Khagol- 134 (Oct 2024) - ENG

| 06 | KHAG L | No. 134 - OCTOBER 2024 Probing Stars and Galaxies using Innovative Data Science Tools The Department of Applied Sciences, Gauhati University, Assam, organised a three-day workshop titled “Probing Stars and Galaxies using Innovative Data Science Tools” from September 04 - 06, 2024, in c o l l a b o r a t i o n w i t h I UC A A , P u n e , A n u s a n d h a n N a t i o n a l R e s e a r c h Foundation (ANRF), New Delhi, and National Innovation Foundation (NIF), Gandhinagar. Fifty-six students pursuing their master's degrees and research scholars from different universities attended the workshop. It comprised lectures and hands-on tutorials in Data Science presented by twenty-four speakers and resource persons from va r i ous un i ve rs i t i es and resea rch institutes. Nani Gopal Mahanta, honourable Vice- Chancellor of Gauhati University, attended the inaugural session. In his welcome address, he acknowledged the importance of learning data science tools that students can apply to the plethora of astronomy and space science data. Ajit K. Kembhavi, Emeritus Professor IUCAA, delivered the inaugural lecture on Artificial Intelligence andMachine Learning - A Birds Eye View for Astronomers. Ninan Sajeeth Philip (AIRIS4D, Kerala) and Ranjan Gupta (IUCAA) gave invited lectures on data science and automated methods in astronomy. In the afternoon session, H. P. Singh (Delhi University) gave an overview of four different astronomical data analysis projects for hands-on-sessions to the participants. The hands-on sessions, conducted parallelly in four computer labs, were led by the resource persons in the afternoon sessions of the workshop on all three days. The morning sessions of the next two days of the workshop consisted of invited lectures on contemporary research in stars and galaxies at all wavelengths. Annapurni Subramaniam (Director, IIA) and D. K. Ojha (TIFR, Mumbai) delivered keynote lectures on star clusters and star formation, respectively, while S. K. Pandey (Raipur University) and Kanak Saha (IUCAA) gave lectures on galaxies. S. B. Pandey (ANRF) and Arvind Ranade (Director, NIF) p r o v i d e d a n o v e r v i ew o f f und i ng opportunities for research and innovation programs. The workshop also included remote lectures from several experts from abroad–- Lucas Macri (Director, US-ELT program), Ashish Mahabal (Caltech, USA), Shashi Kanbur (SUNY-Oswego, USA), and Marcella Marconi (INAF, Naples), who covered various aspects ranging from upcoming large telescopes to theoretical modeling of stars. The participants also visited the Gauhati University observatory during theworkshop. The workshop covered a wide range of topics on multiwavelength studies of stars and galaxies and provided participants with a succinct introduction to relevant aspects of astronomy alongside an in- depth exploration of various astronomical data types, including images, spectra, t i me - s e r i e s d a t a , a n d c a t a l o g s . Participants were exposed to a flavour of advanced astronomy research and learned introductory data analysis and machine learning concepts and techniques. A few student participants also presented their research projects in the last session. H. P. Singh chaired the concluding session attended by Jagadish Sharma, Secretary ( i /c) , Un i vers i t y C l asses , (Gauhat i University). The workshop was coordinated by Eeshankur Saikia (Gauhati University) and AnupamBhardwaj (IUCAA). A national workshop on 'Contemporary Issues in Astronomy and Astrophysics 2024 (CIAA 2024) was organised by the Department of Physics, Shivaji University, Kolhapur, fromSeptember 13 - 15, 2024, in Contemporary Issues in Astronomy and Astrophysics collaboration with IUCAA. The workshop aimed to create awareness regarding the ad vanc emen t s i n A s t r onomy and Astrophysics among the graduates, post- graduates and research students in the country. The workshop was of great s i gn i f i cance on mu l t i p l e f ront s i n Astronomy and Astrophysics. It was pivotal in advancing scientific knowledge of Gravitational Waves, the role of the LIGO