Undergraduate Advising
Major Advisor
Brad Perl, the Department of Astronomy’s Undergraduate Advisor, is available to answer your questions about the Astrophysics major and other undergraduate matters.
Email: astroadvising@berkeley.edu(link sends e-mail)
Office: 501 Campbell Hall
Make an appointment(link is external)
Ask questions via our Advising Discord(link is external)
Faculty Advisors
Courtney Dressing is the Department of Astronomy’s Undergraduate Faculty Advisor. She is available to assist with issues that arise during your time as an undergraduate student in the Astrophysics program; she is also a great resource for explanations pertaining to the content of courses.
Email: dressing@berkeley.edu (link sends e-mail)
Peer Advisors
Astronomy Peer Advisors are current Astrophysics that are here to answer your questions about the major and the department in general. You can connect with the Astronomy Peer Advisors on our Advising Discord (link is external)or during drop-in advising hours along with Eugene or Courtney.
Spring ’24 Astronomy Peer Advisors:
Sophie Willis (Astrophysics/Applied Math)
Sunny Guo (Astrophysics/Computer Science)
Peer Tutoring
Spring ’24 peer tutoring schedule(link is external)
Other Resources
Undergraduate Research Space
The Undergraduate Research Space (URS), located in 525 Campbell, is work space reserved for undergraduates who are working on research projects alongside our faculty and researchers.
Our Remote Observing Rooms, located in the lobby of Campbell Hall, are spaces reserved for students and researchers conducting remote observing work through Keck and Lick Observatory. As at other UC sites, the remote observing facilities provide a comfortable environment to conduct your Keck and Lick observations with all of the convenience of staying in Berkeley.
Located at Lick Observatory atop Mount Hamilton, just east of San Jose, California, the Katzman Automatic Imaging Telescope (KAIT) is an entirely robotic telescope dedicated to the search for supernovae and the monitoring of celestial objects. It is a 76 cm diameter reflecting telescope equipped with a CCD camera and automatic guider . Students are able to utilize KAIT from the KAIT Research Lab located in 525 Campbell Hall (URS).
L&S Student Support and Advocacy(link is external)
The College of Letters & Science is committed to helping provide a safe and supportive environment for all students at UC Berkeley, free of bias, harassment, violence, and discrimination.
Research and Resources
There are myriad opportunities(link is external) to conduct research with our department members; students assist with observing, data-analysis, and additional research-related responsibilities for a wide variety of projects. Students can also utilize our extensive list of department facilities, libraries, telescopes, and labs, both on campus and around the country (the department offers funding for research and educational endeavours). Due to these accessible research opportunities and resources, many of our Astrophysics majors have their work published in scientific journals before graduating the program.
Astronomy majors receive access to the David D Cudaback Undergraduate Lab, a 1600 square foot facility equipped with various resources to aid research and coursework. Majors are also equipped with research software and department accounts, access to the Astronomy networks, and a department-hosted website.
Students participate in a number of groups, including the Undergraduate Astronomy Society (UAS), Space Exploration Society at Berkeley(link is external) (UC Berkeley’s premiere space-interest club, which works in tandem with the Planetary Society and SETI), Society of Women in the Physical Sciences(link is external), and Out in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics(link is external).