IIA - Kavalur Black holes workshop

Venue, Travel and accommodation details

The workshop will be held on the picturesque campus of the Vainu Bappu Observatory (VBO), a field station of the Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA). This campus is located near the village of Kavalur in the Javadi Hills in Tamil Nadu. Established in the 1970s, VBO hosts the 1m Carl Zeiss Telescope, the 1.3m J.C. Bhattacharya Telescope (JCBT) and the 2.3m Vainu Bappu Telescope (VBT).

Students who are selected for the Workshop will be provided free boarding/lodging at the Vainu Bappu Observatory at Kavalur. Accommodations for participants will be provided on a shared basis.

The nearest train stations are Vaniambadi and Jolarpettai, from where road transport to the Observatory will be arranged by IIA. Alternatively, the Observatory campus is about a three-and-a-half hour drive from the IIA-Bangalore campus, from where also, road transport to VBO will be arranged by IIA.

In the registration form the applicant must inform about their arrival station whether Vaniambadi or Jolarpettai or Bangalore. The arrival location mentioned in the form cannot be changed later due to logistic constraints. Note that the selected participant must arrive at IIA Bangalore Campus before 3pm on 14th June, Wednesday while the latest time to arrive at Vaniambadi or Jolarpettai station is 6 pm on  14th June, Wednesday.

A bus will arranged for VBO from IIA Bangalore campus on 14th June at 3pm. A bus will arranged for VBO from Vaniambadi and Jolarpettai station on 14th June at 6pm.

After the workshop, a bus will arranged to return to IIA Bangalore campus from VBO on 18th June starting at 9am. Also, local transport will be arranged on 18th June morning 9:00 am for Vaniambadi and Jolarpettai station.