Astronomy & Astrophysics

Our Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics designs many of the world’s most powerful space technologies and telescopes. Our invention of segmented mirror technology shattered previous limits on telescope size and is said to have had “the biggest impact in optics after Newton.” Our scientists developed the laser guide star technology for adaptive optics (taking the twinkle out of the stars), and designed the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, the Automated Planet Finder at Lick Observatory, the Sloan Digital Sky Survey photometric camera, and the Keck Telescopes in Hawaii.
Oh, and we determined how to fix the flawed optics on the Hubble Space Telescope and were a leading partner in the NASA explorations using the Kepler planet-finding telescope and the Cassini mission to Saturn. The list goes on…

UC Santa Cruz is the headquarters of the University of California Observatories (UCO), providing you with unparalleled access to state-of-the-art instrument and data reduction technology, including:

• Use of the world’s largest ground-based 10-meter Keck Telescope in Hawaii and the telescopic facilities of the Lick Observatory on Mount Hamilton, 55 miles from UC Santa Cruz
• Use of the Hubble Space Telescope
• Access to our on-campus supercomputer dedicated to astrophysical computation
• Access to our state-of-the-art adaptive optics laboratories
• Interdisciplinary research collaborations with our globally ranked Department of Earth & Planetary Sciences
• Involvement in a wide range of astronomical surveys including BOSS, DESI, WFIRST, TESS, and LSST
• Involvement in first observations with the 2020 James Webb Space Telescope (JWST)

Research mentorship

UC Santa Cruz is home to the largest group of computational astrophysics faculty in the world. Benefit from a 2:1 student-to-faculty teaching ratio and study with some of the most distinguished faculty and researchers in the history of astronomy, astrophysics, and planetary science. Connect with our faculty experts in:

• Astronomy & astrophysics
• Earth & planetary sciences
• Physics

Research facilities

• Astrophysics & planetary science supercomputer
• Keck Observatory
• Lick Observatory
• Laboratory for Adaptive Optics (LAO)
• NASA, affiliated projects and partnerships
• The Other Worlds Laboratory (OWL)
• Thirty-Meter Telescope Project
• University of California Observatories (UCO)

Research courses

Current research and course offerings include our stellar structure and evolution, solar system and other planetary systems, stellar spectroscopy, the interstellar medium, galactic structure, cosmology, general relativity, gravitational radiation, the origin of the elements, optical and infrared astronomy, high-energy astrophysics, and advanced astronomical instrumentation. Explore current astronomy & astrophysics course offerings.

Astronomy is a relatively small field in the “industry of science,” making it extremely competitive to land permanent research or teaching positions. We’ve got you covered. The most telling success metrics for our astronomy program is the quality of the graduate students we attract and—more importantly—the professional success they achieve after they graduate. An Astronomy & Astrophysics Ph.D. at UC Santa Cruz is proven to give you:

• A star-studded research network
• Mentorship by internationally distinguished faculty and researchers
• The latest high-impact research and instrumentation knowledge
• Large project management and leadership skills
• Intimate involvement with large international research projects, both government and private
• Next-level teaching and science communications skills
• A noticeable professional edge over your competition
• Minimal debt

Leadership training

Our Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics offers many fellowship and leadership building opportunities. One of our most empowering programs is the Donald & Irene Osterbrock Leadership Program, which provides you with unique training, events, and grant opportunities to boost leadership and large project management skills.

In addition to being highly employable, you’ll leave UC Santa Cruz with minimal debt. 100 percent of our Astronomy & Astrophysics Ph.D. students receive tuition and/or stipend support, with an average of $50,300 in total support (data as of 2018). We strongly encourage and support all our graduate students in the process of securing independent research funding. As a result, our students receive many distinguished awards, honors, and accolades.

National & international awards

• AAAS Congressional Science & Engineering Fellows
• AAUW (American Association of University Women)
• ARCS Foundation Scholarship
• DOE Computational Science Graduate Fellowship
• DOE Stewardship Science Graduate Fellowship
• Institute for Advanced Study Postdoctoral Membership
• ITC Postdoctoral Fellowship at Harvard
• Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics Fellowship
• Lyman P. Spitzer Jr Postdoctoral Fellowship
• Miller Institute Fellowship
• MIT-Kavli Fellowship in Astrophysics
• MIT Pappalardo Fellowship
• NASA Chandra Fellowship
• NASA Earth & Space Science Fellow
• NASA Einstein Fellowship
• NASA Harriett G. Jenkins Pre-doctoral Fellowship
• NASA Hubble Fellowship
• NASA Michelson Graduate Fellowship
• NSF Graduate Research Fellowship
• NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship
• Pliny and Margaret H. Price Prize in Cosmology & AstroParticle Physics
• Sagan Fellowship
• Spitzer Fellowship

UC Santa Cruz awards

• Bachmann Graduate Fellowship
• Chancellor’s Fellowships
• Dean’s Fellowships
• Denton Prize Winner
• Dissertation Year Fellowships
• Elmer A. Fridley Award
• Eugene Cota-Robles Fellowship
• James Edward Keeler Fund
• Osterbrock Fellowships
• Provost’s Fellowships
• Regent’s Fellowships
• Whitford Prize

Banana Slugs are uplifting. Get connected with 370+ star-studded astronomy alumni who hold leading positions at universities, private companies, and renowned research centers throughout the world. Our alumni are also some of the most decorated and famous astronomers in history. Here are just a few of our notable alumni:

• Natalie Batalha (Ph.D ’97, Astronomy & Astrophysics)
• Debra Fischer (Ph.D. ’98, Astronomy & Astrophysics)
• Steven Hawley (Ph.D. ’77, Astronomy & Astrophysics)
• Nicholas B. Suntzeff (Ph.D. ’80, Astronomy & Astrophysics)

Advancement to candidacy
Dissertation