Sarbani Basu, Ph.D.

Professor and Chair, Department of Astronomy, Yale University

Steinbach Hall, 52 Hillhouse Ave., New Haven, CT 06511, USA

E-mail: sarbani.basu@yale.edu, Ph:+1-203-432-3028 (direct), +1-203-436-8470 (Assistant)

ORCID: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6163-3472

 

Education and Professional Preparation:

1986                        B.Sc. in Physics, WomenÕs Christian College, Chennai, India

1988                        M.Sc. in Physics, University of Poona, Pune, India

1993                        Ph.D. in Physics, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai, India

1993-1994          Post Doctoral Researcher, Queen Mary & Westfield College, London, U.K.

1994-1997          Post Doctoral Researcher, Theoretical Astrophysics Center, Univ. of Aarhus, Denmark

1997-1999          Member, Institute for Advance Study, Princeton, NJ, USA

 

Academic positions held:

2016-                       Chair, Department of Astronomy, Yale University

2014-2016           Member, Physical Sciences and Engineering Tenure and Advisory Committee, Yale University

2011-2016           Director of Graduate Admissions, Department of Astronomy, Yale University

2009-2010          Member, Social Sciences Tenure Committee, Yale University

2005-                       Professor, Department of Astronomy, Yale University

2004-2005           Associate Professor, Department of Astronomy, Yale University

2002-2007           Director of Graduate Studies, Department of Astronomy, Yale University

2000-2004           Assistant Professor, Department of Astronomy, Yale University

 

Honors and Awards:

2018: The George Ellery Hale Prize of the Solar Physics Division of the American Astronomical Societ

2015: Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Scienc

2002: Hellman Family Faculty Fellowship, Yale University

1996: The M.K. Vainu Bappu Gold Medal of the Astronomical Society of India.

Publications:   246 peer reviewed publications, access at from http://bit.ly/sarbani_basu_papers

                             1 full-length book,  http://press.princeton.edu/titles/11170.html                         

                           >17000 citations as per the Astrophysics Data System (ADS), H index = 73 as of Sept 20, 2018

                           >23000 citations as per Google Scholar, H index = 83

 

Managerial/ supervisory/ advisory positions:

2018- present   Vice Chair, Board of Directors, Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA).  AURA manages US astronomical facilities such as the Space Telescope Science Institute, the National Solar Observatory, the National Optical Astronomy Observatories, and the Gemini Observatory.  It manages more than $500M in construction projects for NSF and NASA for the construction of the Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope (DKIST) and the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST).



2017- present     Member, Editorial Board, Solar Physics

2017-2018          Chair, Science and Engineering ChairsÕ Council (SECC) at Yale. The SECC Chair interacts with Chairs of other science departments at Yale (including Mathematics, Statistics, Psychology and Anthropology) and liaises with Yale administration to relay concerns and solve issues brought forward by the other chairs.

2016- present     Chair, Department of Astronomy, Yale University

2016-2016             Chair, Mikulsky Archive for Space Telescopes (MAST) UsersÕ Group (MUG).  MUG ensures that the data archives housed at MAST are well maintained, easily accessible, and serves usersÕ needs.

2015- present   Member, Board of the TESS Asteroseismic Science Consortium (TASC).  TASC is an international consortium of about 150 scientists that organizes the asteroseismic analysis of data collected by NASAÕs TESS mission. The Board sets the policies of the consortium.

2014- 2018        Member, Board of Directors, AURA

2014- present   Member Representative for Yale University to AURA

2014                    Member, Visiting Committee to evaluate physics and laboratory astrophysics done with laser facilities that are funded by the French Commissariat ˆ l'Energie Atomique (CEA).

2014                        Member, Evaluation Committee charged with evaluating the performance of the Director of the Space Telescope Science Institute

2013-2015           Member, Mikulsky Archive for Space Telescopes (MAST) UsersÕ Group  (MUG)
 

2012-2013           Member, Committee of Visitors, National Solar Observatory. The committee was charged with determining the state of the observatory, operations and staff concerns.

2011                        Member, Evaluation Committee charged with evaluating the performance of National Solar ObservatoryÕs leadership

2009- present  Member, Steering Committee, Kepler Asteroseismic Science Consortium (KASC). KASC is an international consortium of about 200 scientists engaged in asteroseismic analysis of data collected by NASAÕs Kepler mission. The steering committee set policy for collaborations and data usage.

2008                     Committee of Visitors,  ATM division of the GEO directorate of the National Science Foundation. The committee was charged with examining whether proposals submitted to ATM were been evaluated in a timely manner.

2006-2009           Member MOWG (Management and Operations Working Group) of NASAÕs Living With a Star program.

2005-2011           Member, UsersÕ Committee, National Solar Observatory

2003-2010           Member, Scientific Advisory Committee of the Global Oscillation Network Group (GONG). GONG is a network of solar observatories funded by NSF used to measure solar oscillations.

 

Research Interests: Solar and stellar astrophysics; solar structure, dynamics and variability; solar and stellar activity cycles; asteroseismic studies of stellar evolution; using stellar properties to probe Galactic structure.

 

Funding history: A successful record of obtaining external funding, including an NSF CAREER Award. NSF and NASA astronomy grants are usually between $100K to $150K per year.

