CASSA Workshop · 7–11 September 2026
Five days on the astronomy of a changing sky — the transient universe, and the messengers that carry it to us — at Independent University, Bangladesh.
About the workshop
Astronomy no longer watches a static sky. Surveys like ZTF and the upcoming Rubin LSST catch the universe changing night by night, while gravitational-wave detectors listen to the ripples of spacetime. Time-Domain and Multi-Messenger Astronomy (TDMMA) is where those signals meet. The time domain is this workshop's centre of gravity — the changing sky, and everything we learn by watching it change — with multiple messengers providing crucial information to understand the astrophysics of these objects.
With the growing demand to follow up these transients, CASSA is building the infrastructure to do it — manpower and observing facilities alike. This workshop aims to build a cohort of dedicated people who want to contribute to TDMMA.
The workshop features local and foreign experts, some in the room and some joining online. In person, the visiting lecturer for the week is Dr. Andrew L. Miller, who searches gravitational-wave data for the signals of compact objects and of dark matter, and who comes to CASSA for the gravitational-wave portion of the programme. He is joined by Dr. Syed Ashraf Uddin, the convener of this workshop, whose expertise is Type Ia supernova cosmology and observational astronomy — he uses Type Ia supernovae as standard candles to probe dark energy and the Hubble tension; Dr. Khan Muhammad Bin Asad on the radio time domain — pulsars and fast radio bursts with MeerKAT and LOFAR; and Dr. Colin J. Burke, who hunts massive black holes in the variability of wide-field time-domain surveys.
Joining online are Dr. Dipen Bhattacharya, a gamma-ray astronomer who has observed the high-energy sky with balloon-borne telescopes flown above the atmosphere, and a Bengali science-fiction writer; Dr. Payaswini Saikia, who studies accretion onto black holes and neutron stars and the jets they launch, from radio to X-ray; and Md Redyan Ahmed, a doctoral researcher in radio astronomy and galaxy evolution.
The goal is capacity building: participants who complete this workshop will be able to read a transient light curve, follow a gravitational-wave alert, and start research in time-domain astronomy and the multi-messenger astrophysics that grows out of it.
Programme
Click a session for details; on phones, swipe the calendar sideways. Friday lunches early and moves across town: a coach leaves IUB at 2:00 PM for the ACI Centre, and the day closes with the workshop dinner at 7:00 PM.
Venue & logistics
The workshop runs across two venues. The first four days — and Friday morning — are held in the Digital Classroom at Independent University, Bangladesh, home of CASSA. On Friday the workshop lunches early and moves across town: a coach leaves IUB at 2:00 PM for the ACI Centre in Tejgaon, where the afternoon runs from 3:00 PM. Sessions run 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM with a 90-minute lunch break, and Friday closes with the workshop dinner at 7:00 PM. The week falls in the semester break, and participants completing the workshop receive certificates.
Days 1–4 · Mon 7 – Thu 10 September, and Friday morning
Plot 16, Block B, Aftabuddin Ahmed Road, Bashundhara Residential Area, Dhaka 1245
Home of CASSA. Lectures and hands-on tutorials, 10:00 AM – 6:00 PM; on Friday until 12:30 PM.
Open in Google MapsDay 5 · Friday 11 September, from 3:00 PM
245 Tejgaon Industrial Area, Dhaka 1208
Participant short talks from 3:00 PM and the closing ceremony 4:00–6:00 PM — followed by the workshop dinner at 7:00 PM.
Open in Google MapsSponsor ACI is kindly sponsoring the final day of the workshop at the ACI Centre, and the workshop dinner with special guests.
Resource people
Assistant Professor, ICTP-AP · University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing
[email protected]
NSF AAPF Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Astronomy, Yale University · incoming Assistant Professor, University of North Texas
[email protected]
Gamma-ray astronomer · University of California, Riverside and Moreno Valley College, California
Associate Research Scientist, Department of Astronomy and Physics, Yale University · Associate Member, CASSA
[email protected]
Organisation
Who is in the room
The 33 people present on the opening day, 7 September 2026 — 25 registered participants drawn from 12 institutions, together with the 8-strong CASSA team running the week.
| # | Name | Institution | Academic status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | A.F.M. Afnanuzzaman Sheikh | Independent University, Bangladesh | Undergraduate |
| 2 | Abdullah Al Tawshik | University of Dhaka | Master's student |
| 3 | Afra Nawar Apurba | University of Dhaka | Undergraduate |
| 4 | Afrah Raiyyan Wren Sarker | Assemblies of God Church School, Dhaka | High-school student |
| 5 | Ahmad Al-Imtiaz | CASSA, IUB | Graduate |
| 6 | Alam Saif Sifat | Independent University, Bangladesh | Undergraduate |
| 7 | Alif Ashraful | Independent University, Bangladesh | Undergraduate |
| 8 | Ashratul Zannati Purnota | Independent University, Bangladesh | Undergraduate |
| 9 | Atia Sanjida Badhon | CASSA, IUB | Graduate |
| 10 | Deba Priyo Guha | CASSA, IUB | Postbaccalaureate |
| 11 | Fardin Abdullah | CASSA, IUB | Undergraduate |
| 12 | Fatema Nahar Mim | BRAC University | Undergraduate |
| 13 | Haniah Mokhtar | BRAC University | Undergraduate |
| 14 | Hasibur Rahman Rabib | University of Scholars | Undergraduate |
| 15 | Kazi Abrar Hossain | University College London (UCL) | Master's student |
| 16 | M. O. B. Jihad | CASSA, IUB | Undergraduate |
| 17 | Mahatab Murshed | Independent University, Bangladesh | Undergraduate |
| 18 | Mariem Absar | University of Chittagong | Master's student |
| 19 | Md Asif Shahriar | Jashore University of Science and Technology | Undergraduate |
| 20 | MD Mahamud-Ul-Hassan | University of Dhaka | Undergraduate |
| 21 | Md. Merajul Hasan | University of Dhaka | Undergraduate |
| 22 | Md. Salman Mahmud | University of Dhaka | Undergraduate |
| 23 | MD. Shahadat Hossain Shahal | CASSA, IUB | Postbaccalaureate |
| 24 | Mohaimenul Sohan | Ahsanullah University of Science and Technology | Undergraduate |
| 25 | Mst Fariha Akter Satu | University of Dhaka | Master's student |
| 26 | Muhammad Jobair Hasan | CASSA, IUB | Staff |
| 27 | Naima Nawar | Independent University, Bangladesh | Undergraduate |
| 28 | Nublat Hafsa | CASSA, IUB | Undergraduate |
| 29 | Rownok Shahariar | Govt. Edward College, Pabna | Undergraduate |
| 30 | Sanjida Akter | Chittagong College | Undergraduate |
| 31 | Sarker Mahathir Mohmmad | University of Dhaka | Undergraduate |
| 32 | Sumit Roy | University of Dhaka | Undergraduate |
| 33 | Tamjeed Shahriar Amin | Independent University, Bangladesh | Undergraduate |
Registration
Closed Applications for TDMMA 2026 are no longer being taken.
Round one closed on 18 August 2026 and the selected participants were announced on 21 August. The block of full-fee seats that reopened afterwards closed on 5 September 2026, the eve of the workshop. There is no waiting list.
The workshop itself is running 7–11 September 2026. Participants will find the week hour by hour — session details, instructors and the slide decks, published as each day is taught — in the programme above.
The final day is hosted and sponsored by ACI, at the ACI Centre in Tejgaon — see Venue.