Hands-on and Student-Focused

Because our goal is to produce students who are ready to take on complex and exciting problems after graduation, student research is vital to our department.  Our laboratories are well equipped with research-grade instrumentation, electronics equipment, and computer hardware.  Students are involved in all aspects of research:  they run our observatory, design and build apparatus, conduct experiments, create computer simulations, develop analytical theories and analyze data.  They also present their results at local and national conferences and are the co-authors of journal articles with faculty.  Support for student research comes from a variety of sources, including the National Science Foundation, NASA, local industry, and the University of St. Thomas.