Awareness conference on European Astronomy in the  Optical and IR domain:
An Eso/Opticon/IAU summer school on modern instruments,
their science case, and practical Data Reduction

Brno (Czech Republic), Sept. 1- 11th, 2015



This workshop intends to present the
  european instruments available for observations  in the Optical and IR domain,
together with their science cases and performances.
This will concern the ESO instruments, as well as those available through the Opticon Access Program.
It will allow hands-on experience on data reduction (archive data) for some of those  instruments,
work being done in small groups under the supervision of experienced tutors, as is the rule in the NEON schools.
This work will be accompagned by some lectures on "Hot topics in Astrophysics",
a tutorial on VO astrophysics, as well as a tutorial on "How to write a (good) telescope time request"

This workshop is intended for PhD Students, Post-Docs, or Senior astronomers
wishing to improve their knowledge of, and capacity to use the instruments available at forefront of research.
Last year's Master students, with a good background in astrophysics or optical engineering, can be selected too. 

Practical work on the following instruments can be organised, please indicate your preference(s):
VLT: FORS, VIMOS, UVES, FLAMES, HAWK-I, NACO, ...
VISTA, VST, LaSilla (Feros, WFI, Harps, 1.54m Danish,...)
OHP (Sophie), Pic du Midi (Narval), LaPalma (ING, Grantecan,...), CAHA (TBC)


A preliminary program is available (to be updated),
as well as the registration form for participation.
The number of participants is limited to about ~40 for practical reasons,
the selection will be finalised in June 2015
Please note that the reception of a recommendation letter, in due time, is mandatory for selection

For more details, and practical information, see the Main page in Brno.

All local costs are covered by the school.
Some financial support can be made available for travel, on a duly justified case-by-case basis

The registration is now open, deadline May 8th, 13:00, CET

This school is sponsored by ESO, the OPTICON EU-I3 program,
and by the IAU-ISYA program supported by the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters