Welcome to your Programme

Dear new astronomy BSc student,

Welcome to the BSc astronomy program! On behalf of the astronomy program lecturers, it is my great pleasure to welcome you to your astronomy  BSc study at the University of Groningen. You have embarked on one of the most exciting journeys on offer, a journey throughout the Universe, and a journey from the beginning of time until the present-day Universe, 13.8 billion years later. It will be a 3-year period full of exciting, and challenging aspects, built on a solid basis of knowledge of and skills in physics, mathematics and computing. It is all about learning how nature works through the greatest laboratory of all: the cosmos itself!

These days you will join many friends and colleagues, as the study of astronomy has attained a previously unknown level of popularity, with nearly 100 new students each year. Therefore, besides its intellectual challenges, the program offers you a wonderful social environment, in which you will acquire many technical and social skills that will provide you with a solid foundation for a promising career. In astronomy itself, but also for many other challenging professions.

Your astronomy lecturers reside in the Kapteyn Astronomical Institute on the Zernike campus. We hope that fast you will consider the institute as your basis and as your astronomical home!

We wish you success, and a wonderful time on your 3-year path towards the BSc degree in astronomy,

on behalf of the astronomy staff,

Scott Trager

(program and education director BSc and MSc astronomy)