FIRST ANNOUNCEMENT: Aus-VO Summer School

[Tara Murphy]

                      FIRST ANNOUNCEMENT
                     Aus-VO Summer School
    Computational skills and techniques for modern astronomy

                School of Physics / School of IT
                    The University of Sydney
                   February 19th - 21st 2007


Computational techniques are becoming increasingly important in
astronomy. In order to support the development of such techniques
in our current and future generation of astronomers, we are hosting
a Summer School that will provide an introduction to a selection of
common tools and techniques that we believe can facilitate and enhance
research productivity. The Summer School will consist of lectures and
practical exercises. All exercises will be tailored specifically to
astronomy applications.

The intended audience is postgraduate students and other interested
astronomers. Honours students are also welcome to attend.
This is a great opportunity to develop or update your IT skills!


Topics include:

        * Introduction to programming in Python
        * Scientific Python
        * Advanced Unix skills - scripting, regular expressions
        * Version control with Subversion
        * Writing CGI scripts
        * Querying databases with SQL
        * Creating databases with MySQL
        * Introduction to XML and web services
        * Doing science with the Virtual Observatory


There will be a range of presenters from astronomy and IT, including:

       James Curran	    USyd  (School of IT)
       Alan Fekete	    USyd  (School of IT)
       Andrew Hopkins	    USyd  (School of Physics)
       Malte Marquarding     ATNF
       Vince McIntyre	    ATNF
       Chris Miller	    NOAO
       Tara Murphy	    USyd  (School of Physics / School of IT)


Expressions of interest:

     Please send email to tara at physics.usyd.edu.au if you'd like to
     receive subsequent announcements, and to help us get a preliminary
     idea of the level of interest. This will ensure you remain on our
     email distribution list.

     Registration will open in late October and will cost $30 which covers
     morning/afternoon tea and lunch for the three days. Travel assistance
     may be available for students coming from outside Sydney.

     Participants should bring their own laptop to work on. Windows,
     Mac OS and Linux will be supported, and the relevant software will
     be provided for download beforehand.


Important Dates:

     3rd October 2006	        First Announcement
 				(expressions of interest)
     Late October 2006	        Registration opens
     January 2007		Registration closes
     19th - 21st February 2007	Aus-VO Summer School


The Local Organising Committee is:

     Tara Murphy	       tara at physics.usyd.edu.au
     Andrew Hopkins     ahopkins at physics.usyd.edu.au
     Paul Hancock       hancock at physics.usyd.edu.au
     James Curran
     Anne Green

please contact us if you have any enquiries.

More information is available on the website:
     http://www.physics.usyd.edu.au/astrop/ausvoss

This site will be updated as the schedule and other details are
finalised, so keep an eye on it. A second announcement will follow
in the next month with further information.