The International Workshop for Astronomy e.V. (IWA e.V.) wishes to thank the people, organisations, institutes and companies who supported the IAYC 2007:
The International Astronomical Youth Camp (IAYC) is a
three-week long summer camp aiming to promote knowledge on
astronomy and related sciences in a unique international
atmosphere. Every year the IAYC takes place somewhere in
Europe. About seventy people from many different countries
live together for three weeks. They are between 16 and 24
years old and share a common interest: astronomy.
The IAYC is different from most astronomical camps for two
reasons: the international character and the fact that you
carry out your own small research project. You will not just
accept facts, but you will discover them yourself, or together
with people with whom you will work together. The IAYC is
therefore not like staying in a hotel and following a
summer school or an astronomy course.
Every participant, with his or her own cultural background,
forms an important piece in the complex puzzle of IAYC camp
life. As a participant, the success of the camp depends on
your contribution.
IWA e.V. - The organisation behind IAYC
The IAYCs are organised by an international team of
students and young scientists. They are all volunteers who
started as participants in the IAYC and were then asked to
join IWA, the association that has been organising these camps
for almost four decades now. It must be stressed that we do
not have any commercial interest in organising the
IAYCs. However, IWA, the organisation behind the IAYC has a
great deal of experience in organising these camps.
Participants in the IAYC
To participate in the IAYC you must be between 16 and 24
years old. You also must be able to communicate in English. As
we are all coming from different countries, English is the
common camp language. Therefore, you have to speak English not
only during the activities in the working groups and the
non-astronomical programme, but throughout the entire
camp. The aim of this is also to discourage people from the
same country or language group to spend all their time
together. IAYC offers you a great opportunity to make friends
from other countries and it would be a pity to waste that
opportunity. You should not worry though, as your English does
not need to be perfect. But you should be able to have a
normal conversation without a dictionary.
The IAYC is an astronomy camp, therefore it should be clear
that you should be interested in science in general, and
astronomy in particular. You have to be willing to carry out a
project autonomously, though there is always your leader for
support. We think that your financial background should not be
a criterion for participating in the IAYC. If you cannot come
to the IAYC for financial reasons (for instance in case of a
non-convertible currency), then contact us about our grant
programme by writing an email to info@iayc.org.
About the IAYC 2008
The International Astronomical Youth Camp (IAYC) 2008 will
take place in Sayda, located in the East South-Eastern part of
Germany. The camp house is located about 3 km outside the
small city of Sayda in the Saxonian part of the Ore
Mountains. It lies approximately 580 m above sea level. The
climate is of a semi-continental type. The average temperature
for July is 10-15°C. The yearly precipitation sum reaches
750-1500 mm. The bigger german cities close to the region are
Dresden (50 km), Leipzig (100 km), Chemnitz (40 km) and
Freiberg (25 km). The Czech border is really close, and lies
only 10 km from the camp site. The closer cities on the Czech
side of the border are Chomutov (30 km), Most (30 km), Teplice
(30 km) and Litvinov (20 km).
The camp house is a German youth hostel and offers plenty
of space. There are bedrooms with up to six beds, a dining
room for the whole group, a party room and rooms for the
working groups. There is a building and a field that can be
used for the Non-Astronomical Program (NAP). Sports facilities
like a basketball court are available. A small fountain will
be waiting for us filled with water. The observation field is
a short walk away from the camp house. No light pollution
should disturb our observations.
The IAYC day starts at noon (12:00) with breakfast to allow
you to catch enough sleep after long observation nights. After
breakfast, the first of two daily working group sessions is
held. Each working group session lasts two hours. During
working group session, you will work on a project that you
choose at the beginning of the camp. Every working group is
based around a different topic and has seven to eight
participants and a leader who is responsible for the
group. Each member of the group works on a project, either
alone or in study groups of two or three.
