PhD in Astronomy
Become a thought leader in the cutting-edge fields of astronomy.
By pursuing a PhD in astronomy, you’ll open the door to a wide range of theoretical and experimental learning opportunities within the innovative and robust astronomy department.
Your research opportunities begin as early as your first semester, including working with data from NASA and NSF facilities (Hubble, JWST, Chandra, JVLA, ALMA), the Large Millimeter Telescope in Mexico, and the Subaru Prime Focus Spectrograph (PFS) project.
Participate in cutting-edge research in a range of areas, including the X-ray, UV, Optical, IR, (Sub)mm and Radio regimes; computational probability and statistics (big data); and simulations of the formation and evolution of galaxies. You may conduct research at highly competitive national and international facilities, including NASA and NSF research centers.
UMass is a member of the Five College Astronomy Department (FCAD), alongside Amherst, Mount Holyoke, Smith, and Hampshire Colleges, so you’ll also have access to vast resources throughout these institutions.
With mentorship from some of the most respected leaders in the field of astronomy, you’ll be well-prepared for a career in academia, private industries, or government.
Featured faculty
Grant Wilson
Professor
Grant Wilson is a graduate program director and a professor in the Department of Astronomy.
In the spotlight
“I am studying how gas collapses in giant molecular hydrogen clouds in order to form stars, using both simulations and the Large Millimeter Telescope, a submillimeter telescope that is a bi-national project between Mexico and UMass.”
Astronomy
Study the planets, moon, stars, galaxies, even the origin of the universe itself, with flexible undergraduate and graduate astronomy programs.