NRAO/GBO Post-Baccalaureate Fellowship
Post-Baccalaureate Program
The NRAO/GBO Post-Bacc Program provides recent graduates an opportunity to strengthen their applications to graduate school by gaining research experience in radio astronomy or a related field. The program is targeted to students aiming to attend graduate school in the year following their post-bacc appointment. The student will work on a research project under the mentorship of one or more NRAO or GBO scientific staff members. Research projects cover radio astronomy and related sciences.
Students who are U.S. citizens or permanent residents are eligible to apply. Students must be recent graduates or must soon be graduating with their undergraduate degree, and should have the intention of applying to Ph.D. programs in astronomy or a related field during the year of their appointment. Students accepted into the program in 2024 will be based at the NRAO site in Charlottesville, VA. Appointments may range from 9 to 12 months. Students will receive a stipend and travel support to locate to Charlottesville, and will also receive support to present their research at a scientific conference. The starting date for the post-bacc appointments will be September 3, 2024 but earlier starting dates are possible.
Applications for the Post-Bacc program consist of (1) a statement describing research interests and future goals (<1000 words), (2) a resume, (3) an academic transcript (unofficial is OK), and (4) two or three letters of recommendation from people who can address the student's potential for a career in research. Application materials can be emailed directly to Jim Braatz at the address given below. The email should include confirmation that the applicant is a US citizen or permanent resident, and should list the names of people who the student has asked to provide reference letters. The recommendation letters should be emailed directly to Jim Braatz by the letter writers.
This year there will be two positions available, both in Charlottesville. All applicants will be considered for both positions. The project titles and short descriptions are given below. Applicants should feel free to address how either or both of these specific topics fit into their general research interests, but are not expected to have any experience in these areas.
The application deadline is May 1, 2024.
Further information can be obtained by contacting:
Jim Braatz
E-mail: jbraatz@nrao.edu
Project: The Polarization Properties of Faint Radio AGN
Mentor: Dr. Mark Lacy
The student will study the polarization properties of radio sources in a new 10 deg2 survey with extensive optical and infrared follow-up. Distances (redshifts) and AGN classifications from the optical/infrared photometry will be used to investigate whether the polarization properties of the radio emission depend on AGN type, redshift, source physical size and other properties and compare these results to those on the better-studied bright radio source population.
Project: The Morphological and Chemical Structure of the Milky Way Disk
Mentor: Dr. Dana Balser
Radio recombination lines (RRLs) are excellent tracers of the physical conditions and kinematics of ionized gas. In the Milky Way RRLs probe HII regions and the warm ionized medium (WIM). HII regions are the zones of ionized gas surrounding young massive stars that define the spiral pattern of the Galactic disk. Their abundances provide a measure of the nuclear processing of many stellar generations. The WIM is a major component of the interstellar medium (ISM) making up >20% of the gas mass and providing a major source of pressure at the mid-plane. The Post-Bacc student will use several ISM and galaxy simulations (e.g., TIGRESS, FIRE, CLOUDY) to interpret RRL emission from HII regions and the WIM with the goal of exploring structure in the Milky Way disk.
