Summer Undergraduate Research Program
The 2013 Summer Undergraduate Research Program (SURP) in astronomy at the University of Toronto is an opportunity for science and engineering undergraduate students to further their interest in observational astronomy and instrumentation. The program is designed to improve participants’ research and communication skills in support of their future studies and careers.
Over the course of the 16-week schedule, students conduct their own research projects, discuss their research results in weekly meetings, and participate in various outreach activities. The program concludes with the students’ own presentations about their individual projects. In 2013, the program will run from early May to mid-August.
Students also attend weekly lectures, presented exclusively to them by post-doctoral fellows from the Dunlap Institute, Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics (DAA), or Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics (CITA). The lectures reflect the diverse areas of expertise of the institutes.
Students also take part in an innovative 2-day session designed by Dunlap Institute, DAA and CITA post-docs. The session has been developed according to the “inquiry method” of teaching science pioneered by the Professional Development Program (PDP) of the Institute for Scientist & Engineer Educators (ISEE), UC Santa Cruz, California.
Students can choose to work with astronomers from the Dunlap, DAA or CITA, depending on their research interest. The programs may vary depending on the institute you work with.
A competitive research stipend will be paid to participating students. For students working with a Dunlap Institute astronomer, the funding is provided by the Dunlap Institute. For students working with a DAA or CITA astronomer, funding is available from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC).
For more information about the 2013 program, email: summer@di.utoronto.ca
APPLICATIONS ARE NO LONGER BEING ACCEPTED
Student Benoit Cyrenne characterizing a spectrographic diffraction grating during the 2012 SURP.