This webpage provides information for the 11th Heidelberg Summer School hosted by the International Max Planck Research School for Astronomy and Cosmic Physics at the University of Heidelberg (IMPRS-HD).

The topic of the Heidelberg Summer School 2016 is

Astrostatistics and data mining


Current School Information:

Organization:



IMPRS for Astronomy and Cosmic Physics at the University of Heidelberg:
Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics
Astronomisches Rechen-Institut, Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics, Landessternwarte Koenigstuhl, Heidelberg Institute for Theoretical Studies.


Scientific organizing committee: Coryn Bailer-Jones (MPIA, Heidelberg).

Lecturers:


Dan Foreman-Mackey (University of Washington)
Daniela Huppenkothen (New York University)
Robert Lupton (Princeton University)
Benjamin Wandelt (Institute for Astrophysics, Paris)
Background:




The International Max Planck Research School for Astronomy and Cosmic Physics at the University of Heidelberg (IMPRS-HD) has been established in 2005 as a graduate school for PhD studies.

In addition to the yearly course program for graduate studies in astronomy and astrophysics, IMPRS-HD is organizing an annual Summer School on up-to-date scientific topics. Internationally renowned scientists are invited as lecturers.

Graduate students and early postdocs are particularly welcome to participate.

When & where:

The 11th Heidelberg Summer School took place September 12-16, 2016 at the "Max-Planck-Haus" (Max Planck House) in Heidelberg, Germany.

Scope of the School:



Astronomical data sets are increasing in size and complexity. Extracting meaningful and reliable scientific results from these is a challenge, and relies on the application of appropriate and properly-understood methodology.
The school will look at the principles of inference and methods of astronomical data analysis and data mining. We will cover a range of numerical and statistical techniques and their application to different types of astronomical data.
The emphasis will be on practical methodology and solving real-world problems to address questions like: How do we deal with missing data, outliers, and selection effects? How should we compare models to data? How do we best combine different data sets? What is an efficient numerical approach? Topics that were covered include:
- time series analysis, including quasi-periodicity and stochastic processes
- low photon count data
- multi-dimensional interpolation
- image processing: optimal addition and subtraction
- non-Gaussian and correlated noise
- Bayesian model comparison vs. orthodox hypothesis testing
- MCMC methods
- hierarchical models
- parameter estimation in high dimensional problems
- novelty detection
- handling and visualizing large or multi-dimensional data sets

School format:




The school has four main components spread throughout the week


1. A series of structured lectures given by the four lecturers. 2. Computer-based exercises based on the topics given in the lectures. Some lecturers will integrate the exercise sessions into their lectures. 3. Presentations by other speakers on the application of astrostatistics to open scientific problems. 4. A social program to enable and encourage scientific interaction between students, lecturers and speakers. All students will need to bring a laptop with the necessary (free) software installed in advance.a Details will be circulated in due course.


Have a look at the program (final).

Registration:

















** Registration for the IMPRS Summer School closes at July 10 **

There is registration fee of 30 Euro, to be payed cash at the registration desk.

The number of participants is limited. We will not be able to accept all registrations applying for participation. Preference will be given to students or postdocs working in the field.

1) The first step to register is to fill out the registration form, then print it, sign it, and send it to us preferably as scanned pdf by email (however fax or postal mail is possible as well).
The DEADLINE for registration was JULY 10, 2016. We cannot accept registrations/applications anymore.

2) The second step is that we evaluate the incoming registrations. By July 18 at the latest you will be informed whether you may attend the IMPRS Summer School 2016.

3) You may then go ahead and take care of your accomodation (see below) by contacting the hotels mentioned below.

Please note that after having received this official confirmation and after having booked your accommodation, a cancellation will be difficult for us, and you will have to cover all costs which may incur.

We urge you to register and book your hotel as early as possible.

Registration is necessary in order to plan for the scientific and social program. Please tell us immediately if you have a problem with our registration schedule (e.g. if you have to apply for other funding).

Please understand that for student and postdoc applications we request for the signature of the supervising staff scientist on the application form.

Here is the list of participants. (as of September 5), who have so far been accepted to the school and have confirmed their participation.

Travel & arrival:
























The IMPRS Summer School will start Monday morning (September 12) and end on Friday afternoon (September 16).

PLANE arrivals:

Frankfurt/Main (FRA): The easiest is to take the (direct) airport bus to Heidelberg which runs about every hour. The bus is labeled "Lufthansa bus" but might be run by a different company. The bus leaves very close to the exit gate B at Frankfurt airport. This link provides further information for reservations. Note that a reservation (3 days in advance) is highly recommended as the "bus" is actually a van with 9 seats only. The bus arrives very close to downtown Heidelberg, about 200 m away from the central bus station "Bismarck-Platz". There are also frequent train connections from the airport via Mannheim to Heidelberg (main station).

Frankfurt/Hahn (HHN): Many low-cost airlines arrive at Frankfurt/Hahn. There is a direct airport bus to Heidelberg as well, however, arriving at Heidelberg main station. (Be aware that in spite of its name this airport is 125km from Frankfurt!).