You or your study group will have to work independently on
your project, so you will have to read about it, you will have
to explain things to each other, you will have to do necessary
observations, calculations, measurements ... in short, you
should not expect a school-like situation where a teacher
tells you everything and you have to blindly believe it. Don't
worry that this might be too difficult for you. In every
working group you will find something for all levels, and your
working group leader will help you if you encounter
problems. At the end of the camp, everybody has to write a
report about the work done in the camp. All these reports are
collected and compiled into a book which will be sent to you
after the camp. This makes a nice souvenir and is a good way
to learn about everybody's projects. The working groups
available in IAYC 2008 will be introduced later in this
brochure by their leaders.
After the first working group session you have some free
time. Free time allows you to participate in sport activities
and workshops which are organised by participants who want to
teach something to the group. You can also develop photos or
learn how to do it, you can sing with your friends, take a
walk... you choose! If you feel like organising something
yourself with other participants, that's great! Free time ends
with lunch at half past five in the afternoon.
Doing astronomy for three weeks without anything else
drives you nuts. That's why, every day after dinner, there is
an anything-but-astronomy activity with the entire
group. That is the Non-Astronomical Program or NAP. There will
be group games, singing evenings, discussions and much
more. Further on in this booklet the NAP leader will explain
the plans he has in mind. After NAP, at ten o'clock in the
evening, the second daily working group session takes place. A
light meal at midnight ends this evening working group
session. If the sky is clear, you will have the opportunity to
observe afterwards.
Although most days during the camp are like the previously
described one, there are a few special events. One day,
usually during the first week of camp, is reserved completely
for a special programme: the excursion day. Another day later
in the camp is a free day which you can spend almost any way
you want. You could go on a trip with some IAYC friends, catch
up some sleep, go hiking...
Observations will mainly be focused on getting results for
your projects rather than gathering observational data that
can't be used in the camp. Photographs that are taken at night
can be developed in the camp darkroom. The darkroom is set up
with material to adequately develop black and white films and
print black and white photos. Aside from or as a part of your
project you can learn all about darkroom techniques during the
camp. Of course there will be time for stargazing as a tourist
too, for the fun of seeing the marvels of our universe. If
you're not experienced in observing you can learn from the
leaders and other participants. For the people who have no
feeling yet with observations and telescopes, there will be an
introduction in observational techniques and usage of
telescopes at the beginning of the camp.
The participation fee
The participation fee for the IAYC 2008 will be 550 Euro. You
will have to transfer this fee after you have received a
confirmation of your acceptance. People having serious
problems paying this participation fee can apply for a
grant. If our financial support is necessary for you to
attend the camp, then contact Ana on the address below or
write an email to
in order to obtain the application form for our limited grant
programme.
Choosing your group
On the following pages you can find the abstracts of the
working groups offered in the IAYC 2008. On the application
form you have to indicate in which working group you want to
participate. At the end of the working group overviews, the
leaders who are not responsible for a working group will also
introduce themselves.
ABC - Amazing Basics of Cosmos
An English dictionary defines the "ABC" of a subject as the
parts of it that you have to learn first because they are most
important and basic. So in this amazing working group we'll
explore all about the basic and practical astronomy! Don't be
fooled by the name, there'll be challenging projects for any
level of astronomical knowledge. It doesn't matter if you're
new to the magnificent sky, starting to discover treasures of
the Universe. Or if you're already an expert eager to occupy
your curious mind in a wide variety of astronomical topics and
improve your practical skills while having lots of fun on the
way.
First, we'll want to feel at home under the starry sky, so we'll
learn about constellations and how to make our nights outside the
most enjoyable. We'll learn about the Messier objects (galaxies,
nebulae, star clusters…), and we'll try to hunt down as many as
possible! Feeling artistic? You can draw them too. We'll explore the
stars that are changing their brightness and we'll figure out
whether they're a close couple or pulsating beasts… We'll
travel almost 400 years in the past and experience how Galileo felt
when he first pointed the telescope to the sky and discovered the
satellites of Jupiter, phases of Venus, Moon craters and true nature
of the Milky Way, phenomena which changed the human perception of
the Universe forever!
