Sussex-AstroGrid Workshop

Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Sussex, UK. 1-3 February 2006

Registration OPENS Weds 4 Jan 2006

Outline

Sussex and AstroGrid will be holding a three day workshop aimed at introducing the Sussex and SWIRE or similar survey teams astronomical research community to the potential of emerging Virtual Observatory capabilities in supporting scientific research.

Registration

To register, please send an email Nic Walton (naw@ast.cam.ac.uk), copied to Seb Oliver (s.oliver@sussex.ac.uk).

If you have any special requirements (e.g. dietary), please note this in your email.

Programme and Supporting Material

The workshop agenda is as follows:

Attendees

• Heather Campbell
• Robert Cumberland
• Payam Davoodi
• Pratika Dayal
• Celine Eminian
• Mark Frost
• Diana Hanbury
• Bruno Henriques
• Mark Hosmer
• Jon Loveday
• Harpreet Singh Marwaha
• Nicola Mehtens
• Seb Oliver
• Natalie Onyett (Thur, Fri)
• Kathy Romer
• Rich Savage
• Anthony Smith
• Peter Thomas (Visiting only, Weds)
• Laura Valkonen
• Ian Waddington
• Lingyu Wang (Imperial)

• SilviaDalla (Thur)
• EduardoGonzalez
• PhilNicolson (Thur, Fri)
• KeithNoddle
• AnitaRichards (Weds, Thur)
• JonathanTedds (Weds pm, Thur, Fri)
• NoelWinstanley (Weds pm, Thur, Fri)
• NicholasWalton (Thur, Fri)

Work Groups

We'll organise the attendees into 3 workgroups of 5-6 people each. Each work group will be supported by an Astrogrid scientist and a developer. The idea is that during the weds each group will decide on a science problem that they would like to work on during the next couple of days. The Fri lunch/afternoon sessions will then give each workgroup a chance to demonstarte what they have achieved!

Seb will make the workgroup assignments - check this page on Monday!

Work Group materials will be kept in the following wiki pages:

• AgSussexFeb06GroupA
• AgSussexFeb06GroupB
• AgSussexFeb06GroupC

Pre-Workshop checklist

If possible, those with access to laptop computers should aim to bring those, and ensure that you have the following installed:

• Install Java JDK 1.4 DOWNLOAD or 1.5 DOWNLOAD
• Install Python (2.4 preferred) Note 1: on Linux systems it might be possible to install a binary kit using your distros package management system (rpm, yum, apt-get, urpmi etc) Note 2: OS X probably has the above installed by default - check first

In principle, AstroGrid sowftware will work with Linux, XP or Mac OSX

We'll be setting up a wiki username account for all attendees before the meeting, you'll get an email with password. (change password by going to http://wiki.astrogrid.org/bin/view/TWiki/ChangePassword).

We'll also be giving all attendees an astrogrid user account - again details via email. We encourage all to have a quick try at entering the system - try launching the workbench from http://software.astrogrid.org/userdocs/workbench.html

Help pages for using AstroGrid are at http://software.astrogrid.org/userdocs/index.html

Networking

All users with their own laptops will be able to connect to the Sussex network via ethernet during the workgroup sessions. There may be possibility to use a number of desktop machines for those without laptops.

If you are using wireless you will need access to the Romaing Network which requires the Wireless WEP Key and proxies set as here http://www.sussex.ac.uk/its/help/guides/cache.shtml.

Refreshments and Lunches

Coffee and Lunch will be provided to all attendees of the workshop.

Glossary:

A few buzzwords you might hear during the workshop ...

• VOQL: Virtual Observatory Query Language
• VOTable: a tabular data exchange standard
• DAL: Data Access Layer
• SIA: Simple Image Access
• SSA: Simple Spectral Access
• UCD: Uniform Content Descriptor

Find lots more at http://www.ivoa.net !

Post Workshop Support

It is anticipated that there will be a limited amount of support available after the workshop for those participants wishing to further develop the work that they have created during the workshop. Details at AgSussexWorkshopFeb06PostMeet

Location

The meeting will be held atthe University of Sussex in Brighton. Details of how to get there are at http://www.sussex.ac.uk/visitors. On arrival follow the signs to Bramber House - see map in http://www.sussex.ac.uk/about/images/campusmap/map.pdf. The workshop will be held in the Conference Centre located on the top floor, level 3. The workshop will be in rooms 3-4.

Accommodation

Attendees will need to arrange their own accommodation - http://www.sussex.ac.uk/about/hotels lists local possibilities.

Workshop Dinner

We will arrange a dinner on the thursday, 2nd February at The Strand restaurant. This will be provided by AstroGrid, all welcome.

Getting Home

We'll organise a taxi booking sheet Friday morning for those of you requiring taxis to Brighton station.

Contact Details

Local organiser is Seb Oliver (s.oliver at sussex.ac.uk) at the University of Sussex.

Seb Oliver and NicholasWalton

-- -- NicholasWalton - 26 Jan 2006

• swire.wf: SWIRE Query Workflow