Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU)

The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) [https://eventhorizontelescope.org] is a planet-wide array of millimeter-wavelength radio telescopes that uses the technique of very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) to observe supermassive black holes. The goals of the EHT include testing general relativity and furthering our understanding of the astrophysics of accretion and outflow processes around black holes. The EHT has recently provided the first-ever images of a black hole [http://news.mit.edu/2019/mit-haystack-first-image-black-hole-0410] in the giant elliptical galaxy M87, and the second black hole images [https://news.mit.edu/2022/first-supermassive-black-hole-sagitarrius-0512] for the Milky Way supermassive black hole Sgr A*. EHT data are used to constrain the properties of the accretion flow and jets, to measure the black hole space-time described by its mass and spin, and to test Einstein’s theory of general relativity. The Black Hole Explorer (BHEX) mission concept would extend the EHT into space in order to more sharply resolve black holes than can be done from the ground alone. This project will advance the state of the EHT and BHEX via data simulations and/or technical developments.

Mentor: Vincent Fish

The Experiment to Detect the Global EoR Signature (EDGES) is an exquisitely sensitive all-sky telescope that is searching for the red-shifted 21-cm signal emitted way back when the very first stars were born, roughly 13.8 billion years ago. Due to the vast expanse of space that this signal has had to traverse, the emitted frequency of 1.4 GHz has undergone significant cosmological red-shift, residing in the ∼50–100 MHz range upon reaching the Earth. Since these frequencies lie directly in the FM band, EDGES has observed from incredibly remote areas, including Devon Island in the high Arctic, Adak Island on the Bering Sea, and the outback of Western Australia. These data hold a wealth of information aside from the cosmological signal EDGES is searching for, including ionospheric scintillations of strong radio sources, reflections of terrestrial FM radio signals off of satellites and micrometeorites, evidence of exotic ionospheric propagation modes, and continuous observations as the Sun passed through solar maximum.

The REU student involved in this project will explore the EDGES data for these secondary science targets, with the strong potential for discovering exciting, novel, and publishable results. The ideal candidate should be comfortable with programming (e.g., Python or C) and have a basic understanding of navigating a Linux operating system, combined with a passion for discovery through data analysis.

Mentors: Rigel Cappallo, John Barrett

The MIT Haystack Observatory is home to a 37-meter radome-enclosed radio telescope, a pioneering instrument in advancing radio astronomy. Known for key contributions such as radar mapping of Venus and insights into star formation regions, the Haystack Telescope operates across K, Q, and W bands, enabling high-resolution observations of molecular clouds and planetary bodies. Following a upgrade that significantly improved surface accuracy, the telescope is poised to become a major U.S. facility for millimeter-wave astronomy. This REU program offers students a unique opportunity to engage with this world-class instrument by working on the telescope control system, refining data calibration processes, and participating in on-sky tests to prepare the telescope for full scientific operations. We welcome applications from students with engineering, physics, astronomy, and related backgrounds, with required programming experience in Python.

Mentors: Thushara G.s. Pillai, Rigel Cappallo, Jens Kauffmann, Ganesh Rajagopalan

This project involves reduction of data from a large and comprehensive Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) experiment, targeting a powerful, radio-bright quasar. The goal is to generate high-quality images across a wide range of angular scales, tracing prodigious energy flows from near the central supermassive black hole, all the way out into intergalactic space. The work will involve the use of sophisticated astronomical software packages and novel algorithms to pursue state-of-the-art imaging precision and fidelity.

Mentor: Colin Lonsdale

Radar networks use a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) approach with many separate transmitters and receivers to increase the effectiveness of an instrument compared to an individual system. This is achieved by transmitting coded waveforms that, when decoded, have little to no interference with each other. This allows an individual receiver to listen on a common frequency and identify the signals coming from multiple transmitters, effectively creating an independent instrument from each unique transmitter-receiver pair. At Haystack, we are developing and deploying instruments for ionospheric sounding (reflection off the Earth’s ionosphere) and meteor wind radar (using reflections from meteors to infer wind fields in the upper atmosphere) using this approach.

This project will investigate different approaches for coding the radar waveforms so that a set of transmitters achieves minimal interference while satisfying constraints on bandwidth and practical implementation. In particular, we have begun using a frequency-modulated continuous-wave (FMCW) coding technique that looks very promising in comparison to prior code sets, but it needs more experimentation for further improvement and to bring to a publishable state.