We'll be busy during the day too exploring sun spots or
atmospherical phenomena. Prefer building an experiment? Figure out
why the Moon looks so much bigger on the horizon! Want a practical
challenge? Build a model of the solar System... in scale! There's no
better way of discovering the size of our Solar System then having
to walk all the way to Pluto in a hot summer day! These are only
some of the ideas I have. If you have more, contact me!
We'll stargaze, observe, measure, read, explore and discover …
But this is by far not all we'll do together. There'll also be
plenty of time for fun, discussions about Life, Universe and
Everything, strong coffee, good music and magical parties. This
group just might be the perfect choice for you! Bring an open mind
and your biggest smile; I promise you one unforgettable summer in
ABC!
Can't wait to feel the group cohesion! :-) Anci
What can IAYC bring you? Knowledge and friends are obvious
but I found my sister here! Meet Ana (or Anci, if you prefer
the cute form), Serbian-Montenegrian, at the moment
hard-working on her diploma research in psychology in
Belgrade, but also a passionate amateur astronomer with whom
you can curse every single cloud in the sky. And one of the
nicest persons you'll ever meet. It really doesn't matter if
you want to brag about how well your project is going or tell
her about your personal problems for the googolth time, she'll
always be there to laugh or advice you, make your problems
smaller and your smile wider. Enter her working group and
become part of three-week long party with an amazing group
cohesion and such an athomsphere that the end of WG session
will make you sad even when the midnightmeal follows just in a
few minutes. All in all, this girl is one of those who will
make the three weeks pass around so fast that you'll wonder if
the time dilatation has been completely understood.
ACA - Ancient Civilizations and Astronomy
The sight of a dark night sky is simply breathtaking. In the modern
world we usually do not have time to notice the wonders above our
heads, but believe me, for people in the remote past, the panoply of
thousands of starts was a familiar view. The results of celestial
observation in antiquity seem extraordinary if we take into account
that they were obtained with a naked eye. When no scientific
explanations were available there was space for religion and
myths.
If you are an eager observer who is not afraid of historical
accounts, you could research how ancient civilizations of China,
Inca and Maya perceived the sky and what cosmology they
developed. Or have you ever wondered how an ancient chap called
Aristarchus of Samos managed to calculate the sizes of the Sun and
Moon, as well as their distances from the Earth? Or let's take
another: Hipparchus of Nicea who found another shrewd method and
again arrived at a reasonable approximation of the distance to the
Moon. If they could do all that with practically no equipment
whatsoever, why couldn't you?
Your project might also be to compare the navigational skills of
Chinese, Scandinavians, Polynesians and Greeks to answer the
ultimate question of who were the best celestial navigators of all
times! Those of you with some technical skills can try to build some
rustic astronomical equipment and try to use it in practice. Build
your own quadrant, cross-staff and a sundial. You will see how
bloody precise those ancient people must have been to obtain their
results! For less skilled and more theoretically oriented; why not
try to discover the mathematics of sundials? You will have a chance
explore the so called analemma and learn about the equation of
time.
In short, we will be tracking the Sun, the
Mood and planets, building pendulums, drawing the surface of
the Moon and loads of other fun stuff to repeat the
discoveries of over four thousands years. In three
weeks! Juta
The future founder of first Foundation as predicted by the
great prophet Isaac Asimov, is on the picture right in front
of you. Yes, this girl, who originates from Poland, will be
once very famous. She is taking it seriously and preparing for
it where else than in Aberdeen, Scotland. Studying sociology
and math should make the best starting point for her. Even
more, she already has highly developed leadership abilities,
which she obtained in IAYC (she hasn't missed camp since 2003)
and in work in a student organization where she is high rank
officer (vice-president). But don't panic, if you don't feel
like talking about science 24/7, this beautiful, blue-eyed
girl is a true impersonation of renaissance ideals.Find
something nasty about this girl and you will be awarded by
either IAYCNC (IAYC nastiness committee) or her future bright
future leaders. Bow, before your bright future leader Juta!
