EXCITING NEWS!! There will be a special session at the European Week of Astronomy and Space Science (EWASS) 2017 on developments and practices in astronomy research software and a hack day!! I’m co-organizing the hack day and a block on different astronomy software packages, where we will have a variety of speakers (invited and contributed) share open-source software packages of interest to a broad portion of the astronomical and space science community.
EWASS is the general meeting for the European Astronomical Society that will be held in Prague, Czech Republic on 26-30 June 2017, hosted this year in partnership with the Czech Astronomical Society. There will be many symposia and special sessions on a variety of research topics, and registration for the meeting will open in December.
After the US federal election and subsequent strong increase in hate crimes and bullying of minorities (source), I and many others have decided to donate to organizations that protect and fight for human rights, civil liberties, and the environment. When you find the organizations you want to support (see below for a list), you get the option to donate once or donate monthly. Here’s why you should donate monthly.
They get to plan with a stable budget
With monthly donations, the organization can have a stable budget and make longer-term plans, instead of just building up and draining the coffers. This allows it to have paid staff with some semblance of job stability, and to take on projects or actions with a larger scope. It may only be $10-$20 from you each month, but when lots of people do that, it adds up. So you can even donate the same amount as you might do in a one-time lump (usually there’s a minimum donation of $5 or $10), but the way it’s structured is more beneficial for the organization’s planning.
Set it and forget it
Monthly donations are automatic, so they require no extra effort from you, and many organizations take PayPal in addition to credit cards. For me, it’s easier on my own budgeting to donate $15 per month than $180 all at once.
Yes, it’s a lot. Pick a few that really speak to you and set up $10-$20 monthly donations. Maybe pick another few and do a one-time donation. You can, for example, donate to Lambda Legal or Planned Parenthood in honor of VP-elect Pence, and he’ll get a certificate stating so!
You can also sign up for email newsletters from organizations to get more involved in their local/state/national actions and campaigns. Header image source
I research neutron stars and black holes, and the extreme environments immediately surrounding them. For a general-audience introduction, I highly recommend the videos by Phil Plait on the Crash Course YouTube channel!
The paper from my MSc research has been accepted for publication in ApJ!!!!!
We simulated pulse profiles from thermonuclear X-ray bursts on the surfaces of accreting neutron stars, and fitted them with an evolutionary optimization algorithm to determine how well we could constrain the masses and radii of the neutron stars! The ADS entry for it is here. We’ll update the arXiv version once the proofs are finished!
Applications to participate in the Python in Astronomy 2017 workshop are open until December 9th! The workshop will be held on May 8-12, 2017 at the Lorentz Center in Leiden, the Netherlands. Some travel funding will be available if needed, and participant selection will be done with the goal of growing the Python in Astronomy community. All career levels and Python skill levels are welcome to apply.
I’ve been to the previous two Python in Astronomy workshops. At the first meeting, I was a beginner in terms of contributing to open-source python astronomy projects (like, had never done a GitHub pull request, and didn’t know anything about packaging software), but I learned a ton and loved getting involved with a wonderful community! At the second meeting I was able to take a more active participation role, and I co-lead a tutorial on git and GitHub. And I’m now on the Scientific Organizing Committee for this one!
Since application season is upon us, here’s some thoughts on applying for a PhD for those who have/will have an MSc.
Are you sure?
It seems a bit basic, but the first thing to think about is why you want to do a PhD in astro. It’s hard by design, and ~90% of people with astro PhDs don’t end up in tenured academic positions. I don’t know if that’s what your aim is, but it’s good to know regardless. So think about whether it will be worth it for you given your goals. There are still plenty of valid reasons to do a PhD in astro when you know you won’t end up as an academic, so just think about it.
What do you want?
The next thing to think about is what kind of research you want to do, and take inspiration from what parts of your MSc you’ve enjoyed or found the most interesting. Theory? Data/observations? Experimental lab astro? Instrumentation? Also consider what topics you find most interesting, and which aspects of them you like. This is probably going to be related to your MSc topic, but if you want to shift fields, now is probably the best time to do it.
Where do you want to be?
Then, one of the bigger things to consider is which continent you want to be on. Each country has their own academic system and way of doing things, though there are some similarities. Keep in mind that some systems are harder to get into if you’re not a citizen or permanent resident. For example, it’s not possible for non-UK citizens to get UK funding to do a PhD there, so you’d need to bring in your own external funds like an NSERC, Marie Curie, Rhodes, or Gates Cambridge Scholarship.
Who’s hiring?
Keep an eye on the AAS job register, “Pre-doctoral/Graduate Positions” section (scroll down) and the EAS job directory (filter by position). Not all jobs will be listed yet. For example, Amsterdam usually has a few PhD positions available, and they start advertising these at the end of October. For Canadian and American universities, they typically won’t advertise on there, so you’ll want to look through department websites and see what the different professors do. When you find someone whose research sounds like it’d be a good fit, email them to ask if they are looking to take on a new PhD student. Another place to look for potential advisors is in the author list of papers you find interesting! Again, do your homework and read up on them before emailing them. Check out the AstroBetter wiki for lists of programs and advice on applications. But once you have an idea of what you want to do and generally where you want to do it, ask the profs in your current place if they know which places have people doing that kind of research.
