PHYSICS 1210
Ampersand: Gateway Expeditions Into Exoplanets
Discovery and characterization of planets beyond our Solar System have transformed our view of the cosmos and our home planet, Earth. These alien worlds, referred to as exoplanets, are opportune cosmic laboratories for improving our understanding of the formation of planets and the origin of life. Many of these worlds are highly dissimilar to those in our Solar System, requiring significant paradigm shifts in modeling the physical processes that govern them. In line with this rigorous exploration, exoplanet research has recently become a significant branch of astrophysics. Gateway Expeditions into Exoplanets is a new introductory, non-calculus course that provides an introduction to exoplanets, covering their formation and evolution, diverse properties, and potential to support life. The course includes assignments and a class project featuring data analysis and modeling in exoplanet research, a student-led tournament between exoplanets called ExoCup, occasional Socratic discussions in an inverted classroom setting, and a trip to Yerkes Observatory to witness the history of developments in astronomy leading to the exoplanet revolution. The course will function as the first part of a new Ampersand Program, Gateway Expeditions into Exoplanets and Black Holes.
Instructors
Reviews
While the projects he assigned were not graduate level, take this course with extreme caution if you have little coding experience (the class will be much more difficult). Exams were very hard, but the curve saved us. He is definitely too smart for his own good, but he really cares about his students, and he loves what he teaches.
5/10/2026
Would give freshmen graduate level projects and exams in an intro course. He felt bad so he gave everyone an A after failing everyone on exams.
8/26/2025
The exams for this course are far too difficult for what first-year students should know, but he curves generously. I'd say this course is very experimental; I don't feel you'll be punished for learning exoplanets and making mistakes along the way. Beware of the class project, though, I lost a lot of sleep over how much work I had put into it.
5/30/2025
The content in this course metaphorically parallels being thrown into the deep end of a pool, but the grading is very fair. Stay on top of the readings and homework and you'll be fine. Although the lectures can be heavy, Krawczynski's passion for astrophysics motivated me to learn more every day. The trip is fun too if you like Physics research.
5/30/2025
Professor Krawczynski does a great job explaining really advanced content in easy and understandable ways. He cares about all his students and helps us succeed
5/12/2025
Professor Tansu is way too smart, and often doesn't realize that not all of us are as smart as him. However he truly cares about his students and improving at teaching, and while exams are hard he tries to make sure everyone succeeds in the class.
5/12/2025
Do not take his ampersand. So disorganized and makes first-year students do graduate student level coding. Even the TA (a graduate student) did not know how to do the homework without the professors help.
3/28/2025
we love Tansu, and he's really genuine and cares. he's still getting used to teaching - too smart for his own good! exoplanets was a fun course but he expected freshmen to be familiar with python and have certain knowledge that we just didn't have. tests were ridiculously hard, but the curve saved lives (40 curved to an 80, 70 to a 90).
1/31/2025