APS - AstroPhotography Squad
Summer 2008, Sayda, Germany. Everyone is sitting ultimately relaxed
in the working group room. While participants in other working
groups are reading or working hard on calculations and simulations,
the APS working group room is filled with fully chilled out
people. But hey, isn't this supposed to be an astronomy camp? What's
wrong with these participants? Then, clear sky is reported. Ten
seconds later... a car with telescopes, cameras and other essentials
is racing up to the observation field. Everyone and everything that
didn't fit in the car has become a line of flash lights in the
forest between the camp house and the observation field. Other
participants are left behind, looking out their working group
windows, amazed by so much action in so little time.
In APS our main goals are to observe and record the beauties of the
night sky. Think of photography and developing your pictures in the
darkroom, working with a CCD camera or simply drawing what you
see. Think of planets - we are lucky with Jupiter this summer -,
Messier objects or complete constellations. It's up to you. Do you
want to get more technical? Digitally enhance CCD images or learn
sophisticated dark room techniques. Or calculate the perfect
exposure time and check if it is correct (by taking some
pictures). The moons of Jupiter can be a great topic for a
project. Catalogue how they move during 3 weeks. At the end of the
camp the four bright moons will all be on one side of the planet. It
should also be possible to take a picture of the planetoid
Parthenope! On August 6th it will be ‘close' to earth. Of course
there will be the partial solar eclipse on August 1st. You can try
to see and/or make images of the lunar craters and mountains against
the solar background.
These are only some of the ideas I have in mind - but don't feel
limited by them! If you have one that might fit - we'll make it
happen! Just e-mail me!
Projects will be possible for all levels: from beginner to hardcore
amateur astronomer. But what happens if it's cloudy? There will
always be something to do related to your project. For example:
knitting warm socks. It can be cold on the observation field! Of
course, a cloudy sky is also the perfect excuse for a lazy evening:
getting to know each other over a good glass of wine while enjoying
good music. Or, obviously, for a working group party... Bring your
best mood and enthusiasm and we will have a fantastic 3 weeks.
See you on the observation field! Erik
When you meet Erik for the first time you soon know with
whom you are dealing. This 25 year old guy, born in the
outskirts of The Netherlands, is finishing his master in
Physics by redefining the concept of time.While teaching 12 to
15 year olds mathematics he loves cycling, playing football
and listening to music. A good book is never far away and a
flag of PSV neither. Although these just reflect a small part
of his life, it is important to know that Erik found the
perfect balance between relaxing and taking action. Since his
first IAYC in 2000, Erik has always been there for creating a
good atmosphere, great parties and having fantastic ideas.
Although there is much more to tell, I don't have more
space. But if you really want to know him, go to him, offer
him a beer and you will have just opened the portal to great
conversations, fantastic parties and the ultimate observation
night.
AUA - Audible Universe Astronomy
Forget about optics! Ban the basics! Let's look for something
we cannot see. There is a whole new universe waiting for you. You
might be used to think of astronomy just in the means of optical
astronomy, but light is "just" one part of the electromagnetic
spectrum. This year we will try to shift to the invisible, but
audible universe. Prepare to sharpen your senses. Forget about
visual information and prepare your ears for some new
experience. Forget about digital and prepare for analog. We will
do time traveling, back to the time of the birth of radio
astronomy, and maybe even further...
In this group we will try to build a radio telescope and with
it we will try to listen to the beautiful sounds of our solar
system. We will listen to the thoughts of the Sun and also to what
Jupiter thinks about Sun's ideas. We will listen to the every
night gossip of meteors and the whisper of cosmic microwave
background. Along this there is some data reduction waiting for
us. You will learn the basics of how to get rid of unimportant
data and how to interpret the important data.