 

1)    2000-2004: PI NASA grant NAG5-10912 ($ 157,358), ÒProbing Cycle-Related Changes in the Outer Layers of the Ring-Diagram Analysis.Ó

2)    2002-2005: PI NSF Grant, ATM 026130 ($ 347,314), ÒSolar Variability: Modeling and Helioseismic Studies.Ó

3)    2006-2012: Co-I, NASA project ÒHelioseismic and Magnetic Imager for Solar Dynamics Observatory,Ó ($ 357,490 for Co-I).

4)    2004-2009: P.I., NSF Career grant ($597,442), ÒCAREER: Solar Variability in the Classroom and in Research.Ó

5)    2006-2009: P.I., NASA grant NNG06GD13G ($ 193,931) ÒProbing the structure and dynamics of the outer layers of the SunÓ,

6)    2008-2011: P.I., NSF grant ATM 0737770 ($ 399,383) ÒHelioseismology and Solar Magnetic Fields: Studying the forward problemÓ

7)    2009-2012: P.I., NASA ATFP grant NNX09AJ53G ($ 369,534) ÒModeling convection in stars: from 3D simulations to 1D approximationsÓ

8)    2010-2013: P.I., NASA grant NNX10AE60G ($ 373,404) ÒThe structure and dynamics of the solar interior during the minimum of cycle 24Ó

9)    2011-2014: P.I. NASA Education and Public Outreach grant NNX11AH34G ($310, 820) Ò Solar Cycle Investigations: NASA Science Exploration for Middle School Students and TeachersÓ

10) 2011-2014: P.I. NSF grant AST-1105930 ($ 345,486) ÒJourney to the Centre of Stars: Testing Stellar Evolution with AsteroseismologyÓ

11) 2013-2016: P.I. NASA grant NNX13AE70G ($ 346,017) ÒCharting the properties of stars in the Kepler field to study the GalaxyÓ

12) 2015-2018: P.I. NSF grant AST-1514676 ($ 433,565) ÒDecreasing Systematic Errors in Estimates of Stellar AgesÓ

13) 2016-2019: P.I. NASA grant NNX16AI096 ($372,191) ÒThe Giants in The Kepler FieldsÓ

14) 2016-2017: US P.I. for NASA K2 guest observer grant NNS16AE65G ($18,000) ÒAsteroseismology of solar-type stars with K2 (K2GO2)Ó

15) 2017-2018: US P.I. for NASA K2 guest observer grant NNX17AL49G ($40,000) ÒAsteroseismology of solar-type stars with K2 (K2GO4)Ó

16) 2018-2019: US P.I. for NASA K2 guest observer grant 80NSSC18K0363 ($35,000) ÒAsteroseismology of solar-type stars with K2 (K2GO5)Ó

17) 2018-2020: P.I. NASA TESS Guest Investigation grant ($70,000) ÒInvestigating the evolution of HeliumÓ (awaiting funds)

 

Peer-review activities:

1)    Referee for Astrophysical Journal, Astronomy & Astrophysics, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Reviews of Modern Physics, Solar Physics, Nature, Physical Review Letters, Europhysics Letters

2)    Proposal reviewer for NASA and NSF.

3)    Proposal reviewer for United Kingdom Particle Physics and Astrophysics Research councilÕs proposals

4)    Reviewer for the Austrian Science Fund (FWF)

5)    Reviewer for Canadian Space Agency

6)    Reviewer for German Science Foundation

7)    Reviewer for the Belgian Science Foundation

 

Scientific Organizing Committees of Meetings:

1)    Member, Scientific Organizing Committee, SOHO 6/GONG 98 Workshop, Boston, June 1998

2)    Member, Scientific Organizing Committee, SOHO 12/GONG 02 Workshop, Big Bear, October 2002

3)    Member, Scientific Organizing Committee, GONG2006/SOHO 18/Helas 1 meeting ÒBeyond the Spherical Sun,Ó Sheffield, U.K., August 2006

4)    Member, Scientific Organizing Committee, SOHO 17 meeting Ò10 Years of SOHO and BeyondÓ, Sicily, May 2006.

5)    Chair, Scientific and Local Organizing Committees, GONG 2004 -SOHO 14 meeting, New Haven, CT, USA, July 2004

6)    Member, Scientific Organizing Committee, 2010 Sagan Summer Workshop

7)    Member, Scientific Organizing Committee, Kepler Asteroseismic Science Consortium meetings 2011 (Boulder, USA), 2012 (Hungary), 2013 (Sydney, Australia)

8)    Member, Scientific Organizing Committee, ÒFifty Years of Seismology of the Sun and Stars,Ó Tucson, AZ, May 2013

9)    Member, Scientific Organizing Committee, ÒNew advances in stellar physics: from microscopic to macroscopic processesÓ, Roscoff, France, May 2013

10) Member, Scientific Organizing Committee, 19th Cambridge Cool Stars Meeting, Uppsala, Sweden, 2016

11) Member, Scientific Organizing Committee, TESS Asteroseismic Science Consortium meetings 2016 (Terceira, Portugal), 2017 (Birmingham, UK)

12) Member, Scientific Organizing Committee, 20th Cambridge Cool Stars Meeting, Boston, 2018