Observational Astrophysics Research through Cross Institutional Research Partnerships
Physics Education2025-09-22v1Astrophysics of GalaxiesHigh Energy Astrophysical PhenomenaInstrumentation and Methods for AstrophysicsSolar and Stellar Astrophysics
Undergraduate research in STEM can be a transformative experience, especially for Community College students, many of whom come from under-represented backgrounds. However, undergraduate research at Community Colleges is relatively rare, due in part to their focus on teaching excellence. Research partnerships with four year colleges about exciting and accessible science topics, facilitated by researchers such as postdoctoral fellows, can be a powerful path forward. We describe our program, the Dead Stars Society (DSS), as a successful example of such a research partnership, focused on the topic of observational astronomy, specifically stellar science with the Vera C. Rubin Observatory, and X-ray astronomy with Chandra, NICER and NuSTAR.
@article{arxiv.2509.15743,
title = {Observational Astrophysics Research through Cross Institutional Research Partnerships},
author = {Kristen C. Dage and Linda Strubbe and Rhianna Taub and Amna Khalyleh and Malu Sudha and Teresa Panurach and Muhammad Ridha Aldhalemi and Zainab Bustani and Dominic DeYonker and Mariam Ismail Fawaz and Hans J. Harff and Timothy McBride and Jesse Mason and Anthony Preston and Cortney Rinehart and Ethan Vinson and Vanessa Wilson and Edward M. Cackett and William I. Clarkson},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2509.15743},
year = {2025}
}