Programs What path to follow for scientific computing?

[Technik]

I am 26 years old and currently working on my B.Sci. in Computer Science. I am also interested in astronomy and physics as well, and my dream job would be something where I can combine those interests and work alongside scientists and researchers. I love science and as long as I make a reasonable income, I don't care about the money - I just love the intellectual pursuit.

Here in North Carolina, UNC Chapel Hill and NC State University both offer graduate programs in astronomy/astrophysics. NCSU offers a graduate degree in data science/analytics as well.

What kind of path should I look into if I want to work with scientists but coming from a computer science / information technology background? Would it be possible to move into a physics graduate program if I essentially minored in physics during undergrad? Or would I have to double major?

Basically, I'm trying to figure out what to do while I'm in undergrad to simultaneously help my chances of getting into graduate school while also allowing me to find a job soon after undergrad (as I will likely be getting married and purchasing a house in the next 5 years). I am already working with a physics professor on a web application that he is going to publish in a physics education journal - maybe that + his recommendation will help with graduate school admissions?

 

[StatGuy2000]

Since you already come from a computer science background, the easiest path to continue to collaborate and work with scientists would be to pursue graduate studies in numerical analysis/scientific computation, which are typically offered in either the computer science or applied math programs. Since you mentioned UNC Chapel Hill, they offer a graduate program in Applied and Computational Mathematics, offered through the Math Department.

http://math.unc.edu/research/applied-and-computational-mathematics/

I also see that the UNC CS department have researchers involved in high-performance scientific computing:

http://cs.unc.edu/research/areas/high-performance-computing/