Pre-Doctoral Research Program

The NRAO provides support for Ph.D. thesis research of students pursuing a degree in radio astronomy, engineering, or computer science. The program is jointly sponsored by the NRAO and universities who seek to broaden their academic research program by providing thesis students with a concentrated exposure to research in radio astronomy, its instruments, or computational techniques.

The program works as follows: with the consent of a student's academic department, the student comes to the NRAO to do thesis research in residence at the NRAO and under the supervision of an NRAO staff scientist. While in residence at the NRAO the student is paid a stipend of $1750 per month and he or she participates in the NRAO health and life insurance programs. All the facilities of the NRAO are available to students at no charge. The student is expected to complete the Ph.D. thesis research within 24 months and may do so in residence at any of the NRAO sites.

To be eligible for the NRAO pre-doctoral research program a student must accomplish the following.

• Complete all university course requirements so that only the thesis research is needed as an academic requirement for the degree;
• Obtain the consent of his or her thesis advisor and the chairman of the academic department to participate in the NRAO pre-doctoral research program;
• Contact, or ask the thesis advisor to contact, an NRAO scientist who would be willing to serve as a thesis co-advisor and local supervisor of the student's research program.
• Once all the above has been agreed to, request to participate in the NRAO program by contacting the program administrator listed below.

There is no annual application deadline for the NRAO pre-doctoral research program. Applications are accepted throughout the year, the student may start at his or her convenience, and the duration of the appointment may vary, according to the students needs, from six months to twenty-four months. Research students in radio astronomy, electrical engineering, or computational imaging are encouraged to apply.

 
       Program Administrator:
              Tim Bastian
              National Radio Astronomy Observatory
              520 Edgemont Road
              Charlottesville, VA  22903-2475
              Phone:  (434) 296-0348
              Fax:  (434) 296-0278
              E-mail

The National Radio Astronomy Observatory is a facility of the National Science Foundation operated under cooperative agreement by Associated Universities, Inc.