Joint Center for Astrophysics

JCA Facilities
Telescope

Undergraduate

The UMBC Physics Department, in conjunction with the JCA, offer a number of Undergraduate Courses in Astronomy & Astrophysics. These range from the introductory level (accessible to all students with a fair grounding in [non-calculus] High-School Math) to more advanced courses aimed at Science-Majors, and which can be combined with other courses offered by the Physics Department to form a Minor in Astronomy.

These courses are either taught by members of the Regular Physics Faculty or (more often for the 300+ level courses) by Research Faculty members of the JCA who are career-astronomers also working at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, MD.

In some of the courses, students get experience of the UMBC Telescope located on the roof of the Physics Department.

The Physics Department & JCA also offers a number of additional oppportunities to undergraduate students including Summer Internships (some at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center) and other Undergraduate Research possibilities.

Below are some of the career astronomers & astrophysicists who have previously taught undergraduate courses at UMBC.