The Keck Northeast Astronomy Consortium: An Integrated, Collaborative and Effective Program to Involve Undergraduates in Research

Wesleyan University, Middletown CT

Investigators

Abstract

AST 0353997 Herbst The Keck Northeast Astronomy Consortium (KNAC) is comprised of astronomy faculty and students at the following institutions: Colgate, Haverford (including students from Bryn Mawr), Middlebury, Swarthmore, Vassar, Wellesley, Wesleyan and Williams. KNAC provides an integrated and collaborative program, designed to provide research experiences for students that they would otherwise not have. The programs have four integrated components: o A 10-week summer research opportunity for students to work at a KNAC institution other than their own. o A fall Student Symposium attended by nearly the entire faculty and a large number of students (not just those who have done research) at which each KNAC-supported student gives a 10-minute research talk on his or her project. Students from our institutions who have done research projects under auspices other than KNAC are also invited and encouraged to either speak at the Symposium or present poster papers. o Publication of Proceedings from that Symposium, for which each presenting student writes a 4-page research paper. These Proceedings are distributed widely within the astronomical community (e.g. to graduate institutions) and included by the Astrophysics Data System in their electronic bibliography. o A summer planning and evaluation meeting of the KNAC faculty.