. Although I did come into the group with prior experience in the field, it was predominantly as an undergraduate with mostly bookish or theoretical knowledge, and most of what I learned in the way of practical research has been a result of my time working with Dr. Fong.
What was the most frustrating/challenging aspect of research?
One particular challenge for me was learning to understand that troubleshooting an issue in research-grade code was not the same as trying to overcome a wall in a problem set. While the latter may be solved rather directly with a single resource or question directed to a single individual, troubleshooting often required unpredictable amounts of effort, research, and communication with a wide net of colleagues and collaborators before a solution began to emerge. Another challenging but ultimately rewarding aspect of the experience came from learning how to quickly adapt the tempo and content of your work based on the needs of the group as a whole. While periods such as the end of an academic term or the week of a journal submission were at first slightly overwhelming to deal with, the feeling eventually developed into a sense of excitement from seeing everyone come together and make a collective push to the finish line when the situation called for it.
What was the most rewarding part?
The ability to take pride in working to create something authentic, and to take a look at the fruits of everyone’s labor, and all the hours, coursework, and research that went into it, and see legitimately new science pop out! I’d also say that ironing out any particularly challenging bug is also really rewarding, and although it’s not always the most exciting thing, the sense of relief is definitely unmatched.
What were your expectations of how research was conducted prior to joining Dr. Fong’s group? What surprised you most about your research experience?
Working in Dr. Fong’s group made me witness firsthand the degree of amazing collectivism by which research could be defined. While the idea of an individualized project and routine check-ins with an advisor agreed with expectations, I was not prepared for the amount of consistent interaction I had with other undergraduates, graduate students, post docs, and collaborators from other institutions. Having everyone constantly keyed into each other’s research, as well as the progress of the entire group in the greater context of the field, allowed for an added sense of both excitement and accountability that felt powerfully motivating and helped bind the group together in a manner I haven’t experienced before.
Name a valuable skill (or multiple!) that you feel you learned from research.
Aside from the numerous skills I was fortunate to gain in the way of IRAF, Python, spectroscopic data reduction, and software development in general, the most valuable set of skills I obtained came through learning how to be adaptable in communication with different peers and collaborators. This was best achieved by understanding the necessity of being able to describe your own research at vastly different levels of complexity, considering the scope of your work in the context of theirs, and being familiar with the differences in jargon between disciplines or even astronomical subfields so as to ensure as much clarity as possible.
What would you tell a student just starting on their first research project?
Don’t lose sight of the spark that brought you into the field in the first place: always let that sit at the core of your experience and don’t be afraid to let others see that as well when sharing your work. Where in any given collection of scientists can be an innumerable amount of unique research pursuits, there is also generally a singular accompanying sense of wonder, passion, or simple love of science that will always serve as a much easier point of connection between people. As such, for all the understanding that can be achieved through meticulous use of jargon or a firm grasp on details, there may be more gained still from promoting a sense of honesty between you, your advisor, your peers, and your collaborators in that research is conducted by humans in very human ways!
What’s next??? (e.g., in your life, what are you moving onto)
I am continuing to pursue my Masters and PhD in Astronomy at IU with the hopes of becoming either a professor or receiving a subsequent degree in education to become a teacher. In any case, I’m hoping to be in some sort of position where I can spread the joy of astronomy so as to motivate more kids and young scientists to fall in love with the subject and maybe even the field a shot!