Fear. No. Statistic.
Since 2019, we have been helping practitioners navigate the
perilous waters of statistics and Machine Learning.
Are you an astronomer seeking to advance your research by delving
deeper into statistics beyond the basics?
Do you possess some familiarity with Machine Learning (and possibly
employ certain algorithms) but are looking to demystify the
intricacies of this "black box"?
The Summer School for Astrostatistics suits the needs of those who
intend to "bridge the gap", and elevate their level from novice to
mid-advanced:
The school's approach is to guide students and early postdocs
in the use of the most common tools for the astronomer's daily
analysis tasks.
Each topic includes an introductory part along with hands-on
analysis of astronomical data, and poses particular emphasis on
the development of coding abilities which will serve as a quick
reference for everyday work.
Due to its very nature as a hands-on workshop, this event will
require on site attendance - we do not provide an option for
remote participation.
The Department will provide the computational facilities required
by the classes: the attendees do not need to use their personal
computers.
The school is heavily based on the Python programming language.
Therefore, it is expected that applicants possess the basic
knowledge necessary to read and understand the code.
Where
Department of Physics, University of Crete, Heraklion
When
Monday to Friday
16 - 20 June 2025
Registration
Registration opened on 10 February 2025.
Registration closed on 21 March 2025.
There are no registration fees.
We received a large volume of applications, and we are currently
working on creating the list of selected participants.
Applicants will receive a notification of acceptance/rejection
by the end of March, and will have to confirm their attendance no
later than 14 April.
After that date, any unconfirmed slot will be automatically
attributed to applicants on the waiting list.
Topics
Classical & Bayesian Statistics
Bayesian Optimization
Deep Learning
Gaussian Processes
Markov Chain Monte Carlo
Simulation Based Inference
Machine Learning Practices
Clustering
Classification & Regression
GPU Parallelization
School Schedule
To be disclosed.
Instructors
Teaching Body
Dr. Paolo Bonfini
Alma Sistemi
Dr. Maria Koutoulaki
University of Leeds
Dr. Grigoris Maravelias
PeriAstron & FORTH
Andreas Tersenov
FORTH & CEA Paris-Saclay
Giorgos Vernardos
City Unversity of New York & AMNH
Teaching Assistants
| Person | Academic status | Institute |
|---|---|---|
| Avinash Kumar | PhD candidate | Institute of Astrophysics - FORTH |
| Charalampos Daoutis | PhD candidate | Institute of Astrophysics - FORTH |
Have you attended previous editions of the School? Would you like to be a TA? Contact us!
School Venue
The school is hosted by the Department of Physics of the University of Crete, which will provide the computational facilities required by the classes.
Department of Physics, University of Crete, Heraklion
Directions
The Department is about 8 km from the center of Heraklion.
There is a regular bus service from/to the city port (bus #20) or
or airport (bus #11) to the University (direction Panepistimio / PAGNH).
The municipality of Heraklion also provides an oline tool to keep
track of the timetable and location of the buses
(Iraklio Urban Buses),
which is also available as mobile app.
To reach the University on the direct bus line from the city center it
is neccessary the "blue" ticket, costing 1.60€.
Students enrolled in Greek universities might use the discounted
"grey" ticket, but they must be ready to present a valid student card
upon onbarding.
Notice that bus tickets are valid for an individual ride,
meaning that if your route will require changing muliple buse lines,
you will need a new ticket for each of them.
A detailed map and driving directions are available from the
Department of Physics
visitor information.
Heraklion airport is linked to the major European cities via
Aegean Airlines,
Olympic Air,
easyJet,
Ryanair,
plus seasonal
charter flights.
Internal (Greece) flights are also provided by
Ellinair
and
Sky Express.
Daily ferry services from the Piraeus port in Athens are provided by
Minoan Lines,
Anek Lines, and
Blue Star Ferries.
These ferries reach the port of Heraklion in the early morning,
and leave from Heraklio in the late evening.
This schedule gives the participants more than aboundant time to reach
the School location in time for the first class, and to reach the port
after the conclusion of the School.
Code of Conduct
Participants attending the School agree to have read and commit to adhering to the Code of Conduct, available here.
Accommodation
June is considered touristic high season for Crete: attendees are advised to book their accommodation well in advance.
Finding a room
A variety of accommodations are rentable in the form of rooms or
private apartments, while a list of hotels can be found on the
visitor's page
of the Department of Physics of the University of Crete.
As of the beginning of February, several options below 50€/night are
still available through the common search engines, e.g.
Booking or
AirBnB, but
the ones located in the city center will probably be fully booked
soon.
Ideal locations to seek for an accommodation would be: 1) the old city
center within the Venetian walls, or 2) along the line of the city
bus route
#11 or #20 for ease of transportation.
Material
To be disclosed.
Legacy
This is the 5th iteration of a school hosted by the astronomy
group of the Department of Physics of the University of Crete.
The School has been founded in 2019 by Andrews J., Bonfini P.,
Kovlakas K., and Maravelias G.
Previous events
2024 Summer School for Astrostatistics in Crete, 8-12 July
2023 Summer School for Astrostatistics in Crete, 19-23 June
2022 Summer School for Astrostatistics in Crete, 11-15 July
2019 Summer School for Astrostatistics in Crete, 18-21 June
Want to acknowldege us?
<< We wish to thank the "Summer School for Astrostatistics in Crete" for providing training on the statistical methods adopted in this work. >>
... and become a member of the Astrostatistics in Crete paper community!Participants
So far, we have hosted ~120 students from 55 different institutes and 21 countries!
Sponsors
Organizing Committee
| Person | Institute | Contact |
|---|---|---|
| Konstantinos Kovlakas, Dr. | Institute of Space Sciences (CSIC, IEEC) | kovlakas (at) ice.csic.es |
| Carolina Casadio, Dr. | Institute of Astrophysics - FORTH | ccasadio (at) ia.forth.gr |
| Andreas Zezas, Prof. | University of Crete & Institute of Astrophysics - FORTH | azezas (at) ia.forth.gr |
Contact Us
For any info regarding the school