TRAIN arrivals:

Trains will arrive at Heidelberg main station ("Hauptbahnhof"), about 500 m away from either downtown Heidelberg or the Max-Planck-Haus.
If you like to go downtown, you may take the tram (line 21) direction downtown Heidelberg (direction "Bismark-Platz" which is the central bus stop).


Hotel Central is located just 100m from the main station (one block across the main road towards the East). If you arrive by the Lufthansa bus, take a tram or a bus to the main station. The trams leave 100m from the Lufthansa bus stop.

Steffi's Hostel is located 100m north of main station. Enter the big shopping mall (outdoor equipment) north of the train station. Pass it to the north, leave it and go 50m to a big brick stone building (old factory). The hostel is located there.

To go to Max Planck House conference center, take the trams 24 or 21 from the main station direction "Handschuhsheim" to stop "Jahnstrasse", or tram 21 or bus 32 from the main bus stop at "Bismarckplatz" direction "Handschuhsheim" to stop "Jahnstrasse". From stop "Jahnstrasse" it is a 100m walk to the conference center (along the tram tracks).

The following schematic map shows the public transport system in Heidelberg (provided by the Heidelberg area public transportation system RNV, http://www.rnv-online.de/).

Please, check the google map to find your way from main station to the conference center at "Gerhart-Hauptmannstrasse 36". Note that the map is not on scale ...

Travel support:

Unfortunately, we cannot provide any travel support to participants.
Accomodations:






























A number of rooms have been block reserved from Saturday, September 10 - Saturday, September 27, 2016, at Hotel Central and at Steffi's Hostel. We ask you to take care of your accomodation as early as possible. Note that we have only reserved the accomodation, while booking and payment is up to you.

    (1) We have made a block reservation (deadline August 10, code "IMPRS summerschool") for double, 3-, 5-, and 10-bed rooms at

    Steffi's Hostel
    Alte Eppelheimer Str. 50
    69115 Heidelberg

    Tel : +49-(0)6221-7782772

    Email: steffi@hostelheidelberg.de

    Price: 20-30 Euro per person (plus 3 Euro breakfast).

The hostel is located 100m north of main station. Enter the big shopping mall (outdoor equipment) north of the train station. Pass it to the north, leave it and go 50m to a big brick stone building (old factory). The hostel is located there.

    (2) We have made a block reservation (deadline August 5, code "IMPRS Summer School") for double rooms (and probably also single rooms) at

    Hotel Central
    Kaiserstr. 75,
    69115 Heidelberg

    Tel: +49 6221 20641

    Email: info@hotel-heidelberg.info
    Further informations about the hotel can be found via HRS and Booking.com.

    Prices:
    79 Euro per double room (per night, breakfast 7 Euro) or
    59 Euro per single room (per night, breakfast 7 Euro).

The hotel is is located just 100m from the main station (one block across the main road towards the East). If you arrive by the Lufthansa bus, take a tram or a bus to the main station. The trams leave 100m from the Lufthansa bus stop.

Please make a reservation by August 1, 2016 at either Hotel Central or Steffi's Hostel, refering to the code mentioned above.
If you have booked your hotel, please notify Huong Witte-Nguy (witte @ mpia.de) about your booking by email.

Another option could be the Heidelberg Youth Hostel which offers beds in 2-4 bed rooms for about 25 Euro incl. breakfast. The bus lines 31 or 31 connect the Youth hostel with the stops "Bunsengymnasium" of Jahnstrasse" close to the conference center.

Please, check the google map to find your way from main station to the conference center at "Gerhart-Hauptmannstrasse 36". Note that the map is not on scale ...

See also our map for the area between the train station / IBIS hotel, Hotel Central, the Max Planck House and the downtown area, provided as gif file.

Transportation in Heidelberg:







Heidelberg has a fairly good public transportation system.


After arrival in Heidelberg you may buy a 3-day ticket at any ticket maschine. The ticket is valid for the day when you buy it and the following two days ("3-Tages-Karte", 14,80 Euro).

As alternative you may buy a multiple ticket for 5 rides ("Mehrfahrtenkarte", 11,00 Euro).

The following schematic map explains the public transport system in Heidelberg (provided by the Heidelberg area public transportation system RNV, http://www.rnv-online.de/).

The IBIS hotel and Steffi's Hostel are connected to the conference center (stops "Jahnstrasse" of Bunsengymnasium") by tram lines 21 and 24 and bus line 32. Each of the lines goes every then minutes during the week.

You may check google map to find your way from main station to the conference center at "Gerhart-Hauptmannstrasse 36".

See also a map for the area between the train station / IBIS hotel, Hotel Kohler, the Max Planck House and the downtown area, provided as pdf file.

Contact information:





For further information regarding the content and scientific objectives of the meeting, please contact:

Christian Fendt (IMPPS coordinator)
Phone: +49-(0)6221-528-387
E-mail: imprs-hd@mpia.de

For further information regarding logistics, please contact:

Huong Witte-Nguy (IMPRS assistant)
Phone: +49-(0)6221-528-417
Fax:     +49-(0)6221-528-339
E-mail: witte@mpia.de

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