Research Space and Facilities

External Support

Contracts and grants (the great majority from the federal government) provide our primary source of research support. The Astronomy program faculty, including two Research Professors, brought in $5.8M in new research funding during the 2015-2016 academic year.

We obtain the majority of our contract and grant funding from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the National Science Foundation (NSF). Direct contracts and grants from NASA accounted for $1.36 M and NSF accounted for $3.6M last year.

Academic Year Total External Grant Funding Received

2015 – 2016 $ 5,869,966.67

2014 – 2015 $ 2,994,478.75

2013 – 2014 $ 3,287,172.02

2012 – 2013 $ 2,285,347.47

2011 – 2012 $ 5,023,721.51

Table XI-1: This table represents the amount of annual funding secured by the Astronomy Faculty over the past five years.

Internal Support

Astronomy faculty, research staff, postdocs, and students are fortunate to have a variety of opportunities to have their research funded internally. In addition to Endowed Professorships and Chairs that are awarded to distinguished faculty members, the Astronomy program has additional resources that are available to support it’s research and education mission. Some of these include:

Cox Endowment for Advanced Studies Astronomy Scholarships and Fellowships: The purpose of the Cox Endowment is to support research and programs in the Department of Astronomy. These funds are allocated by the Department Chair and awarded for a number of specific purposes as outlined below.

Graduate Student Support: The Department allocates recurring funds of to $130K to $150 K each year for graduate student support (recruitment of new students and support of existing students) as listed below.

a) Department Cox Endowment recurring funds: $50,000 per year

b) Department Cox Endowment funds dedicated to travel support for graduate students (through the Cox Graduate Excellence Funds and Cox funds awarded to the five departmental research groups): $30,000 per year

c) Department summer fellowships: We currently award two summer fellowships (Goetting Endowed Presidential Scholarship and Benfield Memorial Scholarship) each year totaling

$20,000

d) Department discretionary and reserve funds (from the Cox endowment, the Board of Visitors funds, the Blumberg endowment, the Lambert endowment, etc.) contribute

$30,000 to $50,000 per year. These discretionary funds are very limited over the next few years as they are committed toward start-up packages for new faculty hires.

The total recurring funds from CNS are $38,040 per year. The combined total recurring amount ($168K to $188K) from the department and CNS is over a factor of eight smaller than the yearly cost of supporting our 35 graduate students ($1.6 M without indirect costs). External fellowships (e.g., from NASA and NSF) and internal CNS/Graduate School fellowships provide only limited help as they typically support only a modest fraction (~20%) of students. Therefore, most of the funds for graduate student support need to come from TAs or GRAs offered by the research advisor.

The Department Chair is working on philanthropic initiatives to set up additional endowed funds for graduate student support.

Research Group Funding: Research in the Astronomy program is loosely divided into five research groups designated as the Extragalactic, Interstellar, Planetary Systems, Stars, and Theory groups.

These groups receive research funds from the Department and Observatory, primarily designed to support research-related travel of graduate students. The Department typically contributes a total of $20K, which is matched by the Observatory. The groups manage their allocation and process requests for travel and research assistance from their members. Priority is given to student requests whenever possible.

Annual Faculty Professorships through Cox Endowment: Faculty members who do not hold an Endowed Chair or Professorship receive a small (currently $2,000) annual professorship through the Cox Endowment. These funds are available to be used for travel or other research

opportunities. It should be noted that Assistant Professors who have start-up funds do not receive these professorships.

Faculty Travel Grants: Eligible faculty may receive as much as $1,200 per academic year for travel expenses to present original papers at scholarly and professional meetings. Administered through University of Texas Graduate School, these grants are open to all tenured, tenure-track, and emeritus faculty.

Rom Rhome Travel Grants: Through an endowment started by Mr. Rom Rhome, a longstanding member of the College of Natural Sciences Advisory Council, faculty members presenting at an international meeting during the academic year are eligible to receive funds to assist with travel expenses. The Rom Rhome International Professional Development Fund is administered through the College of Natural Sciences on an annual basis. Nominations are submitted by the department chairs and awarded each fall.

Board of Visitors Excellence Funds – Conference/Meeting Support:

The Astronomy program has used the Board of Visitor Excellence Funds to host numerous

scientific conferences and meetings to further advance cutting-edge research by bringing together scientists from around the world to collaborate. Notable meetings funded by this endowment over the past five years include:

Cosmological Radiative Transfer Comparison Project Workshop IV: The Cosmological Radiative Transfer Comparison Project (CRTCP) was organized to guide and promote progress on the new frontier in computational cosmology, incorporating radiation transport algorithms in the

simulation of cosmic structure formation and evolution. Organized by Professor Paul Shapiro, this intensive three day scientific symposium focused on the progress that has been made in the CRTCP and the future directions of the Comparison Project.

Figure XI-4: CRTCP Workshop IV gathered leading experts on radiative transfer and gas dynamics in computational cosmology, UT Austin, December 12 – 14, 2012.

Frank N. Bash Symposium: New Horizons in Astronomy: This biennial meeting brings together young researchers on the cutting edge of astronomy and astrophysics, to promote the exchange of research ideas and visions of the future of astronomy. Organized by the UT Austin postdoctoral fellows, the symposium focuses on invited review talks and includes participants from around the world. BashFest 2015 was held on October 19-20, 2015 and BashFest 2013 was held on October 8-9, 2013.

Figure XI-1: Dr. Laura Blecha, from the University of Maryland presents an invited review talk at Bash’15 held on the UT Austin campus. (Photo credit: Lara Eakins)

South By High Redshift (SXHZ): The first “South by High Redshift” conference was held on April 1-3, 2015. Assistant Professor Steven Finkelstein led the Scientific Organizing Committee to a successful three-day scientific meeting focusing on a variety of topics concerning the formation and evolution of galaxies, covering the first two billion years after the Big Bang.

Figure XI-2: More than 100 researchers from around the world participated in the South by High Redshift Conference held at the AT&T Executive Conference Center on the UT Campus. (Photo credit: AT&T staff)

NealFest Observing the Universe from Molecules to Galaxies: Professor Neal J. Evans, II has been a pioneer in the study of how stars form within this galaxy and others. To recognize his

outstanding and distinguished career, his colleagues and former students came together to discuss the numerous advances he has made, placing them in context with our current understanding of star formation in the Universe. The meeting was held on April 25-26, 2013.

Figure XI-3: Professor Neal J. Evans, II, shown here with his former graduate students who celebrated with him during NealFest. (Photo credit: Lara Eakins)

XI.B. Relationships with Organized Research Units (ORUs)

As discussed in Section II.B., the Department of Astronomy and McDonald Observatory are distinct, but complementary, units within the College of Natural Sciences. McDonald Observatory functions as an Organized Research Unit (ORU). The Department and Observatory work

synergistically to create the UT Astronomy program. The other ORU that we have a significant relationship with is the Center for Space Research (CSR), an ORU in UT’s Cockrell School of Engineering. CSR operates a laser ranging facility for geodetic science at McDonald Observatory.