Graduate Funding Challenges in Astrophysics Research

[creepypasta13]

So I heard that some physics and astronomy graduate programs are going through major funding issues right now. For example, one school I know only accepted about 5 students out of 150 for the phD admissions this year for their Astronomy dept (they're haven't been super-competitive like that in past years). I got accepted to that school's Physics program, but they told me that I can't do switch my research interest to astro since I specified another area as my main interest. I was surprised by this because I emailed some astro profs there (they're in the Astro but not Physics dept) and they mentioned they are looking for students in their research groups. How serious is this problem at other schools? If I got accepted into Physics programs, but am also strongly considering doing research with a prof in Astronomy, then is it a gamble to go there in the hopes that I could do research in astronomy?

 

[Simfish]

You're talking about UT-Austin, right? I actually know someone from my school who got into UT-Austin (for astro) this year, and he isn't that exceptional. But admissions can be quite random.

Hmm, I'm not sure yet. My school had more severe funding issues than most in the last two years, but it didn't affect acceptance rates.. yet. But the stimulus expires this year and that might hurt.

 

[eri]

Schools that have separate physics and astronomy departments (and separate admissions) don't let you switch between them, just like you can't switch from physics to economics without reapplying to the other program. It's not changing your research interest, in this case it's changing departments entirely - you'd have to attend a program that combined physics and astro to do either. So while professors might want students, they might not be able to fund them.

My grad university took between 5 and 20 students into physics/astro each year depending on the current funding situation - some years they could afford far more than others. And yes, grad admissions are a crap shoot. Often there's no good reason one person got in and another didn't when even low ranked programs only take 10% of applicants.

 

[Simfish]

My grad university took between 5 and 20 students into physics/astro each year depending on the current funding situation - some years they could afford far more than others. And yes, grad admissions are a crap shoot. Often there's no good reason one person got in and another didn't when even low ranked programs only take 10% of applicants.

Wow, what was your grad university? Did it just have a physics department, or separate depts?

 

[twofish-quant]

I got accepted to that school's Physics program, but they told me that I can't do switch myresearch interest to astro since I specified another area as my main interest.

In the case of UT Austin, the physics and astronomy departments might as well be in different schools. They do interact, and I know of some physics Ph.D.'s that manage to do "astronomy-ish" things, but it's a bureaucratic hassle.

I was surprised by this because I emailed some astro profs there (they're in the Astro but not Physics dept) and they mentioned they are looking for students in their research groups.

It's a matter of $$$$$

How serious is this problem at other schools? If I got accepted into Physics programs, but am also strongly considering doing research with a prof in Astronomy, then is it a gamble to go there in the hopes that I could do research in astronomy?

It all depends on the school.

 

[creepypasta13]

Schools that have separate physics and astronomy departments (and separate admissions) don't let you switch between them, just like you can't switch from physics to economics without reapplying to the other program. It's not changing your research interest, in this case it's changing departments entirely - you'd have to attend a program that combined physics and astro to do either. So while professors might want students, they might not be able to fund them.
.

I wasn't asking about changing departments. The schools I was looking at have had previous and some current grad students in the Physics program who were/are doing their research with a prof in the Astronomy dept, and these are schools with separate Physics and astro depts.

I actually just got an email from a prof today about why his Physics program now won't let new Physics students do research with Astronomy profs. The lack of RAships is the problem. In the past they've supported a few students studying astrophysics on TAs, but recently have had ended with a greater number of students than they can support. This year they made NO offers to students interested in astrophysics that were not interested in fundamental (ie, string) theory. In recent years they have had students apply in fields that had RA support and then switch their interests to fields where there were none. They often became disgruntled that they couldn't find research support or an advisor in their desired areas, and the TA budget became burdened with students pursuing such dissertations. This then limited their ability to recruit sufficient students in fields where research support is available.

So this funding issue for Physics students wanting to do astrophysics research was just at one school I got accepted to. I was wondering if other schools are starting to have these issues as well?