Courses

The listing of a course description here does not guarantee a course’s being offered in a particular semester. Please refer to the published schedule of classes on the Student Link for confirmation a class is actually being taught and for specific course meeting dates and times.

• GRS AS 751: The Interstellar Medium
  Interstellar medium components and phases. Neutral hydrogen clouds, 21 cm line, Zeeman effect. Ionized nebulae, free-free radiation, recombination lines, ionization balance, thermal balance. Molecular clouds, collisional and radiative excitation, line formation and propagation, rotational and vibrational energies. Interstellar chemistry.
• GRS AS 753: Normal Galaxies and the Milky Way
  Normal galaxies and the Milky Way as systems. Stellar components and clusters, elliptical and disk galaxies. Luminosity functions, radial distributions, distance indicators, triaxial spheroids, and central bars. Motions near the sun, asymmetric drift, velocity ellipsoid, galactic rotation, Oort formulae, gas distributions, galactic center.
• GRS AS 757: High-Energy Astrophysics
  Physics of interactions between high-energy particles and photons. Compton scattering; nuclear collisions; acceleration and energy losses of high-energy particles; neutrino production; physics of cosmic rays; pulsars; accretion onto compact objects; active galactic nuclei and other high-energy phenomena.
• GRS AS 781: Planetary Atmospheres
  Planetary and cometary atmospheres; atmospheric vertical mixing; radiative processes; catalytic ozone destruction; aurorae and airglow; planetary ionospheres; energy budgets. Planetary evolution: solar nebula, outgassing, water loss on Venus and Mars, escape of light gases, greenhouse effect, isotope fractionation, impact theory.
• GRS AS 785: Magnetospheres
  Solar wind/magnetosphere interaction. Magnetospheric dynamics and substorms. Magnetospheric electric fields and current systems. Ionosphere/magnetosphere coupling. The aurora. Magnetospheric plasma waves and instabilities. In situ plasma and field diagnostics.
• GRS AS 786: The Sun and Heliosphere
  Fundamentals of solar and heliospheric physics, including observational methods and theory from the sun's interior through interplanetary space and into the local interstellar medium. The sun as a star. Relation of our heliosphere to astrospheres surrounding other stars.
• GRS AS 791: Special Topics in Astrophysics
  Lecture course examining special topics of current interest in astrophysics. Offered as a 2- or 4-credit course, depending on the topic.
• GRS AS 802: Graduate Research and Scholarship
  An introduction to the methods of research and scholarship required for successful graduate study and the associated ethical issues. Topics include choosing a research advisor, the research topic, the research record, scholarly writing and publishing, intellectual property, and research funding.
• GRS AS 803: Research Methods in Astronomical Data Analysis
  Computer programming skills, elementary image and data processing, visualization techniques for astronomical datasets. Flat fielding, bias removal, sky subtraction, median filtering, CLEAN algorithm, point-source extraction. Fitting functions to data, solving linear and nonlinear equations numerically, approximating solutions of differential equations.
• GRS AS 850: Astrophysics Seminar
  Weekly seminar offering graduate students and advanced undergraduates discussions of current research topics in astrophysics with staff and visiting scientists.
• GRS AS 851: Astrophysics Seminar
  Weekly seminar offering graduate students and advanced undergraduates discussions of current research topics in astrophysics with staff and visiting scientists.
• GRS AS 865: Space Physics Seminar
  Weekly seminar offering graduate students and advanced undergraduates discussions of current research topics in space physics with staff and visiting scientists.
• GRS AS 866: Space Physics Seminar
  Weekly seminar offering graduate students and advanced undergraduates discussions of current research topics in space physics with staff and visiting scientists.
• GRS AS 901: Research in Astronomy
  
• GRS AS 902: Research in Astronomy
  
• GRS AS 911: Directed Study in Astronomy
  
• GRS AS 912: Directed Study in Astronomy
  
• GRS BI 607: Animal Behavior
  Ethological approach to animal behavior. Physiological, ontogenic, and phylogenic causes and adaptive significance of behavior are examined within an evolutionary framework, minimally including humans. Three hours lecture, three hours laboratory. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Ethical Reasoning, Philosophical Inquiry and Life's Meanings, Research and Information Literacy.
• GRS BI 610: Developmental Biology
  Contemporary aspects of development, drawing from current literature. Emphasis on the use of experimental approaches to address topics such as polarity in the egg, body axis specification, embryonic patterning and organogenesis. Three hours lecture, one hour discussion.
• GRS BI 611: Microbiome: Our Intimate Relationship with Microorganisms
  The microbial community - referred to as "microbiome" - that colonizes the human body plays an important role in our health. Topics include (1) the human microbiome; and (2) fundamental aspects of the interactions between animals and the microorganisms that reside with them. Three hours lecture; one hour discussion.

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