CASSA Workshop 1: Unclouding the Thousand Eyes of an Array Radio Telescope

The most advanced telescopes at radio wavelengths are now Array Radio Telescopes (ART), arrays of hundreds and thousands of radio antennas guarding the universe like Argus in Ovid’s Metamorphoses. ARTs are everywhere, from the Y-shaped Very Large Array (VLA) in the deserts of New Mexico to the rectilinear Medicina displayed dramatically in the Red Desert (1964) of Michelangelo Antonioni (pictured in the poster).

In this 2-day workshop for undergraduate, postbac and graduate students of Bangladesh, we will learn the basics of radio astronomy and synthesis arrays on the first day, and then apply that knowledge to make a sparse representation of the radio vision of an ART in python. It is a BYOL workshop, so you have to ‘bring your own laptop’ with python and jupyter-lab set up in a UNIX-based operating system (Ubuntu is an excellent choice). Eligibility criteria, registration link, and the program are given below.

Eligibility

• You have to be an undergraduate, postbac (finished BSc but did not start any other academic program yet), or graduate student currently living in Bangladesh.
• You have to be able to join the workshop in person at IUB from 9 am - 5 pm on 18 and 19 April, 2025. Online option is not available for this specific workshop, but in future CASSA will have both in person, online and hybrid workshops.
• The subject of your undergraduate or graduate studies have to be a math-intensive engineering, mathematical or natural science, or computer science.
• You should have some basic knowledge of python;. Being an expert in python is not necessary, because the students will be divided in groups for groupworks (GW) and we will ensure that each group has a variety of students with different levels of expertise in python.
• You must bring (and work on) your own laptop (BYOL) and the laptop should have a UNIX-like terminal and jupyter-lab with which you can log into a high-performance computing server. If you are not sure about the setup in the terminal and jupyter-lab, we will help you during the workshop.
• No prior knowledge of astronomy is required, but previous experience in learning or researching astronomy will be considered for the final selection of participants.
• We encourage you to browse through the online textbook Essential Radio Astronomy before appearing for the workshop, but you will not be tested on it.

Registration

Application Form

• If you are eligible (based on the previous section), please click here for the Google Form for registration (or the button above).
• Registration deadline: 18 April, 2025.
• We specially encourage women to apply without any hesitation. At least 40% of seats will be reserved for women applicants.

Program Schedule

The following is the tentative schedule, which may be subject to minor changes until 30 April. [GW: groupwork]

Day	From	To	Segment	Instructor
2 May 2025 Fri	9:00	10:00	Icebreaker
	10:00	11:00	Introduction to radio astronomy	KMB Asad
	11:00	11:30	Coffee break
	11:30	12:30	Array Radio Telescopes (ART)	Asad
	12:30	02:00	Lunch break*
	02:00	03:00	Primary beams of ART antennas	Asad
	03:00	03:30	Group creation
	03:30	05:00	GW: Setting up the group projects	CASSA TAs
	07:00	09:00	Optional stargazing at night	Durbin
3 May 2025 Sat	9:00	10:00	Sparse representation of beams	Asad
	10:00	11:00	GW: decomposing LOFAR beams	Asad
	11:00	11:30	Coffee break
	11:30	12:30	GW: reconstructing LOFAR beams	CASSA TAs
	12:30	02:00	Lunch break
	02:00	03:00	GW: finalizing LOFAR beams	CASSA TAs
	03:00	03:30	Submission of the GWs
	03:30	05:00	GW presentations	Asad

*Lunch break note: You have to arrange your own lunch. There are restaurants, small cafeterias and eating places within a 10-minutes walking distance from IUB. If you need to pray, there is a mosque at 10-minutes walking distance from IUB.

Teaching Assistants

• Afnan Uzzaman, BSc student, electrical and electronic engineering, IUB.
• Md. Shahadat Hossain Shahal, BSc student, computer science and engineering, IUB.
• Mozammal Hossain Masum, BSc student, computer science and engineering, IUB.

List of Participants

Name	University	Group
Abantika Maytra Oishee	Hajee Mohammad Danesh Science and Technology University	1
Abyaz Karim	Independent University, Bangladesh	1
MD. MERAJUL HASAN	University of Dhaka	1
Most. Atia Sanjida	University of Dhaka	1
Sarker Mahathir Mohammad	University of Dhaka	1
Md. Soyed Ahmed	Ahsanullah University of Science and Technology	2
Brishti Dhar	Independent University, Bangladesh	2
Shams Habib Muzaffar	Independent University, Bangladesh	2
Ahmad Al-Imtiaz	Shahjalal University of Science and Technology	2
Tabib Zahin	University of Dhaka	2
Haniah Mokhtar	BRAC University	3
Tasfia Hasan Faiza	Independent University, Bangladesh	3
Nublat Hafsa	Independent University, Bangladesh	3
Fahima Khal Shayeq	Asian University for Women	4
Aiman Rafeed Bin Ehtesham	Military Institute of Science and Technology	4
Muhammad Arif Hussain	University of Dhaka	4
Tasnim Mahfuz Nafis	University of Dhaka	4
Urboshi Barua	Asian University for Women	5
Tazrian Noor	Independent University, Bangladesh	5
Deba Priyo Guha	Rajshahi University of Engineering and Technology	5
M.O.B. JIHAD	American International University-Bangladesh	6
Hameeda Ahmadi	Asian University for Women	6
Rownok Shahariar	Govt. Edward College, Pabna	6
Md. Abu Azad Tamim	University of Chittagong	6
Masuk Ridwan Saumo	Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology	7
MD. SHAYED HASAN SAHKIB	Daffodil International University	7
Miss Nourin Nurain Amina	Khulna University	7
Hridita Nowrin Pranti	University of Chittagong	7
Sajid Ahmed Chowdhury	Independent University, Bangladesh	8
Zakia Nazzum	Independent University, Bangladesh	8