Astronomy National Tsing Hua University

Overview

The purpose of the Astronomy Institute at National Tsing Hua University is to conduct high-quality teaching to cultivate younger generations for astronomy education and research, to perform front-end astronomy research, and to become an internationally well-recognized institution.      

Learning outcomes

The Institute offers comprehensive fundamental graduate courses and a variety of optional courses on different topics, which include Stellar Astrophysics, Galactic Astronomy, Radiative Processes in Astrophysics, The Solar System, Interstellar Medium, Cosmology, Radio Astronomy, High Energy Astrophysics, Observational Astronomy, etc.The Institute owns an on-campus observatory for teaching purposes. Besides, several small optical telescopes are stationed at a few sites around the world (the Taiwan Oscillation Network, TON) to conduct helioseismic, asteroseismic, and exoplanet observations. Several faculty members also frequently conduct observations and data analysis with international facility such as large radio telescopes and astronomical satellites.      

The major research fields in the Institute include solar physics, star and planet formation, and high energy astrophysics. Theoretical investigation, observation and data analysis, and instrumentation are all involved. The observation covers various wave bands from radio, infrared, optical, X-ray, to gamma-ray, across the whole electromagnetic spectrum. One of the goals of the Institute is to become an internationally well-recognized institution.      

The career prospective of students graduating from the Institute is promising and rich. Students can continue to develop their academic career, or devote themselves into education at high schools and institutions like museum and planetarium. Astronomy training and research also involve various analysis methods, computer software and hardware, electronic devices, mechanical engineering, material sciences, etc. Students are therefore also capable of turning themselves into other fields in the industry.