For the US, many places still require the GRE and Physics GRE (but not all!), so there’s that hurdle to get over, and you’ll want to email the department chair of grad studies/admissions to ask if they’ll accept your MSc courses.
Tips on the PhD application itself
You will typically need 3 letters of recommendation. Ask your letter writers now if they feel comfortable writing you a strong letter of recommendation. Yes, use the adjective “strong” in there. If you won’t have a letter from your MSc supervisor, you need to have a really good reason, and have another letter writer explain why that’s the case. For my applications I had letters from my MSc supervisor, another professor in the department who I knew pretty well and had taken a class with, and my undergraduate mentor. Get your letter writers lined up now, and when you know where you want to apply, give them the deadlines and the details. Email them a 2-weeks-before reminder, 1-week-before reminder, and a 2-days-before reminder. Also, if there are any discrepancies in your record, explain it to a letter writer and ask them to include it.
Once you’ve written a draft of the research statement that most places ask for, have a PhD/postdoc and your advisor iterate feedback with you on it. It seriously makes it better.
My 3-post series on Twitter at academic astronomy conferences has concluded on the AstroBetter blog! The first post, aimed at non-Twitter users, explains the basics of Twitter and why it’s a good thing to have at conferences. The second post, aimed at current or would-be tweeters, gives tips and tricks for conference tweeting, and spawned a great discussion on openness and sharing of unpublished ideas. The third post, for LOC or SOC members, has a rundown of what needs to happen on the conference organizing side for Twitter to be successful at a conference. Join the conversations in the comments section of those posts or on Twitter! 😉
There’s a heatwave in Amsterdam! Yesterday it got up to 31º C (88º F) and today it’s looking hotter. You might be accustomed to more heat, but for the Netherlands, this is really hot. Here’s what you can do to make the most of the fleeting Dutch summer:
Eat ice cream! There are lots of “ijs” or “softijs” places around town! Splurge on a double scoop. Or, get a box of popsicles at the grocery store and keep them in the freezer at home for later.
Head to the beach at IJburg or Diemerpark. IJburg and Diemen are always windier than Amsterdam, and the little beaches are cute and just a (sweaty) cycle ride away. Bring a towel to lay on, a small picnic, and a good book!
Go to the beach at Zandvoort aan Zee. It’s a 30 minute train ride from Amsterdam Centraal, and I think the trains go twice an hour. Beware, it’s PACKED. Bring your own beach umbrella and something to lay on, and lots of sunscreen (as well as the usual towel, swimsuit, picnic, book). The water in the North Sea is extremely refreshing!
Go to the Amsterdamse Bos. It’s a great little forest just south of the city that you can cycle to, and it has a cafe and a small lake you can go for a dip in. Definitely bring snacks, if not a portable barbeque. If you don’t want to be by the little lake, hang out in the shade of the trees elsewhere.
Sit outside at a cafe on a canal, river, or dijk. Oostpoort has some nice ones, and the Jordaan neighbourhood is chock-full.
Hang out on the banks of the Amstel river. Bring a blanket to lie on if you’re fancy.
If you have a hammock, go in it immediately.
Sit on your balcony with your feet in a tub of cool water and sip a cold drink. Least amount of effort, decent payoff.
I’ve decided that I have the energy to channel my anger and frustration and sadness regarding the murder of Philando Castile and Alton Sterling (and the 604+ people of color who have been killed by the police in the US since January 1 2016) to do something about it. Specifically, I was moved by this tweet thread to write to a professional organization I belong to, the American Astronomical Society, asking them to endorse or issue a statement of solidarity with Black Lives Matter. Below is the letter:
Dear AAS Council,
I was enthused to see a post by AAS CSMA members on the Women in Astronomy blog (http://womeninastronomy.blogspot.nl/2016/07/black-lives-matter-standing-in.html) making a statement of solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement. However, I was very disappointed that this statement is not (yet) officially endorsed by the AAS or even the CSMA. Please endorse this statement or issue a similar one.
At a time when our Black colleagues and their families are facing the very real threat of violence and death in their everyday lives, they need to know that their professional organization acknowledges this and provides full support. The amount of effort it takes to do the emotional diversity work is staggering, and our Black colleagues do it every day. It is past time for white allies and predominantly white organizations to step up and shoulder that responsibility too, *especially* when Black people are being gunned down by the police. I find it wrong that the only diversity issue widely discussed in astronomy is sexism, when racism and white supremacy are so pervasive as well. Additionally, solidarity with gender minorities without solidarity with racial/ethnic minorities does not fully support colleagues with intersectional identities such as black women.
Our Black colleagues need to know that they have the full official support of the AAS, and that their contributions to science matter to the AAS, not just because they are POC and “diversity is important”, but because they are human beings with inherently valuable lives, and we live in a world where that needs to be re-said. Science does not happen in a societal vacuum, and the voice of the AAS is needed now to ensure that Black astronomers feel like a valuable part of the scientific community.
Best,
Abigail Stevens
PhD Candidate, Univ. of Amsterdam
Junior AAS member
(Thank you to Dave Tsang and Madhura Killedar for feedback on this letter!)
