New Research Experience for Undergraduates Program Beginning in Chile: Applications Open Now

Students will take part in research projects, astronomical observing and community activities in NSF NOIRLab’s 2025 REU Chile Program

26 June 2024

A new research opportunity for U.S. undergraduates will take students all the way to La Serena, Chile. Through mentor-led research projects, hands-on activities and visits to U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) observatories, students will gain experience and skills to help propel their STEM and STEM-related careers.

NSF NOIRLab’s Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) Chile program features multiple elements designed to foster careers in STEM. Undergraduate students will have the opportunity to work closely with a NOIRLab research mentor on a research topic at the forefront of astrophysics. Through their project work students will gain experience in the questions, methods, and analysis techniques of professional astrophysics, as well as having the opportunity to report their research at a professional astronomy meeting.

The program also includes daytime visits to Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (home of the world-class Víctor M. Blanco 4-meter telescope) and Cerro Pachón (site of the new Vera C. Rubin Observatory), eavesdropping on observing with the 8.1-meter telescope of the International Gemini Observatory, and a group observing project on the SMARTS 0.9-meter Telescope. This rich program of activities will give students direct, first-hand experience of the observational resources and techniques used in acquiring astronomical data, including telescopes, instruments, observing processes and methods.

Students will also participate in a professional development program, which includes enrichment activities aimed at enhancing the students’ understanding and appreciation of the local and cultural context in which astronomy operates. The activities will introduce students to topics such as cultural astronomy (archaeoastronomy), sky brightness and light pollution measurements, and astro-tourism.

The program will initially be offered in the 2025 Chilean summer (January – March). Students will be based in La Serena and will be provided with a stipend and housing on the NOIRLab campus.

This program is open to undergraduate students who are U.S. citizens, U.S. nationals, or U.S. permanent residents. Interested students are invited to apply by submitting the required materials by the application deadline of 23 September 2024.

More information 

NSF NOIRLab (U.S. National Science Foundation National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory), the U.S. center for ground-based optical-infrared astronomy, operates the International Gemini Observatory (a facility of NSF, NRC–Canada, ANID–Chile, MCTIC–Brazil, MINCyT–Argentina, and KASI–Republic of Korea), Kitt Peak National Observatory (KPNO), Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO), the Community Science and Data Center (CSDC), and Vera C. Rubin Observatory (operated in cooperation with the Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory). It is managed by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA) under a cooperative agreement with NSF and is headquartered in Tucson, Arizona. The astronomical community is honored to have the opportunity to conduct astronomical research on I’oligam Du’ag (Kitt Peak) in Arizona, on Maunakea in Hawai‘i, and on Cerro Tololo and Cerro Pachón in Chile. We recognize and acknowledge the very significant cultural role and reverence that these sites have to the Tohono O’odham Nation, to the Native Hawaiian community, and to the local communities in Chile, respectively.

Links

• Visit NOIRLab’s REU webpage

Contacts

Joan Najita
REU Chile Program Co-Organizer
NSF NOIRLab
Email: joan.najita@noirlab.edu

Guillermo Damke
REU Chile Program Co-Organizer
NSF NOIRLab
Email: guillermo.damke@noirlab.edu

Josie Fenske
Jr. Public Information Officer
NSF NOIRLab
Email: josie.fenske@noirlab.edu