VLBI school 2013

1st IVS Training School on VLBI for Geodesy and Astrometry

Date:  2013, March 2-5
Place: Aalto University, Espoo (Finland)

Motivation:
The aim of this training school was to convey knowledge to the next generation researchers who will work with the next generation VLBI system for Geodesy and Astrometry. The goal was to cover all major aspects of todays VLBI system and the next generation VLBI system. The school covered technical aspects, observations, correlation, data analysis and the interpretation of results.
The program can be found here: Program of the VLBI-school

Organization:
The VLBI training school was part of the activities in Working Group 6 of the International VLBI Service for Geodesy and Astrometry (IVS) .

The organizing committee consisted of:

The teaching team consists of members of the international components of the IVS:

  • Thomas Artz (University of Bonn, Germany)
  • Alessandra Bertarini (Max Planck Institute for Radioastronomy, Germany)
  • Johannes Böhm (Vienna Technical University, Austria)
  • Roger Cappallo (MIT Haystack Observtory, USA)
  • Patrick Charlot (Bordeaux Observatory, France)
  • John Gipson (NASA, NVI Inc., USA)
  • Rüdiger Haas (Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden)
  • Chris Jacobs (JPL, NASA, USA)
  • Dan MacMillan (NASA, NVI Inc., USA)
  • Axel Nothnagel (University of Bonn, Germany)
  • Bill Petrachenko (National Resources Canada, Canada)
  • Harald Schuh (GeoForschungsZentrum Potsdam, Germany)
  • Alan Whitney (MIT Haystack Observtory, USA)

Lecture notes:
The lecture notes and excercises of the 1st IVS Training School on VLBI for Geodesy and Astrometry are available here.

Support:
The Training School on VLBI for Geodesy and Astrometry received financial support by the European Geosciences Union (EGU), the Onsala Space Observatory (OSO), and RadioNet. Aalto University and the Finnish Geodetic Institute provide the lecture rooms and additional support, and several international institutions that are associated to the International VLBI Service for Geodesy and Astrometry (IVS) support the school by sending teachers.
The financial support by EGU and RadioNet was used entirely to support the students of the school which were in a master’s or PhD education. These students were supported by 200,- € each.

Venue:
The VLBI Training school was be held on the campus of Aalto University in Espoo, just 500 m outside of Helsinki, and at the premises of the Finnish Geodetic Institute at Masala.

Prerequisites:
The participation in the training school required a bachelor degree in geodesy, astronomy, physics, geophysics, electrical engineering or engineering physics. Applicants with master’s degree or PhD degree in one of these areas were welcome, too. A reference letter by a supervisor was required.

Applications for participation:
The number of students was restricted to 40. Applications for participation had to be submitted electronically as pdf-files. The applications had to include:

  1. A personal statement describing the motivation for the application.
  2. Information on the educational background (e.g. scanned degree certificate).
  3. A letter of recommendation by a supervisor.

Last update: 2013-02-26, by Rüdiger Haas