Khagol issue_116

SITARE: Introductory Workshop on Astrophysics Newman College, Thodupuzha eye view of the latest developments in the subject, and were capable of sensitizing the participating MSc (Physics) students to research opportunities that exist in this field. There was a panel discussion on the first day evening, which discussed the various aspects along with the career opportunities in A&A. The programme overshot the stipulated time due to the interest shown by the students. On the second day night, there was a sky watch programme conducted using the 11 inch and 5 inch telescopes, which provided a novel experience to the students. Amajor feature of the programme was the public lectures conducted in five other colleges in the region by the resource persons, which served to offer its benefits to a greater audience. Each of these lectures was attended by around 100 - 200 participants. The programme was capable of generating interest in the subject as evidenced by the active interactions by the participating students. The feedback from the participants indicated that they were much happy and contended with what they achieved from the workshop. Ajit Kembhavi, RanjeevMisra (IUCAA), Joe Jacob (NewmanCollege) were the co-ordinators. With an objective to motivate enthusiastic students to pursue a research career in Astronomy and Astrophysics (A & A), IUCAA in collaborationwith the Southampton University (SoU) conducted the SITARE (Southampton IUCAA Training for Astronomical Research and Education): IntroductoryWorkshop onAstrophysics, sponsored by the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), UK. Department of Physics, Newman College, Thodupuzha, representing the southern region of India, hosted the workshop during September 17 - 19, 2018. The workshop was oversubscribed almost four times, and had participants from the states of Karnataka, Kerala Maharashtra, Rajasthan, and Tamil Nadu. The workshop started with a short inaugural meeting, presided over by the Educational Secretary of the College, George Thanathuparambil. This was followed by lectures by Naresh Dadhich, Ajit Kembhavi, A.N. Ramaprakash, Jithesh V. (all from IUCAA), Aru Beri, Anjali Rao (both from SoU), K. Indulekha (Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam), and Ninan Sajeeth Philip (St. Thomas College, Kozhencherri). The topics were: General Theory of Relativity, Stellar Astrophysics, Optical Astronomy, X-ray Astronomy, Machine Learning Methods in Astronomy, etc. The careful selection of topics for the lectures provided a bird's | KHAG L | No. 116 - OCTOBER 2018 | 10