Final Project

For the final project you may choose to write one of two papers. Final projects outlines are due Feb. 28, and the final project itself is due March 7.

Proposal for Early Science with LSST

The first final project option is meant to encourage you to think practically about how to make discoveries with LSST. Choose a scientific question you are interested in and that could be addressed with early LSST data. Identify what you would need to complete a paper on this topic, and write a proposal of up to 5 pages for that resource. Do you need followup observations? Write an observing proposal for an appropriate telescope. Do you need computational resources? Write a proposal for a computing facility. Do you just need time for focused work on this topic? Write a proposal for funding (e.g., a prize postdoctoral fellowship or NSF proposal).

Like a real proposal, your proposal should convince the reader that the question you’re answering is scientifically important and include enough quantitative analysis to justify the resources being requested. You can use whatever format you like, but you will be asked to identify a concrete proposal call that your proposal could be submitted to.

Identifying productive and exciting research directions may feel intimidating–that’s very normal! The goal of this project is to provide an opportunity to practice and develop this skill in a lower-stakes context.

Short ApJ Letter-style paper analyzing DP0.2 or simulated Solar System catalogs

This final project option focuses on scientific data analysis. Identify an interesting topic that could be addressed with DP0.2 or simulated solar system data, perform the analysis, and write a short (~5 page) journal-style paper describing the results. Your paper need not be “ready for submission,” but it should be plausibly publishable with further polishing.

Peer Review

While your instructors will grade your final projects, in our final class period (March 9) we will peer review/referee the projects in a format similar to an agency panel review or Time Allocation Committee. This exercise will help show what goes on “behind the curtain” during peer review and highlight the strengths and limitations of the process.