Mentors: Ryan Volz, John Swoboda

Computerized ionospheric tomography has transformed how we see the upper atmosphere. Still, most existing techniques work best with high-frequency signals that travel almost in straight lines, such as those from global navigation satellite systems. The ionosphere strongly refracts many lower-frequency radio links, and these signals carry rich but harder-to-interpret information about electron density. This project aims to close that gap by building and testing simple yet powerful models of how radio waves bend and reflect in a realistic ionosphere.

The student will start by solving a two-dimensional ray tracing forward problem for radio waves in a collisionless, unmagnetized ionosphere, and then work on recovering the simulated ray path using modern dynamic estimation methods in Julia or Python, which will provide experience with both geospace physics and numerical techniques that are widely used in fields such as robotics and spacecraft navigation. As the project progresses, we can extend the simulations to three dimensions, add a simple magnetic field, and begin building a training data set that links electron density distributions to their ray signatures, laying the foundation for an artificial intelligence agent that can assist with future ionospheric inversions.

Mentors: Enrique Rojas Villalba, John Swoboda

Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) holds immense significance in both astronomy and geodesy. In astronomy, VLBI helps scientists study distant cosmic objects, such as black holes and quasars. In geodesy, VLBI enables the precise determination of Earth’s shape, rotation, and tectonic plate movements, which are crucial for various scientific and practical applications, such as spacecraft navigation. One of the main functions of geodetic VLBI is to help determine the Terrestrial Reference Frame (e.g., ITRF2020) of the Earth. The quality of the data, however, impacts the quality of the reference frame.

This project focuses on processing geodetic VLBI data to extract geodetic parameters. In this project, the student will modify publicly available geodetic software and develop a Python-based automation program to process geodetic VLBI data and learn geodetic VLBI data processing, advanced statistical methods, inversion techniques, and geophysical modeling. The student will research the geodetic VLBI data quality and its impact on the Terrestrial Reference Frame.

Mentors: Dhiman Mondal, Pedro Elosegui, Chester Ruszczyk, John Barrett, Dan Hoak

It is hard to study fine details even in the most nearby galaxies. To give an example, some of the most exciting research today focuses on the formation of stars in the Milky Way and other galaxies. The star-forming sites in the Milky Way, also known as dark clouds, can be studied at an amazing level of detail. We can actually see how individual stars and planets form in our neighborhood. However, if we turn to galaxies, even the best telescopes available today cannot resolve dark clouds at a meaningful level of detail. Astronomers have therefore developed tricks to study the structure of clouds they cannot resolve. They study radiation from a variety of molecules, e.g. hoping that some molecules provide clues on dense gas while others might indicate that a dark cloud is being stirred up by embedded young stars. These are fascinating methods — but they have never been fully tested in the Milky Way. The LEGO survey therefore images dark clouds in the Milky Way to perform such tests. This teaches us lessons about star formation in the Milky Way and other galaxies.

As part of this program, you will lead a small original research project that uses LEGO data. You will learn how to visualize and analyze the data from several astronomical observatories, and how to draw conclusions from the trends in the data. You will do this as a member in an international collaboration that includes researchers from the US, the EU, Chile, and Japan. Successful projects are expected to produce results that will be published as parts of the LEGO papers. Please tell us a bit specifically about your interest in LEGO, should you wish to join this project.

Mentors: Jens Kauffmann, Thushara G.s. Pillai

Geospace disturbances originate not only from strong solar eruptions and geomagnetic storms, which drive significant space weather effects, but also from terrestrial weather systems that generate upward-propagating waves and dynamic atmosphere-ionosphere interactions. MIT Haystack Observatory operates a high-power ionospheric radar at Millstone Hill, capable of monitoring a wide range of upper-atmospheric state parameters from about 100 km above Earth’s surface to several hundred kilometers in range. The radar’s coverage extends beyond the Boston area, reaching adjacent regions as far west as the central United States.

This project will analyze extensive radar observations focusing on its most precise diagnostic capability—the plasma line—recorded during various geophysical events, including solar storms, terrestrial weather activity, solar eclipses, and other phenomena. We seek a motivated student with a background in space physics, atmospheric physics, astronomy, or related fields. Proficiency in Python or MATLAB within a Linux environment is highly desirable.

Mentors: Shunrong Zhang, Enrique Rojas Villalba

Q: When can I apply for next summer? What is the time frame for applications?

