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Cosmic Dawn
What are the differences between galaxies born and raised in regions of space that were either crowded or sparse, and how did these differences affect the end of the cosmic dark ages?
Prof. Shapiro's group studies the first billion years of cosmic time when the first galaxies and stars were born, the last window of cosmic time accessible to direct observation. To test current theory, they use supercomputers to simulate the formation of galaxies and large-scale structure in the expanding universe. When these galaxies formed stars, starlight escaped into the surrounding gas, heating and ionizing it. This "feedback" impacted future galaxy and star formation and left observable imprints on the universe which astronomers are just now beginning to detect. Students will help make new discoveries with the most advanced simulations in the world, performed at the Texas Advanced Computing Center at UT.
Click here to read more about the Cosmic Dawn Stream.
Research Streams
The Freshman Research Initiative offers many 'research streams' in which undergraduate students work alongside scientists to make discoveries. Read more about each research stream and the faculty members and research educators leading them below. Search by related major or simply browse by your research interests.
**Fall-start streams are NOT AVAILABLE on the Stream Sort Form**
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Geometry of Space
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White Dwarf Stars
Credit Options: Spring: PHY101L & AST210K, Fall: AST375