Just imagine that you are listening to some "noise" and then
you suddenly hear something new, a clear artificially crafted
signal... Are extraterrestrials speaking to you? Or is someone
making fun of you? I think you will be able to tell the difference
for sure! Don't be scared if you managed to reach this part of the
text. I can assure you that AUA will be about good atmosphere,
good music and loads of fun. So pack your good mood and music and
join the club, because in AUA you are obliged to have fun and
smile as much as possible.
Cheers! Martin
You look at the picture and ask yourself - is that Brad Pitt
they got to supervise me? We reply - no. He's a better version
of him. Although Martin claims to be Slovak his true national
identity remains a puzzle – he dances salsa like a born
Brazilian, shares passion for tea of a true Englishman and is
the only person ever existing who is capable of eating a proper
Weisswurst meal and ask for more (that would make him Bavarian I
presume?).
Most recently spirits of traveller awaken in him and he left Slovakia
to start his PhD on simulating clusters of galaxies in
Innsbruck, Austria. If you ask me to express his enthusiasm
about science I'd tell you that Martin likes radio astronomy
like a monkey likes banana bread, and he can't wait to get his
fangs into building a radio antenna during the camp. Mind - this
guy can go much into detail with physics but stay a great laugh
in the same time!
BUG - Bacterias and larger beeings Unknown or undiscovered
in our or other Galaxies
Have you ever looked up to the sky and asked yourself if there is
any other life out there? On other planets in our solar system or on
planets in other other solar systems or even in other galaxies? Have
you ever wondered how such life would look like, how they
communicate? And more importantly: would they communicate with us
and will we ever meet them?
Above are only a few of the questions we would like to ask (and try
to answer) in BUG. You can work on exoplanets or habitable zones
around stars. You can try to find a definition for what life is or
under which exotic conditions it can exist. You could also work on a
way to travel all the way to earth-like planets or on a way to make
closer planets more earth like. You can also work on a way to
communicate with extraterrestrials or to detect their communication
efforts. Which language would we use anyway? Of course your own
ideas are also welcome. Maybe in the end we will be able to come up
with a complete concept on how to find, contact and visit
extraterrestrial life.
Of course BUG is not all about working. We will have plenty of time
to get to know each other while drinking tea or coffee, munching
sweets and talking about whatever comes to our mind. And we also
don't want to miss out on the beautiful sky over Sayda. Even though
we probably won't be able to gather our observational data
ourselves, we will make use of the existing telescopes and the
expertise of the observational working groups to have a look at what
or who is out there.
So. I am looking forward to see you in Sayda. Aga
Let me present you the widest variety of hair-do and
-color in this years leader team: Aga (sorry, still didnt
manage to pronounce "Agnieszka" in a close-to-correct version,
but i think thats fine). I am one of those who learned that
you really don't have to be afraid of shiny red hair unless
you try to destroy the spiky part of it though its just so
tempting. A first version of this hair-do was seen on this
planet in late 1985, still not yet in IAYC that only happened
in 2003. From that time on she hardly missed any camp. Not
even after beeing attacked by several of these nice little
animals inhabiting the walls in a specific camp house, but
thats propably a story you want to hear from herself ;-) If
you didn't meet Aga somewhere in the physics departement in
Heidelberg (Germany) you'll be happy to see her at the IAYC
2008.
EGS - Extragalactic Stuff
In the naked-eye sky most of the visual objects are within our
Galaxy. As glimmering shiny little dots, the stars surround us. A
person using a normal binocular, or an individual blessed with a
better eyesight, can already spot several blurry patches: nebulae,
clusters and ... yes, other galaxies. One look at a Hubble Deep
Field image makes us wonder if there is any barrier for these spiral
and elliptical galaxies where they disappear. They namely group into
larger structures, galaxy clusters, superclusters.
