Course Website: Link
To register as participants for the 2025 workshop, please fill out this Google Form: 2025 Registration
Recordings for last year's course are available on YouTube: 2024 Playlist
Intro2Astro is an introductory 8-week cost-free online course targeted at aspiring students, researchers, and enthusiasts to step foot in the world of astronomy research. This is the 8th year and iteration of the course dedicated to acquainting students, particularly those from communities with fewer astronomy resources, with the basic tools that astronomers need in their research, and the skills they need in order to gain entry into a more formal research project. With exposure and eventual mastering of the skills taught through the course, students will be better prepared to begin research projects either during the semester or over the summer. Combining coding skills with soft skills such as web development, scientific paper reading, and CV creation can give students an edge when applying for formal research internships.
The workshop is led by Fei Dai (University of Hawaii), Howard Isaacson (University of California, Berkeley), and Chetan Chawla.
Tuesday, July 1st, 2025 to Tuesday, August 19th, 2024 (8 weeks). Note due to time zone difference, the live sessions are on Wednesdays for people in East Asia.
The live Instructor-led sessions on tools used in astronomy research will be conducted at 6pm Universal Time on Tuesday Virtually on Zoom. The sessions will be uploaded on YouTube later on for asynchronous reference.
Students are expected to commit 5-10 hours per week outside of the sessions to the tutorials, assignments, and readings.
Students can ask questions and chat with the mentors in Office hours on Discord. They can also interact with their fellow students on the same.
- Introduction to programming (in Python)
- Creating scatter plots of real astronomical data
- Fitting transit light curves and modeling radial velocities for exoplanets.
- Querying online data archives (Gaia, MAST, Exoplanet Archive)
- Creating professionally oriented research websites and CVs
- Writing a research proposal on the topic of their choice
- REU and Grad School Application
- Citizen Scientist opportunities
First and second-year undergraduate students, and advanced high school students who are interested in gaining experience in astronomy research but have no previous research experience. There are no prerequisites in terms of content or programming. Although the course is targeted at the above-mentioned group, students from a non-traditional path and those without any affiliation can also apply. No students will be turned away for lack of experience or affiliation, i.e., anyone can sign up to be a part. Please sign up here Registration Form.
Graduate-level students and advanced undergraduates working on astronomy research who are interested in mentoring undergraduate students, developing open-source educational tutorials, and sharing their astronomy inspiration. Please fill out the Mentor Mentor Application Form
After the completion of these tutorials, students will have the skills needed to quickly ramp up on new astronomy research projects, without the need to brush up on basic skills. The astronomy skills will be focused on, but not limited to exoplanet topics. Students are encouraged to use these skills to explore other realms of Astronomy. Once you have completed all of the tutorials, you will be well-qualified for a paid internship in astronomy research. Many of these opportunities fall under the title: Research Experience for Undergraduates and serve as an excellent way to become qualified for graduate studies in astronomy.
We hope this project becomes self-sustaining in such a way that others can contribute and add value to the current set of research skills presented here. If you have questions, comments, or ideas, please feel free to contact us through the issue tracker on this repo. If you work in another field such as biology, chemistry, another specialty within astronomy, and are interested in replicating this project for your specific field, please email me directly.
We strive to maintain a welcoming and supportive community for everyone regardless of race, religion, background or identity. For more details, see our Code of Conduct page.