2014 2nd Meeting
University of Antioquia (Medellin, Colombia)
August 19-29, 2014
The AstroTwinCoLO 2014 2nd Meeting is the second event celebrated as part of the Astronomy Twinning Program between the University of Antioquia (Colombia) and Leiden Observatory (Leiden). The meeting will be held in Medellin (Colombia) between August 19-29, 2014. Participants from Colombia and in general from all the Andean region are welcome to come and participate in the Courses that will be offered during the meeting.
Summary of the Meeting
- 2 full courses (equivalent to 30 hours each) offered by two invited Professor of Leiden Observatory (Netherlands).
- 2 mini courses offered by special invited speakers.
- 2 public lectures intefor general public.
- No registration fee.
- Topics in theoretical and observational astrophysics: Gravitational Lensing and Radio and Optical Interferometry.
- Invited speakers are international leading experts in the field.
- Most courses will be given in English.
- All courses will be held at the Institute of Physics of the University of Antioquia (Medellín, Colombia).
- Most of the course sessions will be broadcast via Live Stream and recorded for its release in You Tube.
- The event is offering a limited financial support for students coming from cities different than Medellín.
- Full courses include an academic approval certificate equivalent to 3 credits in the ETCS (European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System)
- Virtual Participation will be allowed and could be also conducive to full certification.
Meeting map
Registration - Activities - Schedule
Invited Lecturers
Prof. Konrad Kuijken
Konrad Kuijken is professor of astronomy at Leiden Observatory in the Netherlands. His research focuses on understanding the distribution of the mysterious dark matter in the universe, through studying the dynamics of galaxies and the bending of light rays (gravitational lensing). He has observed with the major observatories in the world, such as the VLT, Keck, Hubble, Anglo-Australian and William Herschel telescopes. He presently leads the Kilo-Degree Survey on the VLT Survey Telescope in Chile, a project to map the distribution of dark matter and the history of the growth of structure over a large area of sky. Since obtaining his PhD in Cambridge University in 1988, he has (co)authored over 130 scientific articles. Prior to moving to Leiden in 2002, he has held positions at the Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics in Toronto, the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, and the Kapteyn Institute in Groningen. From 2007 to 2012 he served as scientific director of Leiden Observatory.
Curriculum Vitae
Prof. Rudolf LePoole
As a student in Leiden Rudolf Le Poole participated in Lunar Research as a member of the 'Ranger Evaluation Team' (1965-'66) with Gerard P Kuiper (Tucson, Arizona), evaluating the Lunar surface bearing strength for the future astronaut visitors. Upon return to Leiden he finished university education and started participating in the commissioning of the Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope. Astronomical interest in stellar dynamics etc. soon indicated the need for better astrometry, which shaped much of his career's effort: both a high-precision photographic plate measuring engine (Astroscan), but much more fundamental the participation in ESA's Hipparcos Science Team (1977-1997) shaped his technical expertise, also in interfaces with industry. He helped commission the Observatorio del Roque de Los Muchachos (La Palma, Canaries) (1984-'87), helped upgrade the 3.60m Telescope at La Silla, and he became External Scientist for the first (sub)-mm camera SCUBA on the James Clark Maxwell Telescope (1987-'96). Since 1997 he was the Project Scientist for NEVEC, the NOVA-ESO VLTI Expertise Centre. He taught a variety of courses, many of which were linked to observing facilities, later also at the Technical University of Delft (after (formal) retirement from Leiden). Since then (2007) he also serves 1 day/ week as advisor for TNO, a Dutch government-linked technical expertise company in Space and ground-based Astronomy.
Complete Curriculum Vitae
Invited Speakers
Walter Tangarife, Ph.D.
He recently earned his Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin working with the Theory Group lead by the Nobel Prize Steven Weinberg. His research range from Dark Matter in extensions of the Minimal Supersymmetic Standard Model to Applications of AdS/CFT to the black hole information paradox. He will soon join Tel Aviv University as a postdoctoral fellow.
Edison Montoya, Ph.D.
Edison is Master in Science and Ph. D. of the Universidad de San Nicolás de Hidalgo (Morelia, México). He completed a Postdoctoral stay in the Centro de Radioastronomía y Astrofísica of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (Morelia, México) working on the application of SPH techniques to study Molecular Clouds. Additionally he is an expert on Loop Quantum Cosmology and his present research area is Numerical Relativity and parallel programming with GPUs.