Welcome to the Virginia Tech SuperDARN Student Interest Page. Here you will find information important to prospective, current, and future VT SuperDARN students, as well students with a general interest in Space Science. This includes information about the lab, news items of interest to students, and important training and policy information. If you have interest in SuperDARN or space related studies, please contact either Dr. Mike Ruohoniemi or Dr. Jo Baker.
The Virginia Tech SuperDARN radar group conducts research on Earth’s space environment using HF radars and allied instrumentation and operates the U.S. component of the international SuperDARN collaboration as an Upper Atmosphere Facility for the National Science Foundation. The activities of the group are student-centered and involve all facets of research, including hardware design, operations, data analysis, and collaborative support for the scientific community. The group is a component of the Space@VT research center within the Bradley Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Virginia Tech.
Current student research activities include analysis of ionospheric irregularities observed with the new mid-latitude chain of SuperDARN radars, study of ultra low frequency pulsations in the magnetosphere and ionosphere, intercomparison of GPS/TEC data with radar observations of ionospheric stucture, and studies of ionospheric plasma convection and the impacts of space weather disturbance on the ionosphere. Students are closely involved with the operation of the radars including travel to the sites and hardware development and testing. Students also develop new data products and software tools for analysis. They assist members of the scientific community in accessing and utilizing the SuperDARN data set, develop scientific collaborations with colleagues, and represent the group at meetings and conferences. The Virginia Tech SuperDARN radar group is headed by Drs. J. Michael Ruohoniemi (miker@vt.edu) and Joseph B. H. Baker (bakerjb@vt.edu).
Please visit our Archive of Student Items page for important information such as research ethics training and other important information all SuperDARN students need to know.
News Items of Student Interest
Many of the news items below represent excellent opportunities for interested students at both the undergraduate and graduate level. If you would like to talk to a Virginia Tech student who has participated in a number of these types of programs, please feel free to contact our student representative, Nathaniel Frissell.
By: miker
on: Thu., July 14, 2016 11:40 AM EDT
(213 Reads)
The emerging field of radio glaciology lies at the intersection of applied electromagnetics, geophysics, glaciology, and planetary science. The Department of Geophysics at Stanford University is actively recruiting students for its graduate program in radio glaciology with the possibility of starting as early as Fall 2016. Inquiries can be made to the head of the program, Dr. Dustin Schroeder at .
Information about the research and doctoral program at Stanford can be accessed via these links: https://earth.stanford.edu/radio-glaciology/ https://eart.stanford.edu/geophysics/propspective-students/
By: Evan Thomas
on: Tue., Sep. 29, 2015 01:38 PM EDT
(1948 Reads)
June - August 2016 Various Locations in China, Japan, Taiwan, Korea, Singapore, Australia, and New Zealand
Open to: U.S. Citizens or permanent residents enrolled in STEM/STEM Education Masters or Ph.D. Programs at U.S. Institutions Application Deadline: 12 November 2015 Apply Through/Official Information:http://www.nsf.gov/eapsi Support: $5000 stipend, travel, room, and board is provided.
By: Xueling
on: Thu., Mar. 12, 2015 08:42 AM EDT
(1828 Reads)
Still looking for something fantastic to do and financial assistance this summer? You get a lot of choices: the Space@VT REU program right here at VT; Summer Bootcamp and internship at NASA, GSFC; Heliophysics and CISM Summer School in Bounder, CO; GEM Summer Workshop in Viceroy Snowmass, CO; ISR Summer School in Jicamarca Radio Observatory in Lima, Peru. Click on Summer schools in 2015_updated.pdf for more details about these summer schools! Act as soon as possible, the deadlines are approaching!!!
By: miker
on: Sat., Mar. 07, 2015 07:32 AM EST
(2376 Reads)
Students are invited to apply for a ten-week summer program to work on cutting edge topics in space science and engineering research within the Space@VT research center of Virginia Tech. The Space@VT REU website includes an on-line enrollment form: http://www.space.vt.edu/REU/index.html
Come learn about space science while enjoying the summer of 2015 in the beautiful mountains of southwest Virginia!
Applications are due by March 14, 2015. Must be U.S. citizen or permanent resident.
By: miker
on: Tue., Mar. 03, 2015 12:59 PM EST
(1589 Reads)
The annual Virginia Tech GIS and Remote Sensing Research Symposium will be held on April 10, 2015 (Friday) between 1 and 5 pm in the Multipurpose Room on the first floor of the Newman Library. The Symposium provides a venue for presenting recent advances in geographic information systems and remote sensing applications and research. The VT SuperDARN group participates via its involvement in the Interdisciplinary Graduate Research Program (IGEP) for Remote Sensing (http://rsigep.frec.vt.edu/). Poster Proposals are due by Friday, March 13, 2015.
