SURP Student Spotlight: Liwen Chen

Liwen is an undergraduate student at the University of Toronto, specialising in Physics and majoring in Statistical Science. Liwen is interested in the statistical methods used in Astronomy and Astrophysics. This summer, Liwen is working on a SURP project about combining data from different telescopes to improve measurements, particularly the proper motions of the Local Group dwarf galaxies and globular clusters.

What made you decide to participate in SURP?

I decided to participate in SURP because of a project I did in the Research Opportunities Program (ROP) in the summer of 2025. I worked on a project in which I combined measurements from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) and the Gaia spacecraft (Gaia). I found myself enjoying the research and coding processes. In addition, during the ROP interview, my supervisor introduced the ultimate goal of combining data from JWST, Gaia, and the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), which made me curious about how to combine more than two telescopes. SURP provides a similar project that allows me to explore more about the statistical methods used in combined-telescope astrometry.

What is your favourite thing about SURP?

I like how SURP is organised. It is structured in a way that allowed me to meet students who are in a similar position as me and meet people who are already in academia or industry. I met students whose projects are related to mine, and the project I am working on can potentially benefit their research. Meeting people who are in academia or industry shows me what could be my future path and what I can do to prepare.

Can you tell us about your research project?

My research project is about combining measurements from JWST, Gaia, and HST to measure more precise positions, parallaxes, and proper motions (PMs). There are two tools that I am working with. One is GaiaWebb, and one is BP3M. I am expanding GaiaWebb so it can be applied to all three imaging instruments of JWST. Previously, the GaiaWebb I developed in the summer of 2025 only worked in one of the JWST cameras, which covers 3% of the images. By adding the other two JWST cameras to the tool, all JWST images can be processed. I am updating BP3M, which is a tool developed by my supervisor that combines HST and Gaia data. The updated BP3M can not only process and combine measurements from JWST and Gaia, but it can also combine data from the three telescopes automatically.

Can you explain how SURP has been different from your undergrad work?

Because the project that I am doing does not require me to be in a lab, I don’t need to follow a strict schedule or match the speed of other people. This is different from going to classes every day. Also, there isn’t any homework or exams with deadlines, so I usually need to be self-motivated and to manage time wisely.

What are your plans for the future?

I plan to pursue graduate studies in physics, perhaps related to data analysis. SURP has been a unique experience that has taught me a lot. I learned to ask questions, read papers, present my work, and so much more! I’m not sure which fields I want to get into, but I believe the skills I’ve learned from this research will always be helpful.

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