Misplaced Pages

#60939

16-403: IAYC participants have continued on to gain astronomy-related careers. Examples are Conny Aerts , a Belgian astrophysicist, Ofer Lahav , an Israeli-British cosmologist, Robert H. McNaught , a Scottish-Australian astronomer, Erich Karkoschka , a German astronomer and Govert Schilling , a Dutch science journalist. Recent camps have seen participants organising so called Preunions in advance of

32-523: A one-week special reunion. In recent years, the number of participants has remained stable at around 65–70. Conny Aerts Conny Clara Aerts , born 26 January 1966, is a Belgian (Flemish) professor in astrophysics. She specialises in asteroseismology . She is associated with KU Leuven and Radboud University , where she leads the Chair in the Astroseismology group. In 2012, she became

48-399: A topic they are interested in. The Non-Astronomical Program (NAP) is held daily to give the participants the opportunity to relax and to get to know each other better. The NAP has its own leader who organises the games and activities, many of which are played every year. The NAP is additionally responsible for other recreational activities, including: During the night, many participants take

64-465: Is carried out independently, though under the supervision of a leader. The topics each year vary, allowing for a range of scientific abilities and interests. Each group has its own leader, who decides on the group's theme, with the themes of the working groups varying greatly from theoretical to practical. Besides the working group leaders, three other leaders are also included in the leader team. The general coordinator (GEN) takes care of supervision and

80-410: Is mainly carried out during the night, the daily schedule is atypical to allow for night-time observations. A typical day is as follows: The participants are divided into groups (for which they apply in advance) that all deal with a specific field of astronomy. They then collaborate to carry out a project on the theme of the working group. The project may be done independently, in pairs, or in groups. It

96-826: Is outspoken about the need to increase gender equality in the sciences, and is a member of the International Astronomical Union Women in Astronomy Working Group. Kavli Prize The Kavli Prize was established in 2005 as a joint venture of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters , the Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research , and the Kavli Foundation . It honors, supports, and recognizes scientists for outstanding work in

112-504: Is the contact person. The NAP-leader organises the Non-Astronomical Program. The Darkroom leader is responsible for the photography in the camp. They also run a darkroom in which black and white photographs are developed. During the free time, the participants are encouraged to organise group activities and workshops. Many use this opportunity to organise competitions between working groups or share knowledge about

128-712: The CoRoT satellite and the NASA Kepler satellite. She is currently the Belgian principal investigator on the PLATO mission. Aerts developed methodology using Gaussian mixture classification to analyse the data. She uses this to determine the star structure and inform stellar models within stellar evolution theory . With these techniques she has made a number of discoveries, including that of non-non-rigid rotation in giant stars. The theoretical models she develops based on

144-600: The University of Delaware. She was a postdoctoral fellow with the Fund for Scientific Research from 1993 to 2001, when she was appointed lecturer at KU Leuven. She became first associate professor in 2004, and then full professor in 2007 at KU Leuven. In her research, she uses the star oscillations to determine the internal rotation profile of stars. The oscillations are obtained from both ground and space-based telescopes. In her PROSPERITY project, she used data obtained from

160-491: The camp was held in a wider variety of locations. In the late 1970s camps were held in the Near East and North Africa. Since the 1980s, the focus returned to Europe. For an area to be chosen for a camp, it must allow for observation and thus have little light pollution . In 1999, in which the solar eclipse of that summer was a major event, 99 people participated, excluding former participants of previous camps who joined for

176-474: The camp. These events are used to get to know each other and see a little bit more of the neighbourhood, as most of the camp will take place in an isolated area. Throughout the rest of the year, many reunions take place. A returning tradition is the so-called New Year's Reunion , which is organised by a participant, anywhere in Europe. Successful reunions have seen more than 30 participants. As practical astronomy

SECTION 10

#1732787906061

192-686: The fields of astrophysics , nanoscience and neuroscience . Three prizes are awarded every second year. Each of the three Kavli Prizes consists of a gold medal, a scroll, and a cash award of US$ 1,000,000. The medal has a diameter of 70 millimetres (2.8 in), a thickness of 5 millimetres (0.20 in), and weighs 311 grams (11.0 oz). The first Kavli Prizes were awarded on 9 September 2008 in Oslo , presented by Haakon, Crown Prince of Norway . The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters appoints three prize committees consisting of leading international scientists after receiving recommendations made from

208-1005: The first woman to be awarded the Francqui Prize in the category of Science & Technology. In 2022, she became the third woman to be awarded the Kavli Prize in Astrophysics for her work in asteroseismology . Aerts was born in Brasschaat , Belgium. She received her Bachelor and Master in Mathematics from the University of Antwerp . She participated in the International Astronomical Youth Camp in 1987 and 1988. She then went on to complete her PhD in 1993 at KU Leuven . After completing she spent several months doing research at

224-470: The opportunity to observe the night sky; camp is typically held in dark sky areas, allowing for observation with the naked eye. Working groups with practical projects will often observe to gain information for their projects or engage in astrophotography. Many people like to go to the observation field during the peak of the Perseid showers , on the 11th of August, if the camp is taking place at that time and

240-604: The sky is clear. During the camp there are opportunities for participants to leave the camphouse and explore the area: The organisation behind the IAYC is a non-profit called The International Workshop for Astronomy e.V. established in 1979. It is responsible for the camp and consists of the leaders, who are volunteers. The first IAYC was in Germany and they continued to be held in Central Europe for many years. Later on,

256-539: The star oscillations also allow her determine the age of stars with a high accuracy. Aerts has twice been awarded an Advanced Grant by the European Research Council (ERC): in 2008 for PROSPERITY, and again in 2015 for a project entitled MAMSIE (Mixing and Angular Momentum Transport of Massive Stars). Aerts is Vice-Dean of Communication & Outreach at the Faculty of Science at KU Leuven. She

#60939