The 6Th Azarquiel School in Astronomy

The 6^th Azarquiel* school will be organized under the patronage of the Arab Union for Astronomy and Space sciences (AUASS) and the Arab Regional Office of Astronomy for Development (OAD). The school will be hosted at the institute of Spaces and Sciences of Al Al-Bayt University (Mafraq, Jordan) on December 10-16, 2023.

This school was always motivated not only on scientific basis, but also to remember that Arabs were pioneers in civilization and knowledge for a long time and left to the world the memory of the Andalusian kingdoms as examples of an open-minded cultural approach, which diffused science and knowledge and mastered poetry, music, astronomy, and architecture.

The basic idea was to create a scientific environment to enable bringing together students from the Arab and Middle East regions with their companions from Europe.

The school has been firstly proposed for the memory of Azarquiel in a meeting at the university of Granada, Spain in 2006. The idea was enforced in a meeting at Perugia university, Italy. Five editions have been organized:

1. Granada University, Spain, July (4-10) 2010, 35 students.
2. 2. AUB, Beirut, Lebanon, June (19-26) 2011, 40 students.
3. 3. Istanbul, Turkey, July (8-15) 2012, 57 students.
4. Portopalo, Italy, June (11-16) 2017, 58 students.
5. Istanbul, Turkey (15-19) 2021, online due to covid-19, 102 participants.
6. 6. The school at Al A-Byet, Mafraq, Jordan December (10-16), 2023

With this generous new edition, the school will continue to be devoted to educating students, encouraging the teaching of astronomy and astrophysics, promoting cultural exchange, and bridging gaps in understanding between East and West.

 During the announced period of the school, renowned international experts will teach courses and give open conferences on subjects concerning observational and theoretical astrophysics and the contribution to science made by advances in astronomy in the Arab world. History showed indeed how the Arabs were leaders in culture and science, especially astronomy, over a long period of time. For details on the planned topic, see the included program.

About half of the participants should come from Arab and Middle Eastern regions. Students will be selected based on their curriculum vitae, geographical representation, and an overall gender balance. Special attention will be given to the dissemination of information, promoting culture exchanges, tolerance, and mutual understanding. In this respect the Azarquiel School is closely linked to the objectives of the U.N. initiative Alliance of Civilizations.

Based on the experience of past years, it was realized that the universities located in South and East of Europe can train young researchers aware of modern technologies based on sufficient background in physics.

* Azarquiel is the Spanish name of the Andalusian-Arab astronomer ibn Zarqala from Cordoba, 1029-1100, Abu Ishaq bin Yahya al-Tajibi al-Naqqash.