SKA-India Summer Training Program 2026

About the School

The SKA-India Training Program School is a premier event designed to develop foundational skills in radio astronomy for advanced undergraduate and postgraduate students. This two-week-long school will feature lectures, hands-on sessions, and exposure to cutting-edge tools and techniques relevant to the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) project (SKAO), SKA India.

Participants will gain insights into radio instrumentation, observational techniques, data analysis techniques, AI/ML applications in astronomy, and more.

For any queries, contact: skaits2026@gmail.com

Schedule

Day / Date / Venue	Time	Title of talk	Speaker
Monday 29th June 2026 (LH-10) Lab at SPASE Department	08:30-09:15	Registration
	09:15-10:00	Inauguration Ceremony & Welcome
	10:00-11:00	An Introduction to Radio Sky	Neeraj Gupta
	Tea Break
	11:20-12:20	Multiwavelength Astronomy	Amitesh Omar
	12.20-13.20	Introduction to Radio Astronomy & SKA	Pankaj Jain
	Lunch Break
	14.30 -17.30	LAB-1: Antenna design and beam pattern generation LAB-2: Building an antenna for 1420 MHz	Lab Team
Tuesday 30th June 2026 (LH-10) Lab at SPASE Department	8.30-9.30	Introduction to the Two-Element Interferometer	Narendra Nath Patra
	9.30-10.30	Basics of Radio Telescopes: Receivers	Jagadheep D. Pandian
	Tea Break
	11.00-12.00	Introduction to Interferometry & Imaging-I	Neeraj Gupta
	12.00-13.00	Introduction to Interferometry & Imaging-II	Narendra Nath Patra
	Lunch Break
	14.30-17.30	LAB-1: Measurement of correlated and uncorrelated noise statistics LAB-2: Building an antenna for 1420 MHz	Lab Team
Wednesday 1st July 2026 (LH-10) Lab at SPASE Department	08:30-10:00	"What radio telescopes see?" - A Hands-on session	Neeraj Gupta
	10:00-11:00	Signal processing in radio astronomy	V. Mugundhan
	Tea Break
	11:20-12:20	Fourier Transform and its applications in radio astronomy	Jagadheep D. Pandian
	12.20-13.20	Space weather and the Sun-Earth system in the era of SKA	Rohit Sharma
	Lunch Break
	14.30-17.30	LAB-1: Introduction to software-defined radio: demonstration of auto- and cross-correlations LAB-2: Beam pattern measurement for the antenna	Lab Team
Thursday 2nd July 2026 (LH-10) Lab at SPASE Department	09:00-10:00	Introduction to SKAO	Yashwant Gupta
	10:00-11:00	Careers in Radio Astronomy in the SKAO era	Yogesh Wadadekar
	Tea Break
	11.30-12.30	Ionospheric Studies using SKA	Abhirup Datta
	Lunch Break
	14.30-17.30	LAB-1: Basic Radio data analysis using CASA LAB-2: Receiver chain development and characterisation	Lab Team
Type-II Community Center	19:00 – 22:00	SKA-India Training School Gala Dinner
Friday 3rd July 2026 (LH-10) Lab at SPASE Department	09:00-10:00	GMRT and the future of radio astronomy in India	Yashwant Gupta
	10:00-11:00	Application of AI/ML in radio Astronomy	Yogesh Wadadekar
	Tea Break
	11.30-12.30	Panel discussion / Q&A
	Lunch Break
	14.30-17.30	LAB-1: Basic Radio data analysis using CASA LAB-2: Adding Interferometer Experiment	Lab Team
WEEK-2
Monday 6th July 2026 (LH-10) Lab at SPASE Department	09:00-10:00	Basics of radio telescopes: Antennas	AR Harish
	10:00-11:00	Basics of Radio Telescopes: Single Dish	Avinash Deshpande
	Tea Break
	11.30-12.30	Calibration techniques in interferometric observations	Divya Oberoi
	Lunch Break
	14.30-17.30	LAB-1: Antenna design and beam pattern generation LAB-2: Building an antenna for 1420 MHz	Lab Team
Tuesday 7th July 2026 (LH-10) Lab at SPASE Department	09:00-10:00	Radio Galaxies and AGNS	Surajit Paul
	10:00-11:00	Solar Radio astronomy in the era of SKA	Divya Oberoi
	Tea Break
	11.30-12.30	Continuum Science with SKA	Surajit Paul
	Lunch Break
	14.30-17.30	LAB-1: Measurement of correlated and uncorrelated noise statistics LAB-2: Building an antenna for 1420 MHz	Lab Team
Wednesday 8th July 2026 (LH-10) Lab at SPASE Department	09:00-10:00	Our Galaxy/Cradle of Life	Manoj Puravankara
	10:00-11:00	Gas in galaxies: the Milky Way, Local Volume & distant Universe	Prasun Dutta
	Tea Break
	11.30-12.30	Transients: Pulsars & Neutron Stars	Mayuresh Surnis
	Lunch Break
	14.30-17.30	LAB-1: Introduction to software-defined radio: demonstration of auto- and cross-correlations LAB-2: Beam pattern measurement for the antenna	Lab Team
Thursday 9th July 2026 (LH-10) Lab at SPASE Department	09:00-10:00	Introduction to Phased Array Techniques	Avinash Deshpande
	10:00-11:00	Introduction to Pulsar observation	Mayuresh Surnis
	Tea Break
	11.30-12.30	RFI Mitigation or High-performance wide-band antennas	V. Mugundhan
	Lunch Break
	14.30-17.30	LAB-1: Basic Radio data analysis using CASA LAB-2: Receiver chain development and characterisation	Lab Team
Friday 10th July 2026 (LH-15) Lab at SPASE Department	09.30-12.30	LAB-1: Basic Radio data analysis using CASA LAB-2: Adding Interferometer Experiment	Lab Team
	Lunch Break
	14:00-15:00	Cosmology and the early universe	Prasanta Kumar Das
	15:00-16:00	Epoch of Reionisation using SKA	Kanan K Datta
	Tea Break
	16.30-17.30	Proposal writing / Observing with a telescope	Kunal Mooley
	17:30-17:45	Closing Remarks / End of the SKAITS-II

