Starring role for new postgraduate Diploma

Posted on 2 March 2015

Students from across the globe will soon have the opportunity to explore the wonder of the night sky and gain a Postgraduate Diploma in Astronomy thanks to Centre for Lifelong Learning (CLL) at the University of York.

The online distance learning course announced today aims to give students a solid foundation of knowledge which will allow them to undertake their own research.

Dr Alex Brown, lead academic on the programme, says: “The stars have fascinated humans for millennia. From simple naked eye observation in prehistoric time to modern day telescopes, space has never lost its draw. Unlike so much cutting edge science, astronomy is an inclusive modern science; even without any special equipment you can still observe breath-taking astronomical phenomena.

“We will cover all the main branches of astronomy, from radio astronomy through the infra-red and into the visible before travelling to ever-increasing energies of radiation to x-rays and gamma-rays, before concluding with neutrino, cosmic ray and gravity wave astronomy. The programme will not be limited to observational astronomy however: we will explore the birth, lives and deaths of stars and phenomena that drive these nuclear furnaces. We shall also study the very history and nature of the universe itself, with an introduction to cosmology.”

As well as weekly online materials and exercises, CLL will invite students to an annual residential weekend to carry out astronomical observations from the University of York’s Astrocampus, and meet with scientists at the front line of astrophysical research.

The programme launches in late September 2015, and is aimed at home astronomers and the academically-inclined. Applications are being taken now.

Further information:

The Postgraduate Diploma in Astronomy launches in late September 2015, and is a part-time two year programme delivered wholly online. For more information, please visit http://www.york.ac.uk/lifelonglearning/astronomy/
The Astrocampus is a fully-equipped learning centre at the heart of the University of York: http://www.york.ac.uk/physics/astrocampus/
More information about the programme and admissions criteria can be found at http://www.york.ac.uk/lifelonglearning/astronomy