Welcome to Beyond Boulder

 

Beyond Boulder is a resource for undergrads in fields related to physics and astronomy at CU Boulder. It is a program designed to help guide you through the process of thinking about and planning for your future career. During the academic year we meet on Mondays at 5pm for useful workshops, seminars, questions and frank answers. The information presented herein should not be taken as absolute truth. Be sure to double check things on your own!

 

Beyond Boulder was started in Fall 2008 by Makenzie Lystrup with support from a National Science Foundation Astronomy & Astrophysics Postdoctoral Research Fellowship. She ran the program through Spring 2011. Emily Levesque, now faculty at U. Washington led the program from 2011-2014, and Mikki Osterloo of CU/LASP from 2014 to 2016. Nick Schneider of APS has been coordinator since Fall 2016.

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Welcome to the 2017-2018 Academic Year!

Spring events will be held in Duane G130 5:00-6:00 

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Events and news 

 

Fall 2017 Beyond Boulder Schedule

2 October: Graduate School, with Profs. Ben Brown (APS) and Kevin Stenson (PHYS).

 

6 November:  Undergrad Research Experiences, with Nick Schneider (APS), Chuck Rogers (PHYS) and Marty Snow (LASP REU Program). Slides

 

4 December*: (G130, 6:15pm): Undergraduate Research Symposium with Prof. Ann-Marie Madigan (APS). See presentations here.

 

Spring 2018 Beyond Boulder Schedule

5 or 12 February: Career paths #2 (Business, Industry, EPO) with Seth Hornstein, Nick Schneider (APS), John Price (PHYS), (Lockheed Martin & APS)

 

5 or 12 March: Applications & CV’s & How to get a job (Writing Center + CU Career Center)

 

9 or 16 April: Planning for senior year. GRE prep with Prof. Mike Dubson (PHYS)

  

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Spring 2017 Beyond Boulder Schedule

30 January: Career paths #2 (Business, Industry, EPO) with Seth Hornstein, Nick Schneider (APS), John Price (PHYS), Shelbe Timothy (Lockheed Martin & APS)

 

24 February: Applications & CV’s & How to get a job (Writing Center + CU Career Center)

 

17 April: GRE with Prof. Mike Dubson (PHYS)

 

 

Fall 2016 Beyond Boulder Schedule

26 September: Graduate School, with Profs. Ben Brown (APS) and Kevin Stenson (PHYS). [Video] [slides]

 

24 October: Career paths #1 :Research, K12 Teaching, with Nick Schneider (APS), Jenni Keil (CUTeach) and more. [Video] [slides]

 

28 November: Research & other pre-professional undergrad experiences, with Prof. Erica Ellingson (APS) [slides]

 

 

 

 

Spring 2016 Beyond Boulder Schedule (All sessions 5-6 pm Gamow Commons Room 11th floor)

February 1st: Careers in Teaching ; Cancelled

 

February 8th: Undergraduate Teaching Opportunities

 

February 15th: Public Engagement, Outreach Opportunities, and Science Education

 

March 7th: Careers in Industry

 

March 14th: Careers in Business

 

March 28th: The Physics GRE

 

April 4th: Women in Physics and Astronomy

 

April 11th: Should you go to Graduate School?

 

Fall 2015 Beyond Boulder Schedule

September 28th: Introduction and Careers in Research  

 

October 5th: Careers in Academia 

 

October 12th: Undergraduate Research Opportunities 

 

November 2nd: Graduate Admissions Panel 

 

November 9th: Choosing a Graduate School 

 

December 7th: Applications, CV's and Resumes 

 

Spring 2015 Beyond Boulder Schedule 

February 2nd: Careers in Research

 

February 9th: Careers in Teaching

 

February 23rd: Careers in Industry

 

March 2nd: Careers with the Public

 

March 9th: Careers in Academia

 

March 16th: Choosing Graduate Schools

 

March 30th: Careers in Business and Industry

 

April 6th: The Physics GREs

 

April 13th: semester wrap-up/Career Fair advice

 

 

 

Fall 2014 Beyond Boulder Schedule 

September 15th: Semester Intro; research and teaching careers - link to AIP statistics on physics & astronomy employment here!

 

September 22nd: Engineering and Industry careers Career Fair link is here!

 

September 29th: Should you go to graduate school?

 

October 6th: Undergraduate Teaching Opportunities

 

October 13th: Undergraduate Research Opportunities LASP REU handout Advice on starting a research project

 

October 20th: Women in Physics and Astronomy

 

October 27th: Graduate Admissions Panel APS course recommendations

 

November 3rd: Application Writing Workshop, Part I

 

November 10th: Application Writing Workshop, Part II

 

Spring 2014 Beyond Boulder Schedule 

January 27th: Careers in Research (session notes)

 

February 3rd: Careers in Teaching (session notes)

 

February 10th: Careers in Academia (session notes)

 

February 17th: Careers in Industry (session notes)

 

February 24th: Careers with the Public (session notes)

 

March 3rd: Careers in Business CANCELED

 

March 17th: Choosing Graduate Schools (session notes)

 

April 7th: The Physics GREs (session notes)

 

April 14th: semester wrap-up

 

 

 

Presentation: Undergraduate Research Opportunities

For those who missed our session on October 21st, you can download a copy of Dan Dessau's presentation on undergraduate education here.

 

 

Session Notes: Should You Go To Graduate School?

Thanks very much to Michelle Villeneuve for taking great notes at our last session, a panel discussion on deciding whether to go to grad school. Download the notes here.

 

 

NSF REU Program Links

If you'd like to learn more about the NSF's REU programs, visit their list of sites for Physics and Astronomy programs. Go to any specific site website for more information on their research opportunities and application process!

 

In addition, the PDF handout from our last session summarizing the 2012 REU program here in Boulder can be found here: REU_Boulder_2012.pdf

 

The CU Writing Center

For any students who would like assistance with their grad school/research program/fellowship/scholarship applications, job cover letters, or any other written material, consider making an appointment at CU's Writing Center. It's a great resource and gives you a chance to get feedback, writing tips, and an extra (professional!) pair of eyes looking over your work!

 

Fall 2011 Presentation Downloads

We'll be uploading PDF copies of some of the more popular Beyond Boulder presentations this fall. Watch this space to download a copy of a presentation that you found particularly interesting!

 

Application Workshop Part 1: presentation with tips for writing your statement of purpose: StatementOfPurposePres2011.pdf

 

Graduate Admissions Panel: again, no presentations this week, but Prof. Mike Shull had a valuable handout listing recommended classes for students who might be interested in going to physics or astronomy grad school and are wondering what to take: coursework_recommendations.pdf

 

Undergraduate Teaching Opportunities: no presentation this week, but check out the Learning Assistant program website for undergrad teaching opportunities here at CU and the Beyond Boulder page on research/teaching for other volunteering and teaching opportunities.

 

Undergraduate Research Opportunities:BB_research.pdf (presentation) and BB_research_handout.pdf (handout with links)

  -- also check out the Beyond Boulder pages on research and scholarship/fellowship opportunities!

 

Careers in Astronomy and Astrophysics: BB_AstroCareers.pdf and Careers_Fall_2011.ppt.pdf

 

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Disclaimer: The material on this website is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under the AAPF program. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the fellow and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.