For students

Learn to ask precise questions of galaxies and gravity.

I welcome conversations with motivated students interested in observational astrophysics, galaxy dynamics, gravitational lensing, or careful statistical inference.

Webb view of the face-on spiral galaxy NGC 628
NGC 628 in near- and mid-infrared light. Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, PHANGS Team, Janice Lee (STScI), Thomas Williams (Oxford). NASA source ↗

Start with a question

How can visible structure and motion tell us about matter we cannot see?

You do not need to arrive with a complete research plan. A good starting point is curiosity about one observation—and a willingness to test the assumptions connecting data to interpretation.

Begin a conversation →
01

Possible directions

Acceleration and mass–velocity relations; galaxy and cluster mass profiles; strong-lensing constraints; and mock-data studies of inference bias.

02

Useful preparation

A foundation in mechanics, electromagnetism, statistics, and programming is helpful. Curiosity, careful reasoning, and willingness to test assumptions matter most.

03

Starting a conversation

Send a short introduction describing your background, the question that interests you, and what you hope to learn. Formal positions and funding depend on current availability.

Write to Yong →

Before you write

A useful first email can be brief.

  1. Your current degree, department, and expected timeline.
  2. The research direction or paper that caught your attention.
  3. What you would like to learn or try next.
Start a student inquiry →

Teaching & mentoring

Experience across general relativity, the dark matter problem, cosmological structure formation, general astronomy, and supervised research projects.