December 5, 2011

Hi everyone! Welcome to the last week of classes for autumn quarter!  

REU Applications: Looking for a summer research project? Check out an REU! These summer research programs are paid and often include a travel stipend. Check out the listing of Astronomy REUs; http://www.nsf.gov/crssprgm/reu/reu_search.cfm Applications often require at least one letter of recommendation and a set of transcripts so be sure to plan ahead if you're applying. Deadlines fall anywhere from mid-January through February.  

AAS Poster Prep: For those presenting research at the AAS (www.aas.org) meeting in January we are offering a few different resources to help you prepare. 1) Poster design: check out the Undergraduate Research Program's list of poster design tips to get you started (http://www.washington.edu/research/urp/symp/posterparticipants.html); 2) Browse through the undergrad research posters hanging on the walls of the 3rd floor (I think about 1/3 of these are from AAS meetings); 3) Check your poster with your research adviser and finalize all the details. Once you have the poster ready you need to think about what to say to those that stop by your poster so we're offering a poster talk prep session on January 4 @3:30pm in the reading room. Bring a format of your poster (digital on a thumb drive, printed, proof, whatever you have so we can see it) and come prepared to give us a short 1-2 min. talk of your research. Key points you should prepare for your talk are 1) what exactly did you do; and 2) why is what you did important?  

Colloquium: This Thursday at 4pm in PAA A102, we have former UW PhD student now faculty member at Haverford College, Prof. Beth Willman giving a talk on "Ultra-faint dwarfs, dark matter, and galaxy formation". Join us at 3:45pm in the foyer for coffee, tea and cookies.  

New look for the Page O'Announcements: Take a look at the new and improved POA! A new look and some revised important Astronomy links on the side: http://pageoannouncements.blogspot.com/ Have a great final week in classes!

Best, Sarah