My experience at the Sub-Saharan Africa Astronomy Summer School

I have just returned from the Sub-Saharan Africa Astronomy Summer School (SSAASS), which took place in Entebbe, Uganda from the 19th to the 30th of September 2022. I was privileged to have been invited by Benard Nsamba (my former grad student) and Cosmos Dumba to lecture at the School, where I was joined by a few of my colleagues (Nuno Santos, Marie-Jo Goupil, Artie Hatzes, among others). After all, this was the first School of its kind being organized in the East Africa subregion, a tremendous milestone if you think about it. At the School, I had the pleasure to interact with a very diverse crowd of about 30 students (14 African nations were represented), all of whom shared the same willingness to learn and network. All in all, this was a truly enriching experience, both at a professional and personal level.

The School focused on three domains of astrophysics, namely, extrasolar planets, stellar and Galactic astrophysics, and extragalactic astronomy, as well as their many synergies. My lectures were on the very much trending topic of Galactic Archaeology and the role that Asteroseismology has been playing in its advancement. I have uploaded my lecture slides to Zenodo (link here), in case these might become useful to you. All lectures have been compiled in this Zenodo community.

Besides lecturing, I also took part in two outreach events, an opportunity to communicate our science to local high school students. My colleague James Chibueze (North-West University, South Africa; second from the left in the group photo below) did quite an amazing job in both occasions, acting as a role model and making these students aware of the possibility of a career in Astronomy in this part of the world. Truly inspiring stuff.

And one could not leave Uganda without exploring its natural wonders. Below is a video taken at Murchison Falls National Park.