TOMSK, Jun 22 – RIA Tomsk. The Faculty of Physics of Tomsk State University (TSU) changed the program for training astronomers; now students will get two specialties at once – astronomy and information technology, which will allow them to be connected to TSU research on space security and the study of satellite motion in near-Earth space, the university’s press service said.
© РИА Томск. Павел Стефанский
Earlier it was reported that TSU, due to grants from the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation will open a laboratory for computer modeling and machine analysis of astronomical data, which will work in conjunction with the Terksol Observatory, located in the Elbrus region of Kabardino-Balkaria. The laboratory will be engaged in modeling and analysis of the behavior of asteroids, artificial satellites and space debris.
According to the press service, a new educational module at the Faculty of Physics of TSU will be implemented on the basis of this laboratory and will be available to students in the next academic year. Here, along with classical astronomy, big data analysis technologies will be taught. In total, the faculty is ready to accept 97 students for the state-funded places in the upcoming academic year, and documents can be submitted online now.
“The modern astronomer is no longer that romantic eccentric with the telescope, but a specialist who knows numerical methods, masterfully handles modern technology, knows programming languages ... Our students will work on the SKIF Cyberia supercomputer, modern geodetic equipment”, – the press service quotes the head of the laboratory Tatyana Galushina.
It is explained that in the first two courses, students of the faculty receive fundamental mathematical and physical education, and starting from the third year, getting to the department of astronomy and space geodesy, they begin to study astrometry, celestial mechanics and astronomical databases, learn programming languages and the basics of machine learning.
According to the press service, the best students of the direction will be able to do practical work directly at the Terskol Observatory, and graduates will be able to stay at TSU and continue research, as well as get a job at the Information Satellite Systems Reshetnev company (Zheleznogorsk city) or other organizations.