About Me

I’m a PhD student in Astronomy & Astrophysics at Harvard University. I primarily work with Professor Charlie Conroy, studying the Milky Way as a part of the broader Sloan Digital Sky Survey and H3 Survey collaborations. During the summer, I work with Hans-Walter Rix at the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy to understand the structure and evolution of our galaxy. Since 2023, I’ve spent most of my time as the Deputy Project Scientist for the Via Project, designing and building the next-generation ViaSpec instrument.

Research

I’m interested in a wide range of research topics spanning observations, simulations, and instrumentation. A few key questions guide my work.

How can we reconstruct the evolutionary history of our home galaxy, the Milky Way?
What are the structural and dynamical properties of the Milky Way on the largest scales, towards the distant horizon of the galaxy?
What is the physical nature of the ‘dark matter’ that binds and shapes all galaxies?

In practical terms, I primarily seek answers to these questions by designing, conducting, and analyzing stellar spectroscopic surveys, from instrumentation to astrophysics. You can find an overview of my work and projects on my research page.

Publications

A compilation of all my publications is available on NASA ADS or Google Scholar.

Curriculum Vitae

Here is the latest PDF of my CV. Some additional details are scattered around my LinkedIn page.

Contact Me

vedant.chandra [at] cfa.harvard.edu
LinkedIn: vedant-chandra
ORCID: ORCID iD icon 0000-0002-0572-8012