In this working group we will deal with, learn about and be
interested in objects like galaxies, galaxy clusters or
quasars. After three weeks of this camp, computer simulations and
data processing will be a piece of cake for you. A piece of cake
similar to those with small chocolate pieces we will consume so much
during working time. Are you brave enough to challenge Hubble's
original measurements? Or curious to see if the velocity
distribution of galaxies is much different from those calculated
from quasars using the Sloan Digital Sky Survey? If your pulse level
is increasing reading these questions, then I strongly advise you to
apply to EGS! Or don't drink so much coffee while reading this.
When the night falls we can go to nearby fields to observe the very
objects seen on our screens. And with an everlasting supply of
cookies and tea we will fuel our bodies to push our intellectual
capabilities to their limit.
Cheers! Balazs
Balazs is one of those people who know what they are doing
with their computer (and hey, his XWindows is überkewl!). But
believe me when I say: he surely isn't boring about this!
Currently looking for a PhD position to continue his career in
astrophysics, this genius of Hungarian descent is a master of
disaster, but only in case he instructs the simulations he
programs to end up in the aforementioned chaos! In his working
group, you can expect anything else but that. He will give you
the one or other hard brainteaser for sure, and he will not
simply give you the solution to it, this being the assertion
that you won't be bored during the camp. If you will, on the
other hand, really need some relaxation for your brain, you
will surely like this guy's humor, being at least as black as
the British one, if not darker, always giving you a good
laugh. So let me conclude: You will not regret to have chosen
this group!
.... the working group that will hopefully be yours in IAYC
2008. We will be the ones with a fancy mission: images! IMG will
deal with those and everything that is connected to them: processing
images, presenting them... the digital way. Here, we are not talking
about the darkroom with its smelly liquids, fiddling with films in
the darkness, only to realize that our images suck because the film
was too old. Here, we talk about the real deal. Nice! Clean!
Digital! If we don't like our results, we press CTRL-Z, have an
undo, and again we go ...
In this group, I would like to try different things with
you. Taking astropictures with a digital camera, for
instance. Testing methods to improve these pictures. Making a
panorama picture of the night sky. Presenting your ideas in a fancy
way. A QT panorama? No problem. Flash movie? Cool! Making an
interactive web application of the night sky? Here we go. And
besides, getting to know something about histograms, filters,
darkframes, alpha channels... What you will have done in the end is
only limited by your imagination. And our equipment ;)
I hope to see you in IMG! Seb.
While some people try to be cool by any means, others are, simply by their nature. Seb is one of the latter kind of people. This skilled individual is not only an astonishing designer and a geologist when holding a hammer, he can also steer clear on the stormy waters of computer simulations, with a skaters heart beneath the surface.
He has been twice the NAP leader during his long history with IAYC,
and now he is finally back, leading a working group towards
enlightenment. In his company you will find good music, his zillion
gadgets and interesting projects. He will leave none of your
questions unanswered, but will give you new ideas to think about,
and after working group time you will surely find a place to relax.
SYCO - Spacy Compact Objects
When you keenly observe the heavens, you are not looking to a
vast and unchanged panoply, but a cycle of life that embraces
our own. Stars are born in primordial clouds of diffuse gases,
leading to an active and ever-changing life for millions of
years as they synthesise their store of hydrogen into
ever-heavier elements. Then in their final stages, the star
collapses and dies. Their last gasp is an enormous explosion
which lights the sky for months as it disperses to the heavens
the very elements of which planets, and we ourselves are made.
Leaving behind the hot ashes of what was once a star.
So you read the above, and are think now "Okay ... nice
... but what has this to do with SYCO?" Well SYCO is all about
those ashes, or compact objects as we would call them. We will
combine beautiful mathematics, marvellous physics and a touch of
craziness to unravel the secrets of White dwarfs, black dwarfs,
neutron stars and black holes. Things like the Chandrasekhar
limit, equations of state and orbits around black holes are some
of the classic things you could do. But the real SYCO stuff
comes when you start wondering. Is the Chandrasekhar limit
actually real? How does a white dwarf becomes a black dwarf?
What do neutron stars and nuclei have in common? And more
importantly, what has Italian pasta to do with neutron stars?
