SEED Program
Credit:NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/T.A. Rector (University of Alaska Anchorage), R. Cool (University of Arizona) and WIYN
Planting the Seeds of Discovery
The SkAI Institute Satellite Early Education for Discovery (SEED) Program is a nine-week paid summer research opportunity for undergraduate students that will prepare them for future research and employment opportunities in astronomy and/or AI. The areas of research that students will focus on in the SEED Program are:
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- Astrophysics—Stars, Compact Objects, and Their Transients; Galaxy Formation and Evolution; and Cosmology and the Early Universe
- Foundational AI—Generative AI; Astrophysics-Informed and Interpretable Architectures; Uncertainty Quantification
- Astrophysics—Stars, Compact Objects, and Their Transients; Galaxy Formation and Evolution; and Cosmology and the Early Universe
The SEED Program, is designed to empower early-career researchers from SkAI’s Satellite Network to explore the frontiers of astrophysics and AI. While at the SkAI Hub, students will receive technical training before starting their projects within a SkAI research group. This nine-week program will provide structured mentorship to support these students as they embark on learning high-impact concepts on how we understand and analyze complex astronomical data sets. Throughout the summer, SEED students will have opportunities to learn best practices in science communication, showcase their research, and also visit Chicago-area attractions. At the end of the summer, students will present their summer at a research symposium.
Tentative Schedule
Program runs June 15–August 14
June 15–July 2 – Technical training (note that June 19 and July 3 are holidays)
July 6–August 10 – Independent research projects with groups
August 12 – Research Symposium
SEED Program Co-Directors
Dr. Aleksandra Ćiprijanović, PhD
Aleksandra is a Wilson Fellow Associate Scientist at Fermilab, where she leads the Cosmic Group within the Data Science, Simulation, and Learning Division. She also holds a Consortium for Advanced Science and Engineering (CASE) Associate appointment at The University of Chicago and is a senior member of the SkAI Institute. Her research focuses on developing trustworthy and robust artificial intelligence methods that enable scientists to fully leverage the vast datasets produced by modern astronomical surveys. In addition to her research, she is deeply committed to outreach, education, and mentorship, supporting learners at all stages—from high school students to postdoctoral researchers.
Dr. Goni Halevi, PhD
Goni is an Assistant Teaching Professor of Physics at the Illinois Institute of Technology, where she co-directs the Astrophysics program. Before joining Illinois Tech, Goni spent one year as a Center for Interdisciplinary Exploration and Research in Astrophysics (CIERA) Postdoctoral Fellow at Northwestern University, where she maintains an appointment as a Visiting Scholar. Her research is in computational fluid dynamics, with a focus on numerical simulations of explosive events from massive stars, mergers of compact remnants, and the synthesis of the heaviest elements in the Universe. She has taught college-level courses at a wide range of institutions, including to incarcerated students in New Jersey state prisons. Her main passion is accessible and inclusive physics pedagogy and mentorship, especially at the undergraduate level.
SEED Program Coordinator
Dr. Erin G. Cox, PhD
Erin is the Assistant Director of Education and Outreach at the SkAI Institute. Prior to this role, Erin was a postdoctoral researcher at the Center for Interdisciplinary Exploration and Research in Astrophysics (CIERA), where she studied how magnetic fields control the star and planet formation process. As a graduate student at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Erin was one of the founding members of the AstroIllini outreach group and facilitated many events, including hands-on activities at elementary schools, farmer’s markets, and libraries, as well as helped run astronomy summer camps. During her time at CIERA, she helped coordinate the Conference for Undergraduate Women and Gender Minorities in Physics (CU*iP) held at Northwestern University and developed and taught a course for the Northwestern Prison Education Program (NPEP).
Funding Partners
The SkAI Institute is one of the National Artificial Intelligence Research Institutes funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation and Simons Foundation.
SkAI Institute
875 N. Michigan Ave., Suite 3500
Chicago, IL 60611
skai-institute@u.northwestern.edu
(Get to the SkAI Hub via the 172 E. Chestnut St. entrance)
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