Andreas Albrecht

UCD Undergraduates:

Contact me for a meeting to see if I have a suitable topic (upper division physics majors only please). You are also most welcome to attend my research group meetings, although these are usually run at a technical level more suitable for grad students. To learn about my research meetings check here.  Typically I do not have research projects suitable for undergraduates, but very occasionally I come up with something. 

Undergraduates should also see the Physics and Astronomy Department web pages to learn about other research opportunities. And I encourage you to discuss undergraduate research with other faculty as well. Each faculty member approaches undergraduate research supervision differently.

UCD Graduate students (and applicants):

I decide whether to take on graduate students for PhD research after an informal trial period of one or two quarters. If you are interested please contact me to discuss the possibility and logistics of getting started. Often a good starting point is a meeting where I just review my current research interests so you can see if some of them seem to be a good match to your interests. I encourage you to attend my research group meetings, the cosmology seminars and the Joint Theory Seminars. To learn about my research meetings check here. It might also be possible for me to supervise readings in cosmology for beginning grad students who are not yet at an appropriate stage to start the trial period for research.

I sometimes get requests from students applying to the UCD PhD program asking "are you taking students?" All of my PhD students go through a trial period at a suitable stage of their graduate studies, after entering our program (as I discuss above). I am unable make any commitments before then. It is possible that at some times I will not take on new students because I already have enough students. This aspect depends more on how many students my current work style can accommodate vs a specific absolute number, and it is not something I can predict much in advance. Often I have more students than I have funding to support, and historically they have made up the difference by taking TA jobs.  Students in my research group should not assume any particular level of GSR funding will be provided.  Also, into the future TA jobs are becoming fewer and more tightly regulated by department policy.  Students are advised to investigate the current situation and not make asumptions about the availability of TA positions. 

Prospective students who wish to learn more about my research program should start with the info on my web pages, and also subscribe to the cosmology group meeting mailing list here, as well as the QMAP mailing list here. (I might broadcast an announcement to only one list, or to both, depending on the relevance to the different groups.)

Information about how to apply to our graduate program can be found here.  (Sometimes applicants write to me asking me to evaluate their dossier for them, but that is the work of our admissions committee. I am unable to respond to such requests.) 

Internships and volunteer research positions:

Occasionally I get inquiries from students seeking internships or volunteer research positions. I only supervise research through the regular programs of the UCD physics and astronomy department. The closest thing we have to an internship is the undergraduate research opportunities through the National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program (see the REU web site here)

Considering UCD for your undergraduate physics/astronomy studies?

Visit the pages of the Physics and Astronomy Department and UC Davis to learn more.