Wednesday 12Jun19 - Introduction
I'm creating this blog with the purpose of journaling my experience as a scholar with the Astrophysics Summer Research Experience for Undergrads (REU) at UT Austin funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and Department of Defense (DoD). This blog will help me keep track of my day-to-day goals and accomplishments.
Monday and Tuesday were predominantly used for in-processing. On Monday afternoon we met with Dr. Shardha Jogee, the Principal Investigator for the program, got an overview, and orientation. We picked up university identification cards, explored the food and exercise facilities, and generally got settled in.
I met with Dr. Steve Finkelstein, the head of my research team, and Rebecca Larson, my research mentor, on Monday. From what I can gather, we've collected a good deal of data on highly redshifted (z=8) galaxies. That means that they're very old; "a" is defined as the age of a galaxy, and a = 1/(1 + z); a = 1 is today, here on Earth. The data is collected, and it will be our task to analyze it. What the goal of this analysis is, I'm not certain of yet. I hope to visit Dr. S. Finkelstein in his office today to probe him for answers. I don't have daily tasks yet; Rebecca and I aren't meeting to hold an interview and discuss my responsibilities until Friday afternoon.
Tomorrow after lunch I will be meeting my informal mentor for the program, Jonathan. The meeting shouldn't last longer than half an hour. He's supposed to be helping me get settled in.
My goals for today are simple: file my travel voucher for reimbursement; watch a video on the Hubble Deep Field from Astronomy Untapped (recommended by Dr. S. Finkelstein); dig into some beginner's exercises for learning to program in Python; attend an ice cream social hosted by the Summer Research Scholars at UT (there are over 20 REU's in various fields occurring simultaneously here) in the afternoon; and read Rebecca Larson's paper on research related to our current project, writing out a list of questions to be clarified as I go.
UPDATE: I was initially very anxious about daily responsibilities. I reached out to Rebecca to meet with her today and check in. I think that gaining a familiarity with Python is potentially plenty to focus on for now. There is no need to rush into the project. The culture of a given research team will vary; I'm a small fish, and there's no need for me to get worked up if there isn't yet a role for me. I'm sure Dr. S. Finkelstein and Rebecca have a good handle on the project, and have the competence to reach out and delegate work to me as needed. It's easy to get worked up about a lack of structure, especially since many of my peers in this program are undergraduates in their late teens and early twenties. I think they have a tendency to fuss about accomplishing things fast, and that leads to a culture in which everyone is constantly comparing themselves to others, and sometimes generating work that doesn't need to exist. It is important for appearances that I be present in the computer lab, obviously spending time working on coding every day. But Rebecca stated that her primary goal for me in this program is learning about the field. I think I can do that without overworking myself or stressing out.
UPDATE: I was initially very anxious about daily responsibilities. I reached out to Rebecca to meet with her today and check in. I think that gaining a familiarity with Python is potentially plenty to focus on for now. There is no need to rush into the project. The culture of a given research team will vary; I'm a small fish, and there's no need for me to get worked up if there isn't yet a role for me. I'm sure Dr. S. Finkelstein and Rebecca have a good handle on the project, and have the competence to reach out and delegate work to me as needed. It's easy to get worked up about a lack of structure, especially since many of my peers in this program are undergraduates in their late teens and early twenties. I think they have a tendency to fuss about accomplishing things fast, and that leads to a culture in which everyone is constantly comparing themselves to others, and sometimes generating work that doesn't need to exist. It is important for appearances that I be present in the computer lab, obviously spending time working on coding every day. But Rebecca stated that her primary goal for me in this program is learning about the field. I think I can do that without overworking myself or stressing out.
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