Graduate

As a graduate student at Michigan State, you will be part of a vibrant group of astronomers with a diversity of research interests. Our degree program is designed to move graduate students quickly into research projects.

Our weekly seminars and journal club offer students a chance to meet leading researchers across the spectrum of astronomy. In addition, MSU astronomy graduate students learn how to present scientific results to a broad range of audiences, from colleagues to the general public. Whether it is leading a star party at the campus observatory or learning to employ active learning techniques as an instructor, MSU astronomy graduate students learn valuable professional skills. Our group has a strong mentoring program to provide focused advice as you move from being a new graduate to becoming an independent researcher. Check out our alumni profiles to see what some of our graduates are doing, and visit our group's calendar to see what's happening around the department.

MSU astronomy graduate students have access to world-class facilities, including the 4.1-m SOAR telescope in Cerro Pachón, Chile and the Blue Waters supercomputer. In addition, there are many opportunities for interdisciplinary work: MSU is the lead institution of the NSF frontier center JINA (Joint Institute for Nuclear Astrophysics) and has recently established a new department of Computational Mathematics, Science, and Engineering.

If you are interested in joining our graduate program, please see our page "How to apply".