All those things can be done here and much more (Magnetars,
supernovae, ...), and this in various ways. As you might have
seen already, a small notion of mathematics could be useful and
maybe you need to program something small. Well don't panic,
these tiny problems can be conquered during the camp and there
are lots of projects possible that don't need advanced
mathematics. And even if you don't want to calculate at all,
you can always describe the physics going on in such an
object.
Of course we will make SYCO a great working group. And this
not only by doing our projects, but also by doing our projects
while drinking tea, coffee and eating cookies. Or sometimes
just eating cookies while drinking tea, coffee or hot coco. And
not to forget, we might go nuts on a star party or some working
group parties. You'll see, it will be amazing!
See you all soon in SYCO. De Leute! Klaas
Throughout the years (2000-2006) Klaas has obtained more
nicknames than anyone in IAYC history. All of them are
somehow related to bizarre events occuring during one of his
7 camps. Ask him about the pseudonyms Dr Drice, Muscles from
Bruxelles or Ciccio and Klaas will treat you on stories
filled with explosions, car chases and other special effects
that make Michael Bay and Peter Jackson look like amateurs.
So who is the person behind all these AKA's? Klaas was born
in Loppem, a selfproclaimed Belgian metropol near beautiful
Brugge. He still lives there, but this has not prevented his
exceptional sense of humor from becoming famous (and
notorious) well beyond the Belgian borders. Klaas is
currently on a neverending quest to finish his PhD in
nuclear astrophysics. When not working on his PhD he is
either drinking Belgian beer in "De Garre" or travelling the
world. One of his favourite destinations is Switzerland, and
it's not for the cheese or chocolate...
General Coordination
After reading all those amazing working groups you might wonder
what "General Coordination" is. Well, the title sounds too boring to
be a working group. Indeed that is correct as it is not a working
group though there might be some practical applications of chaos
theory. But it is definitely not going to be boring cause there is a
lot of work to be done by the general coordinator: before the camp,
i am responsible for the planing ("What do we do in this IAYC?"),
logistics ("How do we get seventy people from all around the world
to the amazing city of Sayda?") and organization ("I don't have any
socks left, is there a washing machine?") of the camp by having
contact with the camp house, the local authorities and of course our
leader team. Also a contract needs to be signed, visa invitations
need to be send out, an excursion needs to be planed ("Will there
really be a cave in Sayda? Or a BMW factory? Or once in a while
something completely different?").
Unfortunately I won't be just laying in the grass staring at the
stars three weeks long. During the camp I am the person to contact
if you need to see the doctor because you caught a cold during a
long night of observation, want to know what to do on free day,
complain about the paprica in your soup, need special equipment for
your project: dry ice (erm no, bad experience there), cable for your
telescope (erm no, don't fix the telescope just during the camp,
tried that before) a second sock cause you just brought one (yes
good, we can do that)... In short: if there is any trouble before or
during the camp, I am the guy you should contact.
I will be extremely happy to see you next summer in Sayda, yes you reading this here right now :-) Sebastian
Having missed out only a single camp since 2000, he is
what you can call a true and loyal IAYC-soul. This year he
has advanced to the General Coodinator, so we will see him
more stressed than ever. Seb studies Electrical Engineering
in Zürich and spends his free time playing the
saxophone, sailing or taking pictures. In fact, there is the
rumour that his eyes are photographic lenses and that he
only has to blink to take a picture. Still he keeps carrying
a camera around for show. In IAYC you have to add a computer
(with Age of Empires installed) to his equipment. When he is
not playing he will be happy to answer all questions you
might have concerning computers, the camp, the free day, the
excursion day, and anything else you might think of. You
don't have any questions? Then just enjoy a nice chat with
him.
Non-Astronomical Program
Is there something more amazing, breathtaking and exciting than
science in human's life? Obviously not, but try telling this to
someone who's computer crashed just a while ago because his
simulation program missed a coma on the 3342nd line of his/her
code. His problem indeed, but there are other people who have just
carried a hundred kilograms of telescopes to the observation field
just to see the clouds gathering. In short, nature has its ways to
keep people from work and one of them is driving you insane when you
are, at least in its opinion, overdoing it.
