Khagol 121

TheWorkshop on Emergent Gravity Paradigmwas held at the Department of Physics, Cochin University of Science and Technology (CUSAT), Kochi, during November 8 – 10, 2019. The focus was the theoretical foundations of gravity as an emergent phenomenon. The workshop was inaugurated by K. N. Madhusoodhanan (Vice-Chancellor, CUSAT), and it began with an introductory lecture by T. Padmanabhan (IUCAA). Other lectures were given by Dawood Kothawala (IIT – Madras, Chennai), Kinjalk Lochan (IISER, Mohali), Sumanta Chakraborty (IACS, Kolkata), Karthik Rajeev (IUCAA), and Titus K. Mathew (CUSAT). Students and faculties fromvarious institutions across India participated in this three-day residential workshop, which was organized by ICARD – CUSAT, and was coordinated by Aseem Paranjape (IUCAA), Titus K. Mathew, and Charles Jose (CUSAT). Workshop on Emergent Gravity Paradigm AShort-TermCourse on Gravitation and Cosmology was organized at the Department of Physics, Providence Women's College, Kozhikode, by the Teaching Learning Centre (TLC) of IUCAA for the benefit of teachers from their neighbouring colleges and universities, during November 25 – 30, 2019. The main aim of the course was to provide training in teaching Astrophysics, Gravitation and Cosmology as optional papers in the post-graduate curriculum, and updating those who were familiar with the subject with recent developments in the field. The course received an overwhelming response from faculty members of various colleges and universities in Kerala. The total number of participants was limited to twenty- five, with preference being given to the teachers belonging to colleges having post- graduate course in Physics. The course began with an inaugural session, followed by a public lecture titled, "The Physical Bas i s of Genera l Re l a t ivi ty and i t s Imp l i c a t i on s " by Ba l a I ye r ( ICTS , Bengaluru), who later covered the basics of General Relativity, while Titus K. Mathew, and Charles Jose (both fromCUSAT, Kochi) explained the fundamentals of Cosmology. Other resource persons included: Sharvari Nadkarni (IIT, Kanpur), and Rishi Khatri (TIFR, Mumbai) on Dark Matter and CMB Rad i a t i on , San i l Unn i k r i shnan (S t . Stephen’s College, New Delhi) on Dark Matter, Arunima Banerjee (IISER, Tirupati) on Galaxy Formation and Evolution, Swagat Mishra (IUCAA) on Primordial Black H o l e s , a n d A n a n d N a r a y a n a n ( I I S T , Thiruvananthapuram) on Exoplanets. Athul (CUSAT) organized a training session on Python programming, and also discussed small projects that could be done as part of theMSc curriculum, whileManojendu Choudhury (TLC, IUCAA) discussed the activities of the TLC and teaching methods in Astronomy. The short-term course was coordinated by Jeena Karunakaran (ProvidenceWomen’s College), and SurhudMore (IUCAA). Short-Term Course on Gravitation and Cosmology No. 121 - January 2020 8