Wednesday Astronomy Colloquium at Durham University

The Wednesday Astronomy Colloquium is open to all interested members of the University, and we encourage all members of the astronomy community to attend. The colloquia are generally aimed at the level of an astronomy PhD student, and are intended to be accessible for an audience of both observational and computational astronomers. This talk series is currently organised by Sownak Bose, Leah Morabito, Jess Doppel and Matthew Temple.

Colloquium speaker visit schedule

• Lunch with PhD students and postdocs
• Astronomy Colloquium (2pm - 3pm)
• Open discussion with the speaker over tea/coffee and biscuits (3pm - 4pm)
• Dinner in town with the speaker, if staying overnight (evening)

Information for colloquium speakers

The audience of the astronomy colloquium usually includes PhD students, postdocs, and professors. The attendees have a range of expertise, and most will be non-experts in your research field. Depending on the topic of the colloquium, the audience will include astrophysicists, particle physicists, computer scientists, and instrument scientists. We encourage you to prepare a presentation that includes a broad introduction to your field before presenting any of the details of your research. Many of the logistical details of your visit are covered in this visitor pack. Further details are given below.

Travel: The astronomy secretary will assist you in booking travel to and from Durham. If you choose to purchase your own train or plane tickets, please bear in mind that we cannot refund first class tickets unless they are cheaper than standard class. If you have booked your own travel, please let us know your time of arrival and departure.

Accommodation: If you require overnight accommodation in Durham, the astronomy secretary will reserve you a room at the Victoria Inn in Hallgarth Street. The Victoria Inn is located at roughly number 33 on this map (note, the physics department is number 12 on this map). The hotel will invoice us directly so there is nothing to pay on arrival/departure.

Upon arrival into Durham: If you are flying into Newcastle Airport, we will pre-book you an airport shuttle. If you are arriving into Durham train station, there are taxis at the station. Alternatively, if you choose to walk to the hotel, it takes about 15 - 20 minutes and it is not flat! If you need to take a taxi to the train station shortly after your colloquium, please see reception well in advance (or email the astronomy secretary) and we will book a taxi for you.
Your visit will be hosted in the Ogden Centre West building (number 3A on this map) at the Lower Mountjoy site. When you arrive to the Ogden Centre West building, please make your way to the middle (first) floor. Please see the secretary (Shufei Rowe: room OCW104A), or the colloquium organiser, who will provide you with a key to a shared office. During your visit, we will arrange for you to meet with several members of the astronomy group. If there is anyone in particular that you would like to meet with, please let the colloquium organiser know in advance.

Internet Access: You can access the internet during your visit with TheCloud@Durham (the link offers details on how to connect to this service). If you have an eduroam account, you can also use this service.

Multi-use EDI room: Durham University Physics department has a dedicated room to support a wide variety of activities that fall under the broad umbrella of EDI. The room contains a selection of seating, a water dispenser and a phone (see images below). The room is private and lockable. If you wish to use this facility, please inform the colloquium organiser, who will provide you with a usage policy and further details.

Expenses: After your visit, you will be provided with a Visitor's Expense Claim Form. Please complete this form and attach receipts. You can choose to leave it with the colloquium organiser or the Astronomy secretary, or send it to the following address:

Astronomy Group Secretaries
Department of Physics
Durham University
Science Site
South Road
DURHAM, UK
DH1 3LE

Code of conduct:

The attendees and speakers of all astronomy talk series at Durham University are expected to abide by the following code of conduct. It is important to ensure that all talks are free from discrimination and harassment, and are inclusive for everyone.
We kindly ask you to follow these guidelines:

• Be kind to and respect others. Do not insult or put down others.
• Behave professionally. Harassment and sexist, racist, or exclusionary comments or jokes are not appropriate. Harassment includes sustained disruption of talks/questions, deliberate intimidation, and photography or recording of an individual without consent. It also includes offensive comments related to gender, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race or religion.
• All communication should be appropriate for a professional audience including people of many different backgrounds.

You can report a violation of this policy, in confidence, to the chair of the talk series, your line manager, the CEA/CfAI/ICC director, or the Head of Astronomy/Physics. If you have experienced or been accused of discrimination or harassment, Durham University HR offers support advisors that you can also contact for support.

Contact Information

Please contact the colloquium organiser for anything related to the colloquium and the astronomy secretary for logistic aspects of your visit.

Upcoming Scheduled Astronomy Colloquia

Archive of previous Astronomy Colloquia

You can access the archive of our previous colloquia, which, where available, and with the speaker's permission, includes slides of the presentations.

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