So what do we do in order not to turn the camp house into an
asylum? Correct, we will be faster than nature. This will allow us,
at least to some degree, to control the level of insanity and, which
is essential, always find a way back to normality, at least the IAYC
normality! Welcome to the NAP, the only part of the day when you are
forbidden to work or even think about your project.
These approximately two hours a day will be filled with games (both
physical and intellectual), getting to know each other by name,
culture and so on (as goes i.e. for the National Evenings where you
will be persuading the people that YOUR nation's girls are the
prettiest in the world). We will be making art together (during the
singing evening where you will discover what is that thing with
"IAYC songbook" written on it good for, and then later during the
poetry and performance evening when you can show off with your
violin or guitar mastery, reveal a hidden actor in you or finally
tell a love poem to the girl you've had a crush on since the first
day). We will be producing high-end marvels of modern engineering
(or at least as advanced as the paper-sticks-sticky-tape standards
of the construction game will allow us)... and many many, more
things.
I will be the guy in charge of organising all this as well as the
one whose face will be the first thing you see after being woken up
with this question in your head "Why is there a weirdo in my room
singing a song?". You can come to me if you want to play football or
have a hide-and-seek championship, maybe even play
Dungeons&Dragons and I will do my best to make the thing
happen. Let's make it one hell of a three weeks, will you join?
I'll see you at the dark side of the moon Ondrej
You've seen the picture, this guy couldn't be ordinary
even if he tried! First thing you'll notice about Ondrej (soon
you'll get this unexplainable desire to call him Ondrik) is
his amazing blond hair and a charming slavik accent. Don't be
fooled by the age (he just turned 20) – this Slovak guy is
the best person to have endless philosophical discussions
with. If you dare to dig deeper (and you should!) you'll see
that the amazing things about him never end… You'll
discover the magic powers of his supportive hug, his talent
for writing fiction and understanding physics (which he
studies, in Brno), his ability to always make you smile and
his passion for stars, parties, anime and Pink Floyd! Feel
like having a private conversation over a glass or two of
wine? My lil'bro is the right person to come to… And
having him waking us up every morning will be pure pleasure,
I'm sure! :-)
Your application for the IAYC 2008
If you want to participate in the IAYC 2008, fill in the
application form that is provided with this booklet and send it to
us as soon as possible. If you are not yet 18 (21 in some countries)
your legal guardian (usually a parent) has to sign the form instead
of you.
We also ask you to include a recent picture of yourself. Make sure
you have read the terms and conditions on the reverse of the
application form carefully. Specifically, we point out that you are
obliged to have a valid health insurance. Once we decide to accept
your application you will have to send a copy of your insurance
certificate to us. The application form should be sent to:
Ana Brajovic
Svetog Save 20/1a
11000 Beograd
Serbia
You can apply any time before the IAYC
2008. But if you apply before April 15th 2008, you will be
informed about your acceptance in May 2008. Later applications
will be considered if places are still available. Before
receiving the letter of acceptance you can withdraw your
application without further obligation. If you are accepted as
a participant, you will have to submit the full participation
fee to the IAYC bank account. The most recent information is
always available on our homepage:
Well before the camp, you will receive a
Second Info brochure containing the contact details of other
participants and more detailed travel information, including
how to get to the camp house. If you have any questions that
are not answered by this booklet, do not hesitate to contact
one of us. We are looking forward to receiving your
application and to seeing you in Sayda.
Aga, Ana, Balazs, Erik, Juta, Klaas, Martin, Ondrej, Sebastian and Sebastian.
IWA e.V. is registered at the Amtsgericht Bochum,
Germany, Abteilung 14, under registration number VR
1743.
This info booklet was compiled by the leaders of the IAYC 2008.
