Though Big Data has become common in many domains nowadays, the challenges to develop efficient and automated mining of the ever increasing data sets by new generations of data scientists are eminent. These challenges span wide swathes of society, business and research, not in the least in the field of astronomy, where datasets are becoming so huge that the only way to analyse them is to apply the smartest, state-of-the-art techniques. In this session we will discuss advances in applications of new techniques in a number of key areas in astronomy. In this respect, we will look forward in particular to the upcoming missions EUCLID and LSST.

We wish to move beyond subject-specific processions of individual results and stimulate wider discussion. We will thus ask our invited speakers, session chairs and discussion leaders to specifically address aspects such as common analysis and data handling techniques, to consider different data regimes including optical, radio and modelling, and to give particular attention to dedicated formation to the younger generations, including training and mentoring at BSc, MSc and PhD level. The combination of computer scientists and astronomers will also, uniquely, allow us to explore the cross-disciplinary aspects of data science as applied to astronomy.

Our proposed symposium is a close collaboration between astronomers and computer scientists. Many know each other from the successful ITN SUNDIAL (PI R. Peletier, Groningen) which is now in its final year, and which aims to develop new computer science approaches to apply to large sets of the deepest available imaging and advance our understanding of galaxy evolution. In order to minimize travel and maximise the possibility that key players may travel to Europe to attend, we plan to organize the final conference of SUNDIAL in Paris in the week preceding the EAS meeting. Not only will it be easy to attend both meetings, this setup will also provide a unique opportunity to present the main results from our more specialized conference in a wider forum. This will allow broader discussion, and the exposure of larger numbers of astronomers to the latest insights and advances in this cross-disciplinary field.

Programme

To be decided. The following topics will be discussed:

• Faint Object Detection
• Galaxy Classification
• Filament Detection
• Time Variability
• Future Developments

Invited speakers

TBD

Scientific organisers

R. Peletier (astronomy, The Netherlands, chair)
J. Knapen (astronomy, Spain)
P. Tino (computer science, UK)
K. Bunte (computer science, the Netherlands)
G. Longo (data science, Italy)
N. Chamba (astronomy, Sweden)
K. Polsterer (data science, Germany)
D. Baron (fastronomy, Israel)

Contact

peletier @ astro.rug.nl