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 The graduate program in Astronomy at the University of Arizona is among the highest-ranked
Ph.D. programs in the country. Each Fall we admit only a few of the over
one hundred students who apply.
Deadlines for applying are January 11, 2008 (December
1, 2007 for international students). Graduate students
are only admitted in the Fall. Questions about these deadlines and
about graduate applications in general can be addressed to Erin Carlson.
Together with the Steward
Observatory research
division, the program provides an outstanding intellectual environment
that fully prepares students for a productive and fulfilling career in
astronomy and astrophysical theory:
- World-class telescopes
and instrumentation
for the sub-mm, radio, infrared,
and optical,
- A stimulating
interdisciplinary Theoretical
Astrophysics Program,
- Laboratories
for the development of state-of-the-art astronomical instrumentation,
- Extensive computing
facilities, including in-house parallel supercomputers,
- Most importantly, a renowned
faculty
committed to providing a rewarding graduate experience in a supportive
and friendly environment.
We are proud of the achievements of our graduates with 70% of our graduates
in the last decade holding astronomy-related jobs and with many having been
accorded honors. We rank #2 in terms of the number of prestigious Hubble
Fellowships awarded to our graduates immediately after receiving a Ph.
D. This results from both our selective admissions procedure and the energy
and resources that we devote to graduate education.
 All our telescopes
are quite accessible to our graduate
students. In addition to the geographical proximity of our world-class
facilities, we also allow and encourage students to apply for telescope
time without faculty collaboration. Our facilities include the
refurbished 6.5-meter Multiple Mirror
Telescope with state-of-the-art instrumentation for wide-field
surveys and adaptive optics,
the Magellan I & II 6.5-meter telescopes in Chile accessing the
Southern Hemisphere sky, and the Large
Binocular Telescope, consisting of twin 8.4-meter mirrors which will be
the world's largest collecting area on a single-mount optical telescope
(the first mirror commissioned in 2005, the second mirror being
commissioned in Fall 2006). Our smaller telescopes such as the Bok and VATT also do
forefront research owing to high-quality instrumentation
that is engineered at the Observatory. Steward supports premier
groups working in adaptive optics
and CCD development that are
being used by many of the world's major observatories.
 There is a large and vigorous
astronomical community in the Tucson
area. The University's Lunar and
Planetary Laboratory/Department of Planetary Sciences, Optical Sciences Center and Physics Department (with several
high-energy astrophysicists) are all situated on campus, while the
headquarters of the National Optical
Astronomy Observatories is located just across Cherry Avenue from Steward.
Branches of the National Radio Astronomy
Observatory, the Smithsonian
Astrophysical  Observatory,
and the Vatican Observatory are
all located within the Steward building. Our graduate students can and
often do work with staff from these organizations. These organizations
operate research facilities ranging from radio-wave to gamma-ray
observatories. A steady stream of talks and
visiting astronomers from around the world creates a dynamical educational
environment for students and professors alike.
 Steward is heavily involved in a number of NASA telescope missions.
A Steward team led the development of the NICMOS near-infrared camera for
the Hubble Space Telescope, which
recently was used to discover the most distant galaxies known. In
August 2003, the Spitzer Space
Telescope launched with a set of far-infrared detectors
developed at Steward, unveiling the dust-enshrouded Universe with
unprecedented clarity. SINGS and FEPS
Spitzer Legacy Science
teams. Steward groups are
leading design studies
and building NIRCam for NASA's next great observatory, the James Webb Space Telescope
(formerly NGST). The recently-opened Laplace Center,a branch of the NASA Astrobiology Institute, has added
a new dimension to the Tucson
astronomy scene.
When you are admitted to our program, we make a commitment to support you
for the five years that it typically takes our
students to complete the Ph.D. program (current time to completion
averages 5.5 years). Support may come in the form of teaching
assistantships, faculty grant-supported research assistantships, or
fellowships (from NSF, NASA, or the University). With summer employment,
the total annual salary of over $27,000 enables you to enjoy a comfortable
lifestyle in Tucson where cost-of-living is low. Your tuition fees will be
waived or covered  by the department.
Tucson is a thriving city of roughly half a million people, supporting a
wide variety of events,
attractions, activities, and restaurants.
The University of Arizona itself provides a wide range of
options, ranging from top-flight
cultural activities to high-level
college athletics. 300 days of sunshine per year, mountains with skiing,
and the beautiful and biologically diverse Sonoran
desert encourages Tucsonans to pursue outdoor lifestyles. The weather is
hot and dry in May, June and September, with July and August bringing
spectacular monsoon thunderstorms; the remainder of the year the weather is
often close to ideal. Many of our students enjoy hiking, mountain
biking, climbing
(even at the MMT), sports such as ultimate, basketball, and soccer, and
other activities on a weekly basis. A sample of some of the local
attractions include Saguaro
National Park, Sabino Canyon State Park, various other hikes in
the area, the Arizona-Sonoran Desert Museum, and Tohono Chul
Park. Finally, Tucson is an affordable and
convenient place to live. Some graduate students buy homes; others
rent, but most find that their stipends make for a good standard of living.
Join us!
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