Why is becoming an astronomer important

Funding goes direct to the institution and individual universities will have more information on how funding can be accessed. Be sure to apply early for PhD programs so that departments have time to apply for funding on your behalf. Once you have a PhD, your research supervisor can help you identify possible postdoctoral posts, or you can apply for a fellowship that allows you to carry on independent research.

Generally speaking, a qualified candidate for a permanent academic post will have five to ten years of research experience already, including time working on the PhD and postdoctoral positions.

The best way to find out if you're well-suited for a career in research astronomy is to spend time doing research. Many university departments offer summer placements for undergraduate students and you can sometimes be involved with research alongside your studies. Gaining some work experience at an observatory or astronomical museum would also give you an understanding of how to use equipment and how data is collected.

Customer-facing roles would also allow you to gain skills in dealing with and communicating with the public. There are also many other smaller amateur clubs and stargazing organisations in locations across the UK. Find out more about the different kinds of work experience and internships that are available.

The majority of astronomers are employed by universities, but there are a few government and private institutions such as observatories that hire astronomers. Permanent positions in both astronomy research and outreach can be competitive, so you may have to consider moving internationally to pursue this career. If you're studying for a PhD while employed in a research post, you'll be mentored by your supervisor, who will oversee your research.

You may be offered additional training either by the institution or by external organisations such as Vitae, which supports the professional development of researchers.

After a PhD, most astronomers go on to hold at least one postdoctoral position. Individual fellowships are also granted by national UKRI and international funding agencies, allowing you to gain independence in your research career. If you're employed by a university, there will be many opportunities to improve on research, training, communication and management skills throughout your career. You'll need to keep up to date with developments in your field through attending conferences and events, and by networking with peers.

Academic research astronomers are often recognised by named professorships and invitations to become fellows of various professional societies. In academic research, a PhD is usually followed by at least one, but sometime more, short-term postdoctoral research contracts of up to three years in length.

There may only be a few experts in your particular subfield in the UK, and postdoctoral positions can offer the opportunity to gain expertise from experts around the world.

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If you have specific questions, you can email the Director of the Undergraduate Program at astro-ugradadv virginia. Skip to main content. Click here if you'd like to let us know how we can improve the service.

Tell us whether you accept cookies We use cookies to collect information about how you use the National Careers Service. Set cookie preferences. There is a problem. How to become Explore the different ways to get into this role.

How to become an astronomer You can get into this job through: a university course University You'll need a degree and postgraduate qualification to work as an astronomer. Relevant subjects include: maths physics astrophysics geophysics astronomy space science You can also do an extended 4-year degree to get a postgraduate qualification like a master of physics.

Further information You'll find more advice on careers in astronomy from the Royal Astronomical Society and SpaceCareers. What it takes Skills and knowledge You'll need: maths knowledge knowledge of physics analytical thinking skills science skills excellent verbal communication skills the ability to use your initiative the ability to think clearly using logic and reasoning concentration skills to have a thorough understanding of computer systems and applications.

What you'll do Day-to-day tasks Your day to day duties will depend on your area of expertise. We'll put on our spacesuits and go exploring. Imagine playing volleyball in low gravity! Then we'll visit Mars. There are lots of places to visit there — the Grand Canyon of Mars, the ice caps, strolling along in the morning in the ice fog. Next we'll orbit Jupiter in our spaceship. We'll use special viewers to examine the dark band where Comet Shoemaker-Levy hit the planet last year.

Go ahead — put together the rest of the tour of the solar system! We can go in our imaginations, even if there are no tour ships yet. Have you seen the sun in a telescope? Yes, very carefully! You know that looking directly at the sun can make black spots in front of your eyes — that's not good. A telescope collects light, so looking at the sun through a telescope could burn your eyes. What we do is use a special filter that lets through only a little bit of the sunlight.

We can use a filter that lets us see special things. A filter that lets through just the red light of hydrogen lets us see lots of details on the sun's surface. Have you been in space? No, I'll wait until they have regular discount trips to the moon. My friend Ron Parise has been in space twice. Their second mission was in February. But now he is home looking at the astronomical data that he collected while he was in space.

Have you seen UFOs? Once I thought I saw one, but it turned out to be a Russian rocket that fell apart as it came down into Earth's atmosphere and burned up. How did you get involved in space? Years ago I studied astronomy at Ohio State University. I was studying very young stars, like our sun but only a few million years old. We got an announcement that NASA was planning a small astronomy satellite to study stars and galaxies in ultraviolet light.

I thought that it would be neat to look at my stars in the ultraviolet — no one had ever done that before. So I wrote a proposal to study the stars with this satellite. That is how scientists get to use a satellite — they write a request explaining why this would be a good idea and then NASA chooses the best ones.

At the time I knew nothing about space astronomy. I was very happy when my request was accepted by NASA. I got to participate in some discussions about how we were going to use the satellite even before it was launched. I did the research and wrote papers about what I found. Later, when I was looking for a job, I found out that they needed a staff astronomer to help run the satellite.

I applied for the job and — 14 years later — I'm still here and working with this satellite! It is sort of a little brother although older to the Hubble Space Telescope. How do you become an astronomer? There are only a few thousand professional astronomers in the U. Many are professors at colleges and universities. They teach astronomy courses and usually do research.

Nearly all professional astronomers have a Ph. This normally requires two years of astronomy courses, doing research projects, and then two to three years doing a doctoral dissertation, which is a major research project.

The training is roughly comparable to what a medical doctor goes through. Of course you don't have to go this far to enjoy astronomy! There are many amateurs and others who just enjoy space and astronomy on their own. To anyone who is planning to go to college, whether they study astronomy or not, I recommend getting a broad, solid education. Study at least one foreign language. If you are majoring in a science area, don't neglect other areas.

Every scientist must be able to write effectively, read tons of technical papers, present reports, give speeches, and communicate with other scientists from all over the world. Finally, I should mention that the job market in astronomy is pretty bad. The kind of work we do is "pure research," which means it doesn't help put bread on the table or build better planes. With problems in government funding, there aren't many job openings.

This has been true pretty much since before I got my Ph. Some of you may be interested in astronomy and astronomy education materials.