Remote research experience for undergraduates
Remote research experience for undergraduate students is a program that provides the opportunity for students in Central America and the Caribbean to do research in astrophysics without physical relocation. In Central America and the Caribbean, there is little-to-no research opportunities in astrophysics. Some of the resources that institutions within the region have can be shared among neighboring countries. Our goal is to make accessible research opportunities to students that are not able to travel abroad to complete a research internship. We developed this research experience so that students can learn programming, data analysis, and apply their skills to astronomy research questions and broadly to the general community.
During the period of three months (August to November), students have an assigned academic advisor to work remotely on a mini-project. Students are required to attend workshops and give research presentations. Students are also encouraged to keep constant communication with their advisor and mentor. We also provide peer mentoring, where every student has a mentor to guide them through their experience.
During the period of three months (August to November), students have an assigned academic advisor to work remotely on a mini-project. Students are required to attend workshops and give research presentations. Students are also encouraged to keep constant communication with their advisor and mentor. We also provide peer mentoring, where every student has a mentor to guide them through their experience.
Requirements
- To be eligible, students must be undergraduates in Central America or the Caribbean. People who have completed an undergraduate degree but have not started a graduate program are also eligible.
- Have no prior research experience in astrophysics or astronomy (some exceptions can be made).
- One-page personal statement answering the described questions in the application.
- Half-page social involvement statement answering the described questions in the application.
Accepted Students' responsibility
- Meet-up/call or report with advisor at least once every two weeks.
- Report a research update every team meeting.
- Give a final 15 minute research presentation of the work done.
- Write a paragraph statement about their research.
- Students are encouraged to:
- Attend Cenca Bridge workshops.
- Meet-up/call or report with their mentor at least once every two weeks.
- Present their research findings to their own physics department.
Application link
Applications are usually our end of July. Write us an email to join our Cenca group and obtain the application link.
RemoTe-REU participants
Fall 2023 (August-November)
Coming soon!
FALL 2022 (AUGUST-NOVEMBER)
- Samuel Tzunux Tzoc (Guatemala). Supervisor: Dr. Alessandra Candian (University of Amsterdam, Netherlands). Project: Explorando moléculas orgánicas en la estratósfera de Titán.
- María Jesús Vargas García (Costa Rica). Supervisor: Dr. Mayra E. Lebron Santos (University of Puerto Rico, Puerto Rico). Project: Caracterización en el mediano IR de galaxias ópticas de la ZoA.
- Jean Duckens SANNON (Haití). Supervisor: Dr. Ferah Munshi (George Mason University, USA). Project: Galaxies in cosmological simulations.
- Montissol Stevens (Haití). Supervisor: Paco Villaescusa (Flatiron Institute, USA). Project: Classification of galaxies with machine learning.
- Maria Jose Aguirre Montoya (Honduras). Supervisor: Dr. Nina Hernitschek (Vanderbilt University, USA). Project: Variability detection and classification in astronomical datasets on the example of TESS.
- Thara Rubí Caba Pineda (República Dominicana). Supervisor: Dr. Benne Holwerda (University of Louisville, USA). Project: Study of spiral galaxies and their environment.
- Kaylan-Marie Achong (Trinidad and Tobago). Supervisor: Dr. Gourav Khullar (University of Pittsburgh, USA). Project: Star formation, gravitational lensing, JWST.
- Josseline María López Palacios (Nicaragua). Supervisor: Dr. Ana Escorza (European Southern Observatory, Chile). Project: Caracterización de las compañeras de HD 48565.
- Jose Simmonds (Panamá). Supervisor: Dr. Michael Abdul-Masih (European Southern Observatory, Chile). Project: Dynamical stability of B-type over-contact systems.
Fall 2021 (August-November)
- Cindy Massiel Jarquín González (Nicaragua). Supervisor: Dra. Wania Wolff (Universidad Federal de Río de Janeiro, Brasil). Project: Classification of meteorite or on the chemistry of Saturns moons.
- Pedro Clemente Nieto González Guzmán (Nicaragua). Supervisor: Dr. Miguel Velázquez (INAOE, Mexico). Project: Observaciones de galaxias.
