Planets, planets everywhere!

Course Programme

10:00 What is a planet and why isn't Pluto one anymore?
11:15 Coffee
11:45 Exploring the solar system with satellites and robotic missions
13:00 Lunch
14:00 Exoplanets: Discovering planets beyond the Sun
15:15 Tea
15:30 Are we alone in the universe? The emerging science of astrobiology
16:45 Day school ends

Tutor(s)

Dr. Shukla holds a PhD in astrophysics from Vanderbilt University, USA. Her research areas include understanding the formation of young low-mass stars and disks around young stars and brown dwarfs. She spent a year as a pre-doctoral fellow at the Spitzer Science Center, Caltech, and continued her research as a postdoctoral researcher at Penn State University.  She primarily serves in education and public outreach, having served most recently as the Astronomy Outreach Assistant at the Institute of Astronomy at the University of Cambridge. Previously, she served as Assistant Director for the physics department at the University of Maryland, where she developed novel outreach and educational programs, particularly to increase inclusion and diversity of students in the physical sciences. Dr. Shukla has developed inquiry-based practical exercises that incorporate real astronomical data whenever possible.

Accommodation
Although this is a non-residential course, students requiring accommodation may be able to book B&B at Madingley Hall, as availability permits. Please contact reservations@madingleyhall.co.uk or +44 (0)1223 746222 for availability and booking enquiries.

Dietary Requirements
If you have any specific dietary requirements or allergies please inform our Admissions Team on ice.admissions@ice.cam.ac.uk or +44 (0)1223 746262 if you have not already advised us of your requirements.

Additional Requirements
Further information about student support

No academic qualification is required of applicants, and most courses are suitable for students who are new to the subject.

All teaching is in English (unless a foreign-language course). If your first language is not English, you need to satisfy yourself that you have the required near-native command of the language to get the maximum benefit from studying with ICE.

A booklist, course syllabus and detailed timetable are circulated as far as possible in advance of a course. You will receive these documents by email if you have provided us with your email address; please check your spam folder if you have not received these documents. You can also download material from the course web page.

This course takes place at Madingley Hall, home to the University of Cambridge Institute of Continuing Education.Day schools run from 10.00am to 4.45pm and include four teaching sessions of 75 minutes each. The course fee includes tea, coffee and a buffet lunch.

About Madingley Hall

Madingley Hall itself is an impressive manor house dating back to the mid-16th century. The decoration of the Saloon and the formal Stair Hall was carried out 200 years later, and the whole fabric was renovated with great care around 1900. About four miles from the centre of Cambridge, the Hall stands in several acres of beautifully-maintained gardens and overlooks a landscape which has changed relatively little since it was laid out by Capability Brown. It is just four miles from the centre of Cambridge, and only 60 minutes from London, with excellent links to London airports.

Directions to Madingley Hall