Inter-University Centre for Astronomy & Astrophysics

Four national accolades for IUCAA this month.

In the past few weeks, four researchers from the Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA) have been honored with prestigious awards and fellowships, reflecting their significant contributions to the field of astrophysics and cosmology. These recognitions underscore the importance of IUCAA as a leading institution for research in and enhancement of astronomy and astrophysics in India. The awards and fellowships received by Jayant Narlikar (Vigyan Ratna), R. Srianand (Fellowship of the Indian National Science Academy), Varun Sahni (National Science Chair), and Surhud More (Vigyan Yuva) highlight the depth of talent and scientific excellence within the IUCAA community.

Dr. Jayant Vishnu Narlikar, an internationally renowned Indian astrophysicist, a visionary, and a passionate science communicator, passed away peacefully in his sleep at his residence in Pune on May 20, 2025. He was 86. The Inter-University Centre for Astronomy & Astrophysics family is in grief.🙏

Inter-University Centre for Astronomy & Astrophysics will organize a Study Hub of the Gravitational Wave Open Data Workshop 2025, during 13-15 May in Pune.

🌐 Details: https://gw-odw.thinkific.com/courses/odw2025
ℹ️ Register for IUCAA: https://forms.gle/vDgEAxfv7xusyPgi8
⚠️ Note: The workshop is only open to individuals residing in Pune, with preference given to students. Registration will be open till 10 May, 2025.

GWOSC GW Open Data Workshop 2025 GWOSC Gravitational Wave Open Data Workshop 2025

🔭 Hiring of Faculty Positions at IUCAA 🛰️
https://www.iucaa.in/en/opportunities/faculty-openings/instrumentation-faculty-openings
Apply by : February 16, 2025 (updated deadline)

The Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics - IUCAA, Pune, India invites applications from Indian citizens for up to two faculty positions.

We seek young and driven researchers, with demonstrated expertise in UV/optical/IR astronomical instrumentation and technology development, and who can contribute to and enhance the range of activities and projects at IUCAA. They should also be motivated to explore and expand into new realms.

The Faculty will be part of the IUCAA instrumentation laboratory which has modern and sophisticated equipment with experts in optics, mechanics, electronics, software, cryogenics, etc. working on ground and space based observatory facilities

IUCAA Vacation Students' Programme
VSP (2024 - 2025)

Applications welcome from eligible students till14 April, 2024.

Students selected under the VSP spend seven weeks at IUCAA working on specific research projects supervised by IUCAA Academic Members. The programme concludes with seminar presentations based on the projects done by the participants.

https://www.iucaa.in/en/education/summer-winter-programmes/vacation-students-programme

IUCAA family is in great grief due to the sad demise of Mathematician and popular writer Dr. Mangala Narlikar at her residence in Pune early this morning. She was 80 and was ailing from a recurrence of Cancer.

Dr. Narlikar spent many decades in both research as well as teaching Mathematics and also contributed to the revision of Math syllabus for schools students. She was also a proponent of rationalism and a scientific attitude and a popular writer.

The whole IUCAA family is currently together in this moment of mourning. She is survived by Prof. Jayant Narlikar, her daughters Geeta, Girija, and Leelavati, and their families. Our deepest condolences to them.

She was the strongest support of our founder Director Prof. Jayant V. Narlikar, and thus instrumental in the birth and evolution of IUCAA itself.

As a cancer survivor, she has inspired and advised many others affected by it over many years. It is sad that after another fight against a relapse, she could not put up further and took her last breath this morning.

Scientists propose a solution to measuring the pace of Universe expansion!

We know that the Universe is expanding, however, specific details about the manner of its expansion and the nature of its evolution remain to be determined.

A novel method, proposed by a team of researchers at the International Centre for Theoretical Sciences - Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (ICTS-TIFR) International Centre for Theoretical Sciences,
the Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA) and the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB), could potentially determine the expansion rate of the Universe, using the many detections of gravitational lensing of gravitational waves.

The work has been chosen as Editor's suggestion by the reputed international Journal - Physical Review Letters (PRL).

Please see details about this here - https://web.iucaa.in/news/GWBBH/

🚀🌞 Celebrating the Completion of SUIT for Aditya-L1 Mission! 🎉🔭✨

Join us on a journey to unlock the secrets of our magnificent Sun!

The Solar Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (SUIT) is the cutting-edge instrument onboard the Aditya-L1 spacecraft, the first dedicated solar mission by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). 🛰️🇮🇳 SUIT, the special camera on Aditya-L1, will capture mesmerizing images and data to deepen our understanding of the Sun's intricate dynamics. 📸💡✨

🌐📺 We wish to celebrate this milestone with all of you online! Join us at 4 pm IST tomorrow for a captivating virtual event on YouTube, where we'll share exciting updates and insights from the Aditya-L1 mission. 🎥🌍

https://www.youtube.com/IUCAALive/live

Stay tuned for groundbreaking insights into the Sun's mysteries as we venture into the realm of solar exploration! 🌌🔬🌟

A group of international scientists, led by Dr. Divya Rawat from IUCAA, detected, for the first time, polarized emission from the matter before it disappeared as it fell into a black hole source known by the name 4U 1630-47.

https://web.iucaa.in/news/XRAYPBH/

For this discovery, the international team used publicly available data from two NASA satellites, the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) and the Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER).

A Hindi translation is available at this link
https://web.iucaa.in/news/XRAYPBH/attachments/Hindi-news-transcript.pdf

'Beginning Astronomy v2: Start a data-driven journey.'
A national Workshop on Basic Astronomy will be conducted from
6 - 8 July 2023 at the Central University of Himachal Pradesh with IUCAA.

Students will be introduced to some core concepts in stellar galaxy physics through hands-on computational sessions and short lectures.
Application deadline: 5 June 2023
Selection of Participants: 9 June 2023.
Link for registration: https://forms.gle/4THUMC2nebyiDRNx7
For more details, please email at [email protected]

Central University of Himachal Pradesh

IUCAA, Pune will organize a Study Hub of the Gravitational Wave Open Data Workshop 2023. The Study Hub will run from May 15th to May 17th between 12:30 to 16:00 IST to enable students to have in-person interactions based around the main workshop.

✅ Pune based* participants should register for the Study Hub at https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeAg6KwhzF2NetBsPwgI9FZtRYq6AcUwP9lGo8nbQdTEnPLEA/viewform

✅ Participants also have to register for the main workshop on the link https://gwosc.org/odw/odw2023

ℹ️ *For convenience of logistics, preference will be given to students and individuals residing in PMC and PCMC.

ℹ️ Registration for the Study Hub is free and first-come-first-served.

ℹ️ Participants are expected to bring their own laptops.

For any queries, contact [email protected]

LIGO India