Work Schedule and Paychecks
Your project advisor will have told you the topic of your research
prior to your acceptance. You will spend the next 10-12 weeks working
on this project. At the end of your appointment, you will give a short
(~15min) lunch talk to the scientific staff about your research, and
will write up a short project summary. Here
are examples of past year projects and summaries. If you obtain
results that you and your advisor think are worth presenting at the
winter meeeting of the American
Astronomical Society, then the NRAO has some limited funds that
you can apply for to pay for your travel and stay. More information
about attending the AAS and a sample application can be found
here.
You are expected to work a 40 hour week. For the most part, those
40 hours should occur during the normal work week, although this
can be negotiated with your advisor. You will have a time card
that is filled out monthly. These time cards need to be signed by
you and your advisor, and turned into Human Resources by the 20th
of the month. Paychecks are issued on the last day of the month.
Summer students are eligible for sick days and holidays, but not
vacation days. If you need to take a break during the summer, you
need to arrange this with your advisor. In this case, on your
timecard you need to mark the days you are gone as Leave Without
Pay (LWOP). As mentioned in your offer letters, you will need to
be at work for a minimum of 10 weeks.
VLA summer students are also expected to give tours to the public at the
VLA site on two weekend days during the course of the summer. You will
be able to some extent to chose dates that fit with your schedule.
Transportation to the site will be provided.
During the summer, there will be lectures given in the
conference room.
These will feature local members of the scientific or engineering staff
giving introductory talks about
various fields in astronomy. See
last years'
web pages for examples of the lectures and other scheduled events.
Local Information
You can find on-line information about Socorro, and things to
do in Socorro, at the following websites:
