The annual Summer Undergraduate Research Program (SURP) in astronomy & astrophysics at the University of Toronto is a unique opportunity for undergraduate students in astronomy, physics or engineering to prepare for a career in scientific research.
Throughout the program students have the opportunity to:
- Experience what a career in research is like by independently conducting a project related to on-going astronomical research at U of T
- Collaborate with U of T astronomers
- Improve their research writing and communication skills
- Learn about research being conducted at U of T
- Participate in U of T public outreach
Students work with astronomers from the Dunlap Institute or the David A Dunlap Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics (DADDAA) depending on their research interest, choice of research project, or supervisor.
Follow the links below to learn more about some of the students who participated in SURP this summer!
Jiayi (Emma) Xu
Emma was born and raised in Beijing, China, and moved to Montreal with family at the age of 15. In June 2025, Emma finished studies at UofT as an undergraduate student with a specialist in Astronomy and Physics. Emma will continue to study at UofT for a MSc degree in Physics. Besides schoolwork, Emma loves acrylic painting and doing hand crafts. Emma enjoys going to work out after SURP and used to be a national second–level athlete in free-style swimming.
This summer she’s working with Dunlap Senior Research Associate Dr. Shaojie Chen to calibrate a new generation spectrograph called the Digital Micro-mirror Device-based Multi-Object Spectrograph, or DMD-MOS, which will be able to measure the spectrum of multiple astronomical objects at once!
