Overview of the project

Project leader: Jayant Murthy, jmurthy@yahoo.com
Project location: Copperbelt University, *Zambia*

Project description:
There is now a new paradigm in astronomy where data from large missions have become accessible to anyone with good computer hardware and access to the Internet. In many ways, this has opened up frontier science to those institutions and countries who have not been in the scientific mainstream. However, there is still a significant bar to entry in that the techniques to access and analyze the data can be opaque and poorly documented.

We propose to introduce astronomical data analysis into the university curriculum with the goal of enabling students and faculty to participate in new initiatives, including the upcoming SKA partnership of which Zambia is a partner. This is particularly relevant now that the Southern African Regional Node has been established at Copperbelt University and we expect that the modules and teaching techniques developed here will be applicable to the entire region.

The primary objective is to develop a pool of manpower who are comfortable with modern data analysis techniques and with the scientific interpretation of astronomical data. Astronomical data is at the forefront of the new emphasis on data analytics and the skills gained through this proposal will be applicable to many other fields of astronomy, science and to the business community.

About the project leader:
Professor Murthy is a senior professor at the Indian Institute of Astrophysics. Before, he worked at NASA/GSFC as a NAS/NRC Research Fellow and as a Research Scientist at Johns Hopkins University.