The CASPAR curriculum consists of a mix of lectures by Azzam, Brickhouse and Szentgyorgyi, followed by a series of student-led seminars. The final phase of the seminar consists of individual research investigations into the habitability of recently discovered exoplanets.

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Students are selected based on the following criteria:

1. A major or concentration in physics.

2. A GPA in physics and math for the university courses 3.00 points or better.

3. A background in astrophysics.

4. Good English language skills.

5. Motivation to engage in independent research.


The first CASPAR seminar focused on exoplanet science, exobiology, exoplanet habitability and the impact of cool host star activity on exobiotic systems. The CASPAR curriculum consists of a mix of lectures by Azzam, Brickhouse and Szentgyorgyi, followed by a series of student-led seminars. The final phase of the seminar consists of individual research investigations into the habitability of recently discovered exoplanet.

The first stage included a series of lectures that covered a wide spectrum of topics including Exoplanets, Sun-like stars, photometry and spectroscopy among other various topics.

After the series of lectures, the group started a hands-on training on data reduction using IRAF which is basically the processing of photometric images taken by the telescope to enhance them and make them fit for data analysis.

This stage required looking for a local expert to help us using IRAF, we were lucky to get know Dr. Roger Hajjar and have training in Notre Dame University-Louaize (NDU), Lebanon in 26th -29th of July,2017.

During their observation in Lebanon, the goal was to detect the transit of two of the 3500 Kepler candidates. As well as learning basic skills in observations and how to be able to conduct a whole observation session.

Two targets were chosen: KOI 4144 and KOI 1957. KOI 4144 was observed over the period of two nights, while KOI 1957 was only observed on the 27th of July.

After going back from Lebanon, the team started the data analysis by plotting the light curve of each star after processing the images using IRAF. In the case of KOI 1957, no transit was found. In case of KOI 4144 a transit was detected on 26/7/2017

Alongside the observations, an image of the dumbbell nebula was taken and processed.