List of Speakers

Abhirup Datta (IITI)
Amitesh Omar (IITK)
AR Harish (IITK)
Avinash Deshpande (IITK)
Divya Oberoi (NCRA-TIFR)
Jagadheep D. Pandian (IIST)
Kanan k Datta (Jadavpur University)
Kunal Mooley (IITK)
Manoj Puravankara (TIFR-Mumbai)
Mayuresh Surnis (IISER Bhopal)
Mohit Bhardwaj (IITK)
Narendra Nath Patra (IITI)
Neeraj Gupta (IUCAA)
Pankaj Jain (IITK)
Prasanta Kumar Das (BITS-Pilani-Goa)
Prasun Dutta (IIT BHU)
Rohit Sharma (IITK)
Soumyabrata Chakrabarty (IITK)
Surajit Paul (MAHE)
V. Mugundhan (IITK)
Yashwant Gupta (NCRA-TIFR)
Yogesh Wadadekar (NCRA-TIFR)

Topics to be covered

Square Kilometer Array: The next-gen instrument for radio astronomy
Electronics and devices for radio telescopes
High-throughput real-time Signal processing
High-performance computing and Big-data
AI/ML Applications in Radio Astronomy
Fundamental Concepts: Radiation Mechanisms and Radio Telescopes
Fundamental Science cases: Pulsars, Cosmology, Galactic and Extragalactic Studies
Observational and Data Analysis Techniques
Hands-on: Building a radio telescope

Organizing Committee

Pankaj Jain (IITK)
Rohit Sharma (IITK)
Mugundhan V. (IITK)
Mohit Bhardwaj (IITK)
Abhirup Datta (IITI)
Narendra Nath Patra (IITI)
Prasanta Kumar Das (BITS-Pilani-Goa)
Surajit Paul (MAHE)
Neeraj Gupta (IUCAA)
Jagadheep D. Pandian (IIST)

Who can apply

Third year students pursuing BTech/B.E in Electronics and Communication Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Computer Science Engineering or equivalent discipline. First year students pursuing M.Tech in Electronics and Communication Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Computer Science Engineering or equivalent discipline. First year students pursuing Master of Science in Physics, Electronics or any equivalent discipline.

