An Opportunity for AfAS Conference Participants
Are you a university teacher interested in including a hands-on scientific project in your undergraduate course? Then please join us at the Astrolab Workshop which will be held during the 2026 AfAS Annual Conference.
What is Astrolab?
In short, Astrolab is a project that supports courses with an observational astronomy activity, combining real-life observing experience with scientific analysis. Astrolab enables university teachers to include astronomical observations in their classes as an inspiring STEM-activity.
Astrolab is an enquiry-based astronomy lab, allowing students to obtain hand-on experience with real astronomical observations in a classroom setting. It follows the "Learn-by-doing" methodology: students learn based on experience and assimilating concepts through actions.
The use of Astrolab is free. Since observations can be carried out with remote/robotic telescopes, there is no need to invest in astronomical equipment or pay for travel to an observatory.
For more information, visit the Astrolab website: https://astrolab.astro4dev.org/.
Why this Workshop?
Given the Learn-by-doing character of Astrolab, and the autonomy of the students - they choose the object, plan the obsrvations, request the observations, analyze the received data sets, and draw conclusions - significant coaching, monitoring and assistance is therefore required from a Tutor. It is therefore important that the Tutors, i.e. the university teachers and their teaching assistants using Astrolab during their classes, are trained and supported in the use of the program.
We have an agreement with AfAS to offer an introduction to Astrolab during the AfAS Annual Conference in 2026.
Who Should Apply?
The workshop is targeted at university teachers with a background in astronomy, who would like to include astronomical observations in their classes as an inspiring STEM-activity.
When?
The workshop will be held during the AfAS Annual Conference in March 2026 in Botswana and will consist of three, 3 hour long sessions, on Monday - 23rd, Tuesday - 24th, and the final session on either Thursday - 26th or Friday - 27th.
Workshop Content
The Astrolab Workshop will give the participants an opportunity to carry out all the same steps that the students will perform during an Astrolab class. In other words, the participants will have a real, interactive observational astrophysics experience: from defining an observation to producing results.
Telescope time will be available to the workshop participants to observe eclipsing binaries. This telescope time is kindly made available through the Astrolab's partnership with the Las Cumbres Observatory (LCO) Global Sky Partners program.
During this workshop the participants will work in small groups under the guidance and help of Facilitators who have been teaching Astrolab to students.
Additional Support
The Astrolab project provides additional support for Tutors in the form of a tutorial and it provides guidance on Project Management applicable to Astrolab, all available from: https://astrolab.astro4dev.org/.
Application
The apply, please click on the following link to provide a concise motivation on why you wish to attend the workshop.
https://events.saao.ac.za/event/13/surveys/5
Please note that you must be registered for the 2026 AfAS Annual Conference.
The closing date for registration is 31st January 2026.
Attendance of the Astrolab Workshop includes:
- Full access to the manuals and software on the Astrolab website
- Telescope time on the Las Cumbres Observatory 40 cm telescopes during the workshop
- Experience guidance during the workshop
- Post-workshop assistnace for implementing of Astrolab at your home institute.
Practical Information
Participants will be required to bring their personal laptops. Pre-conference workshop materials will be made available in advance (tutorial, analysis software, e.t.c) to successful applicants.
Feedback and Follow-up
At the end of the workshop, we will collect your feedback, and we will ask you to think about information on your needs to successfully use Astrolab as a learning tool at your home institutes.
On the Astrolab Project
Astrolab has been developed with the support of the International Astronomical Union Office of Astronomy for development (IAU/OAD) by Jean-Pierre De Greve (Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium), Michèle Gerbaldi (Institut d’Astrophysique de Paris, France) and Nicole van der Bliek (NSF’s NOIRLab).
For further information you may contact: Michèle Gerbaldi (gerbaldi@iap.fr).