Teaching
Teaching at CASSA
The first and only Minor in Astronomy & Astrophysics in Bangladesh — taught with equal emphasis on theory and observation, and supported by open, bilingual course materials.
The flagship programme
The Minor in Astronomy & Astrophysics
The Department of Physical Sciences at IUB offers the first and only Minor in astronomy and astrophysics in Bangladesh — open to any student with a background in the natural sciences and mathematics, and a natural complement to majors in physics, mathematics, engineering, and computer science. The courses are organised into two tracks: Astronomy & Astrophysics (A&A) and Space & Planetary Science (SPS).
CASSA contributes to the Minor by assisting with its research components, and every course is taught by a CASSA member or Director.
Astronomy for everyone
AST 100 — Our Cosmic (Hi)story
General education
A tour of the universe — no maths required
AST 100: Our Cosmic (Hi)story is offered for IUB students who do not have a maths and science background. It tells the 14-billion-year history of the universe from a human point of view — dividing cosmic time into seven ages and tracing the change, governed by chance and necessity, that drives the growth of complexity. Open to everyone and especially popular with students from business and liberal-arts backgrounds, it is offered every semester.
Students take photos of deep-sky objects with a Unistellar eQuinox telescope; the objects are explained in interactive lectures, and students prepare reports and presentations as their midterm and final exams.
Three pathways
Concentration tracks in the Minor
Astronomy & Astrophysics
The core path through modern astronomy — light and telescopes, stars and the interstellar medium, galaxies, and the radio universe.
AST 201 · AST 301 · AST 402 · AST 403 · AST 410
Space & Planetary Science
From planetary systems and exoplanets to the Sun–Earth space environment and the physics of the heliosphere.
AST 201 · AST 301 · AST 401 · AST 410 · PHY 424
Open course materials
Abekta
Lecture notes, problem sets, and full syllabi for the Minor's courses are published openly on Abekta, CASSA's course-material site. Each course below links to its Abekta page.