- Christian Benjamin Ball Ajú (Guatemala). Supervisor: Antonio J. Porras-Valverde (Vanderbilt University, USA). Project: La relación entre la masa estelar de las galaxias y sus halos de materia oscura.
Spring 2021 (FEBRUARY-JUNE)
- Luisa Maria Guerrero Velázquez (Honduras). Supervisor: Dr. Miguel Velázquez (INAOE, Mexico). Project: ULIRGS in high-z.
- Maria Fernanda González (Guatemala). Supervisor: Dra. Wania Wolff (Universidad Federal de Río de Janeiro, Brasil). Project: Stability of aromatic molecule under ionizing agent in Titan
- Mynor José Rodríguez (Guatemala). Supervisor: Dra. Loreto Barcos Muñoz (NRAO, USA). Project: Radio analysis of local luminous infrared galaxies with the VLA.
- Sital Galdámez (El Salvador). Supervisor: Dr. Sergio Martínez-González (INAOE, Mexico). Project: The Dark Side of Supernova Remnants.
- Catalina Morales Gutiérrez (Costa Rica). Supervisor: Dr. Paulo Montero-Camacho (Tsinghua University, China). Project: Inhomogeneous reionization as a Probe of Warm Dark Matter Models.
Fall 2020 (August-December)
- Renieri Danilo Ferrari Santos (Honduras). Supervisor: Dra. Wania Wolff y Dra. Diana Andrade (Universidad Federal de Río de Janeiro, Brasil). Project: Stability of aromatic molecule under ionizing agent and implication of presence in astronomical objects.
- Yahira Mariell Mendoza Moncada (Honduras). Supervisor: Dra. Diana Andrade y Dra. Wania Wolff (Universidad Federal de Río de Janeiro, Brasil). Project: Análisis químico de meteoritos brasileños.
- Franklin Simón Vásquez Guardia (Panama). Supervisor: Dr. Sergio Martínez-González (CONACYT-INAOE, Mexico). Project: Modelación Hidrodinámica de los 3 cascarones concéntricos en M33
- Marco Salazar Leiva (Costa Rica). Supervisor: Dr. Manuel Zamora (Instituto Nacional de Astrofísica, Óptica y Electrónica, México). Project: Simulaciones numéricas como Laboratorios Virtuales: Interacción de galaxias: un barrido de parámetros.
- Valeria Mena Espinoza (Costa Rica). Supervisor: Dra. Karín Menéndez-Delmestre (Observatorio de Valongo, Universidad Federal de Rio de Janeiro). Project: Análise de Poblaciones Estelares en Galaxias Cercanas.
SPRING 2020 (FEBRUARY-JUNE)
- Nicole Mejía Cerros (Honduras). Supervisor: Dr. Cristóbal Sifón. Project: Studying the distribution of halos in galaxy clusters using hydrodynamical simulation EAGLE.
- Alejandro Portillo (El Salvador). Supervisor: Dr. Manuel Zamora (INAOE). Project: Numerical modeling of magnetic fields in giant molecular clouds.
- Bryan Villareal (Costa Rica). Supervisor: Dax Feliz (Vanderbilt University). Project: Finding planets like Earth using TESS data
FALL 2019 (AUGUST-DECEMBER)
- Fabián Quesada Zúñiga (Costa Rica). Supervisor: Dr. Manuel Zamora (INAOE). Project: Numerical modeling of magnetic fields in giant molecular clouds.
- Raquel Mejía (Honduras). Supervisor: Luisa Fernanda Rodríguez Díaz (Aarhus University, Denmark). Project: Granulation in late-type bright stars.
- Geovanny Briceño (Costa Rica). Supervisor: Dr. Julio Chaname (Universidad Católica de Chile). Project: Milky Way Stellar dynamics using GAIA data
- Alejandro Alvarado Murillo (Costa Rica). Supervisor: Dr. Santiago Casas (Commissariat à l’Énergie Atomique et aux Énergies Alternatives, CEA, Paris-Saclay, France) . Project: Exploring the universe using H-alpha emission lines.