Khagol_113_January 2018

| KHAG L | No. 113 - JANUARY 2018 | 13 Proposals for holding Workshops/Schools Outside IUCAA Proposals to conduct workshops/schools in Astronomy and Astrophysics or related areas are invited from university departments/affiliated colleges and the same may be sent to the Administrative Officer, Core Programmes, (email; aocp@iucaa.in ), IUCAA, by April 30, 2018 (for events to be conducted during August 2018 - July 2019), so as to be included in the academic calendar for the next academic year. The following details should be givenwhile sending the proposals: (i) the title (topic), (ii) duration of the workshop/school, (iii) topics to be covered and number of lectures in each topic, (iv) the level of audience and their number, (v) the number of resource persons available locally and the number of resource persons expected from IUCAA, and (vi) a description of the facilities available and (vii) the budget estimates (clearly stating the support offered by the host university/institute). It is generally expected that infrastructural facilities and accommodation to the participants as well as the resource persons will be provided by the host institution. Other expenses will be borne by IUCAA. The proposers are encouraged to consult IUCAA faculty while framing the proposal. Once the workshop/school is approved, IUCAA will nominate a coordinator from its faculty, who will interact with the organiser in relation to the academic programme, budget, and identifying and approaching the resource persons. Welcome to . . . Sayantan Choudhury, who has obtained his Bachelors degree (2007) in Physics (Hons.) from Scottish Church College, Kolkata, and Masters degree (2009) in Physics from the University of Calcutta. He obtained his Ph.D. degree (2016) from the Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata, affiliated to the University of Calcutta. Then he joined the Department of Theoretical Physics, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai, as a Post- doctoral Fellow for 2 years 8 months, and after which he joined IUCAA as a Post-doctoral Fellow in October 2017. His research has been focused on the Quantum Field Theory of early universe cosmology, Effective Field Theory, Non-linear cosmological perturbation theory, Phenomenology from warped extra dimensions, Quantum entanglement,AdS/CFT, String Theory andNon EquilibriumQuantumFieldTheory. SAYANTAN CHOUDHURY The south regional astronomers meeting on Research inAstronomy: Opportunities and Challenges was conducted at the Department of Physics. WMO Arts and Science College, Muttil, Wayanad, Kerala, during December 1 - 2, 2017. The fourth in the series of annual meetings, intended for fostering ties between astronomers in this region, was inaugurated by Ranjeev Misra (IUCAA), and presided over by T.P. Muhammed Fareed (Principal, WMO Arts and Science College). There were 27 presentations, each of 15 minutes duration, given by the research students from the region. New results from the fields of Cosmology, AGN, Stars, ISM, IGM, Galaxies, Gravitational Waves, Instrumentation, and Machine Language were presented. Active discussions which ensued after each presentation served to provide new insights and directions for the participating researchers. There were 7 review talks by senior faculty members in various aspects of Astronomy, and were given by V.C. Kuriakose (CUSAT, Kochi), Annapurni Subramanium (IIA, Bengaluru), Charles Jose (CUSAT, Kochi), K. Indulekha (Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam), Blesson Mathew (Christ University, Bengaluru), and Sajeeth Ninan Philip (St. Thomas College, Kozhenchery)). Ranjeev Misra and Joe Jacob (Newman College, Thodupuzha) were the academic coordinators, and Biju K.G. (WMO Arts and Science College) officiated as the organising secretary. There were cultural programmes by the participants on the evening of the first day of the meeting. Meeting on Research in Astronomy: Opportunities and Challenges