By: Evan Thomas
on: Wed., Nov. 05, 2014 11:45 AM EST
(1842 Reads)
Open to: Undergraduate and Graduate Students with US Citizenship attending VA Space Grant Schools (Including Virginia Tech!) Graduate STEM Research Fellowship Deadline: February 9, 2015 Undergraduate STEM Research Scholarship Deadline: February 9, 2015 Application and more information:http://www.vsgc.odu.edu/
By: Evan Thomas
on: Wed., Sep. 03, 2014 01:53 PM EDT
(2699 Reads)
June - August 2015 Various Locations in China, Japan, Taiwan, Korea, Singapore, Australia, and New Zealand
Open to: U.S. Citizens or permanent residents enrolled in STEM/STEM Education Masters or Ph.D. Programs at U.S. Institutions Application Deadline: 13 November 2014 Apply Through/Official Information:http://www.nsf.gov/eapsi Support: $5000 stipend, travel, room, and board is provided.
By: Nathaniel Frissell
on: Sat., Apr. 26, 2014 11:41 AM EDT
(2445 Reads)
3-13 July 2014 NASA Goddard, Greenbelt Maryland
Open to: Undergraduate and Graduate Students, Researchers, Professionals Apply Through:http://ccmc.gsfc.nasa.gov Funding: None remaining this year.
I would like to draw your attention to our 2nd Space Weather Summer Training Bootcamp (if you haven’t heard about it already). The training is required for those undergraduates (US citizenship required, rising sophomore or junior preferred) who’d like to be an independent space weather forecaster. After being certified, at least one-year commitment to working part-time with CCMC/SWRC (with compensation, can be done remotely) is expected.
But the training is intended to be multi-purpose, graduate students and researchers (and other professionals) can also benefit from it. Attached please find the tentative training agenda and description.
For the paid summer internship and the follow-on year-long part-time internship opportunity (see the description below), the number is limited (2-3 students per year). While it is too late for this year, we appreciate your recommendations of your student(s) as our potential future interns. You are more than welcome to send your students to participate the 2-week long training if they can find their way to Goddard (at their own cost or sponsored by you/your institution).
More info can be found here (http://ccmc.gsfc.nasa.gov).
By: Nathaniel Frissell
on: Fri., Feb. 28, 2014 10:24 AM EST
(2672 Reads)
21-26 July 2014 Arecibo Observatory, Puerto Rico
Open to: Graduate and advanced undergraduate students. Extended Application Deadline: 7 March 2014 Apply Through:http://amisr.com/workshop Funding: Travel, housing, and meals for most US-based students. Funding for post-docs and students outside of the US is considered on a case-by-case basis.
The 2014 ISR Summer School will be held at the Arecibo Observatory July 21 – July 26, inclusive. The school provides students with hands-on experience in designing and running experiments at incoherent scatter radar facilities. During this summer school, students will have the opportunity to run experiments with the Arecibo incoherent scatter radar (ISR) and use data from multiple ISR observatories, such as EISCAT, Poker Flat (PFISR), Millstone Hill, Resolute Bay (RISR), Sondrestrom, and Jicamarca. The school will be structured to provide presentations in the morning and hands-on experience in experiment design and analysis in the afternoons. The morning lectures will include an introduction to the theory of incoherent scatter, radar operations, ISR analysis techniques, and the Madrigal database. The afternoon exercises will involve working closely with ISR facility staff in the topic areas of: proposal design, experiment execution, and data analysis. All students will have the opportunity to work one-on-one with experienced scientists from multiple institutions.
By: Nathaniel Frissell
on: Fri., Feb. 21, 2014 12:17 PM EST
(3259 Reads)
Location: Various NASA Campuses across the United States, including NASA Goddard in Greenbelt, MD and JPL in Pasadena, CA. Time: Summer 2014 (May/June - August) Apply:https://intern.nasa.gov/ Eligibility: Varies with position. NASA has opportunities from high school through postdoctoral, as well as for US Citizens and International Students. Field: Engineering, Science, Technology, and Administrative Internships exist. Financial: Varies with position. In addition to salary, travel and lodging assistance is often provided. Summer Internship Application Deadline: March 1, 2014 Apply:https://intern.nasa.gov/
NASA internships are still available for summer of 2014 at the Goddard Space Flight Facility in Greenbelt, MD, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, CA, and other NASA campuses. The goal of NASA's internship program is to further students' pursuit of careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). Research projects are offered in areas such as computer science, robotics, mechanical engineering, aerospace engineering, astrophysics, electrical engineering, as well as planetary, geological, and biological sciences. NASA's work reaches many fields and is conducted at numerous campuses across the United States. This internship program gives students of many levels an opportunity to explore the frontiers of human space knowledge.
