XV CANARY ISLANDS WINTER SCHOOL OF ASTROPHYSICS "PAYLOAD AND MISSION DEFINITION IN SPACE SCIENCES"

The XV Canary Islands Winter School of Astrophysics (WS), organized by the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC), will be dedicated to instrumentation for space sciences in a broad sense with an emphasis on the missions included in the newly released ESA Cosmic Vision 2020 program. The WS focuses on how the scientific drivers impact the definition of the missions and their payloads. The WS welcomes a maximum of 70 PhD students and young Post-Docs, and provides each year a unique opportunity for the participants to broaden their knowledge in a key field of Astronomy.

This year WS on instrumentation for space astronomy will provide firm ground for young researchers that will play a key role in the development of future spacecrafts. Attention will be paid in particular to those missions that are included in the ESA program Cosmic Vision 2020 (which will be formally introduced by ESA D/Sci Prof. David Southwood). Being a scientifically driven school, the starting point will be how the science drivers define the missions and their instrumentation. But it will also show how the technology limitations imposed by the space environment severely constrains the scientific scope of the missions. The WS will address traditional topics for space research as interplanetary medium in-situ measurements, planetary exploration and the detection of electromagnetic windows unobservable from the ground (Gamma-, X-ray and UV). However, and as spacecrafts like HST and SOHO have shown, observations in visible wavelengths greatly benefit from the absence of atmospheric turbulence and continuous observations. Thus, the WS will also cover visible and IR observations as planned in a number of future missions. Cosmic Vision 2020 missions included here are Rosetta, Mars and Venus Express, Bepi Colombo, Solar Orbiter, Herschel, Planck, Eddington, JWST, Gaia and the future projects Xeus and Darwin. The WS also focuses on the general problems related to every mission such as launchers, orbits, service modules and ground segment. These topics provide the programmatic boundaries of the missions that, in contrast to ground astronomical instrumentation, greatly influence space instrumentation in crucial ways.

To achieve all these goals the WS will bring together a set of eminent scientists that are actively working on the definition of future missions and that have also played key roles in missions that are successfully flying and increasing our understanding of the Universe. The contents of the school should give the students a balanced and varied introductory background to the field. They should be suitable for those interested primarily in either the scientific or technical aspects of our topic. Participants of the WS will have the opportunity to show their current field of work by presenting a poster contribution (1m square panels). Dedicated poster sessions will be organized within the WS.

The WS will take place in Puerto de la Cruz (Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain). The invited lecturers are eight prestigious researchers working in several areas of the general topic of space sciences instrumentation. The lectures will be delivered in English and will be published subsequently in a specially dedicated volume. Speakers will develop their topics in a series of five lectures. Visits to the IAC's Headquarter in La Laguna, the Teide Observatory in Tenerife and the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory in La Palma will be scheduled as part of the WS activities.

The registration fee is Euro 1100.-, which covers the Conference Fee (Euro 400.-) and half-board accommodation. Other WS activities and a copy of the book will be provided at no additional charge.

Those interested in attending the WS should send a Curriculum Vitae, a short summary of their current research project and a letter of reference from their thesis advisor, or Head of Department, to the address below. These should reach the IAC before July 14th. Selected candidates will be informed by July 30th. You may register using the attached forms or, electronically, at the WS Web site given below.

The Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias has applied for financial support to the European Commission (EC) under the Marie Curie Conference and Training Courses Action of the Sisth Framework Programme (FP6) to support early stage researchers and young postdocs to attend this WS. You are invited to apply for these EC grants to attend the event. The availability of these funds will not be confirmed (or otherwise) until August. Applicants from any country and nationality are invited to complete the application form provided here.
 

LECTURERS and TOPICS:

Prof. André BALOGH: Measurement of electromagnetic fields and particles in space.

Prof. Angioletta CORADINI: Planetary observations and landers.

Prof. Richard HARRISON: EUV and UV imaging and spectroscopy from space.

Prof. Yves LANGEVIN: Design issues for space science missions.

Prof. Mark McCAUGHREAN: Space infrared astronomy.

Prof. Victor REGLERO: Gamma and X ray instrumentation.

Dr. Gerhard SCHWEHM: Spacecraft and ground segment.

Dr. Ted TARBELL: Visible light telescopes and instruments for space observations.
 

Contact: Ms. Nieves Villoslada - Ms. Lourdes González

Fax: + 34 922 605210

E-mail: xvwinter@ll.iac.es

Internet: https://www.iac.es/winschool2003/info.html