The eith Neon Observing school (first one at the telescope in the new FP7 series) will take place at: 
  Calar Alto Observatory (Andalucia, Spain) from June 16 to 28, 2010

The principles are the same as in previous schools: introductory lectures on topics of general interest,  work in small groups, 
execution of a real research project,  presentation of the results at the end of the school.

For practical (and travel) information, see the CAHA Web page

Preliminary program (under construction):

Day 1 (Wednesday June 16): Arrival of the students
Day 2-4: Introductory lectures and preparation of the observations

Basics of telescope optics and image analysis (R. Hook, ESO)
Photometry ( H. McCracken, IAP-Paris )
Low-resolution Spectroscopy (M. Dennefeld, IAP-Paris)
High-dispersion Spectroscopy (H. Korhonen, ESO)

Introduction to reduction techniques

Night 3-8: Observations
Days 3-12:  Data reduction and analysis
 
Additional lectures are foreseen  during the rest of the school:
Archival data
Adaptive Optics
VLT and ELT instrumentation
The history and evolution of telescopes
European observing facilities
etc...

Day 12 (Sunday, June 27th): Presentation of the results; round table discussion on prospects in astrophysics
Day 13 (June 28th): Departure

The school is open to PhD students in Astronomy or Post-docs with limited observing experience from all over Europe.
Selection of candidates will be made by the steering committee (see the general information about Neon schools).

Financial conditions: the school is only funded through the Opticon I3 (EU) program.
Students from EU countries (or Associated Countries) can therefore benefit from grants to participate in this school.
This grant will cover all the local expenses, but not the travel costs. Participants will therefore
have to complement this by own resources from their home institute.
In exceptional cases (e.g. for students from less favoured countries), we will consider a contribution to travel expenses
(indicate your need, duly justified, on the general registration form)
EU citizen working presently outside Europe are specifically encouraged to apply.

Applications from students from other, circum-european (non EU-member) countries are encouraged also.
They will be considered generously and we will do our best to help with financial support, on a case by case basis.
 

Details about this particular school (schedule, practical information, etc...) will be posted regularly here.
For general information about the Neon schools, see the NEON Web page

The on-line registration has opened in December 2009.
The registration form is  available at the ESO page.  
 

Deadline for registration: March 28th, 2010

The  list of selected  participants will be released by end of April  2010 .