approved programs

STUDY ABROAD FOR CONCENTRATORS IN ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS

Contact: Head Tutor, Prof. George Rybicki, grybicki@cfa

The study of Astronomy and Astrophysics is an international endeavor, and many study and research opportunities exist for concentrators in a variety of countries. The department recommends that students go abroad during their junior year. Concentrators should speak with the head tutor about how best to fit their time abroad with the junior tutorial. In addition to a formal study program, concentrators should also consider the possibility of pursuing a research project abroad, either with Harvard professors or with affiliated professors and scientists.

Harvard University is a partner in the Magellan Project, a five-member consortium that has access to two 6.5 meter optical telescopes located at Las Campanas Observatory, at an altitude of 8,000 feet in the Chilean Andes. Concentrators with intermediate level Spanish can take advantage of this amazing resource while studying in Chile through Harvard’s David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies regional office in Santiago. Students with no Spanish may consider setting up a summer research project with a professor working with these telescopes.

Click here for a list of faculty who have studied and taught abroad by country. Contact information can be found by going to the on-line directory for the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.

Other strong options in Astronomy and Astrophyics are: Australian National University (see ANU’s Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics), University of Sydney (See the Institute of Astronomy), University of Puerto Rico (ties with the Arecibo Observatory), McGill University, University of Toronto, and University of British Columbia, Vancouver.


Programs you may want to consider:
(Please note that this is a representative list of programs, and is hardly exhaustive. Many other options are possible.)

The Americas
Canada McGill University     Astro page

Canada University of Toronto, Scarborough     Astro page

Canada University of British Columbia, Vancouver     Astro page

Chile University of Chile, through Harvard College Program     Astro page

Puerto Rico University of Puerto Rico     Astro page

Asia
Hong Kong Hong Kong University of Science and Technology     Astro page

Australia and Oceania
Australia The Australian National University, Canberra     Astro page

Australia University of Sydney     Astro page

Australia University of New South Wales     Astro page

New Zealand University of Auckland     Astro page

UK: England
Oxford University     Astro page
click here for more info about study abroad at Oxford

University of Cambridge, Pembroke College     Astro page
click here for more info about study abroad at Cambridge

University of York     Astro page     Astronomical Society

University of Leeds     Astro page

University of Exeter     Astro page     Astronomical Society

University College London     Astro page

King's College, London     Astro page

University of Birmingham     Astro page

UK: Scotland
University of Edinburgh      Astro page

University of Glasgow     Astro page

Europe
France (for students with intermediate-advanced French)
University of Paris VI Pierre et Marie Curie, through Brown, CUPA, or APA
University of Grenoble, through Boston University

Germany (for students with advanced German)
Georg-August University of Göttingen

Netherlands (courses in English)
University of Utrecht      Astro page

Spain (for students with advanced Spanish)
Universidad Complutense de Madrid, through IES

Sweden (courses taught in English, but much of website in Swedish)
Lund University     Astro page     Lund Observatory