List of selected candidates

We are pleased to announce the list of selected participants for the SKA-India Summer Training Program 2026:

Student Name	Student Name	Student Name	Student Name	Student Name
Abdul Rahim A	ABHIJITH A	Abhinav Singh	Akanksha Patel	Akash Yadav
Amey Bagare	Amruta Kittur	ARGHYADEEP BISWAS	Arpna Mishra	Ashmit Gupta
Ashwin Raju Kharat	Avantika Ajay Sangole	Bharadwaj M	Chanchal	Damarla Sudha Nandana Vamsidhar Babu
Dhairya Kotecha	Eshaan Sowale	Harikrishnan V S	HONEY RENJAN E	Ishita Kundu
Kartikey M Dixit	Kedar Sharma	Kushal Prajapati	Pragun Nepal	R S Pranav Varshan
Rishav Hazra	Ritesh Pandey	Rithesh Amalraj	Romana Ruqia	Saptashaw Das
SAROJINI S	Simran Kaushik	Soumya Gupta	Srusti Sampanna	Swastika Sanghi
Tumma Anusha	Utkarsh Kr Verma	V Gayathri	V.Aswini	Vaibhav Awasthi
Vanshika Dhiman	Vibha Kulkarni	Vibha Narayan

Accommodation and meals will be provided at the hostel to all the selected candidates from June 28 to July 11, 2026.

FAQs

I am a first year PhD student. Can I apply? No. This school is meant for younger students who are in the early stage of their career.
Can I get support for the school? Yes. Support for lodging and food to the participants will be provided.
Is there any registration fee? No. There is no registrarion fee.
How many students will be selected? The total number of participants is expected to be around 50.
What are the selection criteria? Candidates will be selected based on their academic records, supported by a recommendation letter.

Partner Institutes

The SKA-India Training Program School 2026 is being organized in collaboration with several esteemed partner institutes.

Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur (IITK)
Indian Institute of Technology Indore (IITI)
Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology, Thiruvananthapuram (IIST)
Inter University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics, Pune (IUCAA)
Birla Institute of Technology Pillani, Goa Campus (BITS Goa)
Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal (MAHE)

Location & Campus Navigation

Category	Venue Details	Google Maps Link
Lecture Sessions	Lecture Hall Complex, IIT Kanpur	Lecture Hall Complex
Laboratory Sessions	Department of Space, Planetary & Astronomical Sciences & Engineering (SPASE) E.S.B.-2 Building, 6th Floor, IIT Kanpur	Department of SPASE
Accommodation & Campus Locations	Visitor Hostel, IIT Kanpur	Visitor Hostel
	Male Participants' Accommodation: Hall of Residence 10 (Hall-10), IIT Kanpur	Hall-10
	Female Participants' Accommodation:Hall of Residence 6 (Hall-6), IIT Kanpur	Hall-6
SKAITS Gala Dinner	Type-II Community Center, IIT Kanpur	Type-II Community Center

Navigation distance & timings

Male Accommodation (HALL 10) to Lecture Hall Complex (LHC)

Female Accommodation (HALL 6) to Lecture Hall Complex (LHC)

Lecture Hall Complex (LHC) to SPASE Department

SPASE Department to Male Accommodation (Hall-10)

SPASE Department to Female Accommodation (Hall-6)

Travel Logistics

A.) Arrival by air:

Chaudhary Charan Singh International Airport (LKO), Lucknow is the nearest international airport and located about 90 Km. from IIT Kanpur. It has direct flight connection to all major cities of India.

Kanpur also has an airport (KNU) with limited flights.

Ola/Uber cab services are available both in Lucknow and Kanpur.

B.) Arrival by train:

Kanpur Central Railway station (CNB) is one of the busiest railway stations in the country. It is located on the Delhi-Kolkata train route.

IIT Kanpur is located about 16 km from the Kanpur Central Railway Station.
One can take the Kanpur Metro (fare: ₹40) or hire a taxi/auto rickshaw.

Kanpur Metro:

Metro services are operational between Kanpur Central and IIT Kanpur from 06:00 AM to 10:00 PM (IST) daily.

Arrival in IIT Kanpur campus:

Reach the ‘main gate’ of IIT Kanpur. Tell security you are visiting SPASE Department.
The Department of SPASE is located at the 6^th floor of ESB-2 building.