Astrophysics still requires a large amount of practical knowledge in order to carry out compelling research, either from an observational or theoretical perspective. There are many cutting-edge concepts and "tricks of the trade" that are often overlooked in university classes, despite being crucial to perform (or at least have a critical understanding of) state-of-the-art studies. For example: How galaxy properties are measured nowadays? And how to judge the reliability of the estimates in a certain paper? What are the caveats one should be aware of, before using the results of a cosmological simulation? And how to download the right information from the data base?
Besides that, there are fundamental soft skills to write convincing proposals, increase the impact of a paper, make a code easily re-usable by other scientists... Despite their importance, most of the students acquire these skills rather casually, e.g. from internet websites or during informal conversations with colleagues.
The DAWN Winter School aims at addressing these "off-the-textbook" topics in a structured way, making the students' learning curve less steep. Being conceived for astrophysicists at the very beginning of their journey, it will also be the occasion to discuss promising research perspectives with the next-generation facilities, along with potential career developments.
Since this event is organized by the Cosmic DAWN Center, emphasis will be placed on topics related to galaxy formation and evolution in the early universe. However, students from any discipline may attend the last two days, which will be dedicated to the soft skill that are useful also outside Astrophysics. See the scheduled lectures and hands-on tutorials will be available at this link.
The activities have been originally conceived for students in their last year of MSc and those who just enrolled in a PhD programme. Nonetheless, more senior students and researchers are also very welcome to join! More details can be found in the Scientific and Didactic Rationale.
The Winter School will be fully online, from February 7th to 11th, 2022. There is no limitation to the number of slots for virtual participation. In the FAQ page you will find the latest updates regarding Zoom attendance and other issues.
International lecturers:
- Reza Ayromlou (Heidelberg University)
- Adam Carnall (Royal Observatory of Edinburgh)
- Tom Charnock (consultant in statistical modelling)
- Emma Curtis-Lake (University of Cambridge)
- Michel Dumontier (Maastricht University)
- Liv Gish (Nordic Writing Academy)
- Annalisa Pillepich (MPIA Heidelberg)
- Fabian Walter (MPIA Heidelberg)
- Freeke van de Voort (Cardiff University)
Lecturers and tutors from DAWN, Niels Bohr Institute, DTU:
- Gabriel Brammer
- Lise Christensen
- Desiree Della Monica Ferreira
- Johan Fynbo
- Christa Gall
- Clara Giménez-Arteaga
- Thomas Greve
- Katriona Gould
- Kasper Heintz
- Georgios Magdis
SOC & LOC:
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Francesco Valentino (DAWN/University of Copenhagen, chair)
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Iary Davidzon (DAWN/University of Copenhagen, co-chair)
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Georgios Magdis (DAWN/Danish Technical University)
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et al.
We acknowledge support from IDA – Instrumentcenter for Dansk Astrofysik, the Niels Bohr Institute Fund, the Danish National Research Foundation through grant No. 140, and from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No. 896225. Photo by Gabe Brammer (all rights reserved)