A: Applications are made available on Thanksgiving each year for the following summer. The deadline is February 1; we notify successful applicants on March 1, followed by a series of notifications for acceptances if any are open after the first round of notifications. Please do not contact us about the status of your application. We will notify you if you are missing any pieces of the application. If you are not accepted, you will receive notification of this in March after all positions have been filled.

Q: My institution is on a quarterly system (or another schedule). This means that I won’t be available on the exact start date. Can I still apply?

A: Yes, please apply to the program. Make a note of your possible start date in your statement letter. The mentors will determine whether your earliest possible start date is acceptable within the requirements for their project. We prefer that people be available for the actual start date but realize that some institutions’ schedules make this difficult.

Q: Do you accept international students?

A: Unfortunately our sponsor, the NSF, requires applicants to be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident to qualify. We won’t be able to respond to inquiries regarding this.

Q: How is “undergraduate student” defined for this application?

A: An undergraduate student is a student who is enrolled in a degree program (part-time or full-time) leading to a baccalaureate or associate degree. Students who are transferring from one college or university to another and are enrolled at neither institution during the intervening summer may participate. High school graduates who have been accepted at an undergraduate institution but who have not yet started their undergraduate study are also eligible to participate. Students who have received their bachelor’s degrees and are no longer enrolled as undergraduates are not eligible to participate. Undergraduate students eligible for this program must not have graduated prior to the start of the summer internship in June.

Q: Will the REU program be held in person or online this year?

A: We expect that the Haystack internship program will be held in person this year. However, this decision is affected by local and MIT safety and health regulations.

Q: Do you send notification letters when my application is submitted?

A: We will notify everyone of their application status after the final deadline for submission (February 1) has passed. If you are missing a piece of your application, we’ll let you know then. We cannot provide updates on application completeness until after February 1 due to the number of applications received.

Q: I applied but did not hear from you on March 1. How will I find out about my application’s status?

A: The first round of acceptances is sent out every year on March 1; if any of these positions is not accepted, it will be offered to the next round of candidates on March 8, and so on until all of the positions are filled. This means there is a series of acceptance letters, starting on March 1 and possibly continuing into March. We do not inform applicants of their status until all the positions have been accepted; if you are offered another position in the meantime, we suggest that you accept it, as we have only a very limited number of internships available.

Q: To whom should the cover letter be addressed?

A: Please address your cover letter to the MIT Haystack Observatory REU Selection Committee. (If you have already submitted a cover letter addressed otherwise, it’s okay.)

The Haystack REU program starts in early June and ends mid-August. Dates for the 2026 REU program at Haystack will likely be from June 2, 2026, through August 15, 2026, although these dates may change by up to a week.

A uniform start date is preferred in order to conduct orientation activities for the group. For students on an academic quarter system or those interested in extending their stay, such requests will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

The Haystack summer undergraduate internship includes participation in the following:

• Science discussions: Haystack staff members lead discussions on numerous current research subjects, which include introductory information for all students, as well as a chance for active conversation with scientists, engineers, and other staff.
• Tours: Students will attend tours of the various Observatory facilities to learn about the extensive state-of-the-art instrumentation at Haystack. 
• Group meetings: In addition to the frequent meetings between the sponsoring staff member and the student, several meetings with all students are held to review project status and encourage interactions among the students.
• Final reports and seminar: Students prepare brief final reports and create presentations on their projects to teach the Haystack community about their summer work.
• Attendance at conferences: Depending on available funds and meeting schedules, there are opportunities for students to participate in national conferences.
• Follow-up academic year program: Depending on available funds, interest, and project status, a student may continue the summer project during the following academic year.
• Travel support: Limited travel support is available for those students whose homes and colleges are more than 100 miles away from Haystack.

Students are assigned a mentor from the Haystack research staff for their summer work.

At the end of the summer, students present their research to a general audience at the Observatory. Their presentations are available in the REU presentation archives.

Compensation is provided as a weekly stipend of $620, paid biweekly. You will receive an advance before traveling to the Observatory.

The Observatory makes arrangements for student dormitory housing and pays the cost of housing for all students. Kitchen facilities are available in the dormitories. Daily transportation to and from Haystack is also provided.

(Students can arrange alternative housing on their own if they wish.) 

The Observatory provides free daily transportation for all students from REU housing to our offices.

Accepted students must have a current medical insurance plan in place which will cover their health needs during the period of the REU program. Evidence of such insurance must be submitted upon acceptance, before the start of the program.