UWC Dilijan Summer Astrophysics Academy
The Summer Astrophysics Academy is a programme for young people aged 15–17. It is not a typical science camp. It is a living, breathing research community where you complete an original research project, learn to solve tough problems, and learn to work alongside youth and faculty from around the globe who also love a challenge. Over four weeks in Armenia, you will live and work as a community of scientists, under the supervision of PhD-holding faculty. You will learn through lectures, problem sets, late-night coding sessions, collaborative data analysis, guest lectures, formal dinners, hiking, and everything in between. The Academy is a place of rigour, ambition, and genuine intellectual community, where faculty and students live and work together from morning until night.
The UWC Dilijan Summer Astrophysics Academy has been made possible through the generous support of a donor who has committed funding for the programme for four years. We are deeply grateful for this commitment and for the opportunity it provides to establish and develop the Academy.
Explore the Universe - Expand your Mind
July 4 - Aug 1, 2027
Ages: 15-17
Cost: $9,000
Financial Aid: Available based on demonstrated need
The Summer Astrophysics Academy is a programme for young people aged 15–17. It is not a typical science camp. It is a living, breathing research community where you complete an original research project, learn to solve tough problems, and learn to work alongside youth and faculty from around the globe who also love a challenge. Over four weeks in Armenia, you will live and work as a community of scientists, under the supervision of PhD-holding faculty. You will learn through lectures, problem sets, late-night coding sessions, collaborative data analysis, guest lectures, formal dinners, hiking, and everything in between. The Academy is a place of rigour, ambition, and genuine intellectual community, where faculty and students live and work together from morning until night.
Why Choose the UWC Dilijan Summer Astrophysics Academy?
Programme
Over four weeks, students complete an original research project using real telescope data, guided by PhD-level faculty in a structured, authentic scientific research community. The programme moves fast, expects a lot, and does not offer grades or shortcuts. What it offers instead is detailed feedback, genuine mentorship, and a 4.5:1 student-to-faculty ratio that ensures that each student grows and succeeds.
Faculty
The faculty are active researchers drawn from the ranks of leading universities and research institutions around the world. Each holds a PhD in astrophysics or a closely related field and brings experience teaching and mentoring students at the university level. Each week will feature a scientific or cultural guest lecture and campus visit from a discipline expert.
Community
Students have everything they need without leaving campus. The setting is peaceful and deliberately removed from distraction, where serious work and genuine community can thrive together. Living, learning and exploring side by side creates friendships that extend far beyond the summer camp. Participants become part of an international network of young scientists, forming lifelong connections that will inspire future collaboration and support into the future.
Our Host Country
Campus
The Academy is hosted on the campus of UWC Dilijan, set within 8 hectares of wooded, sloping countryside inside the Dilijan National Park. The campus is purpose-built, award-winning, and fully self-contained, with dedicated academic buildings, dormitories, a library, science labs, music practice spaces, a sports complex with swimming pool and gym, playing fields, and a dining hall.
Location
Dilijan is a historic spa town nestled within a 24,000-hectare national park in central Armenia, long favored by artists, composers, and filmmakers for its wooded hills and mountain climate. It sits at a remarkable crossroads: on the road connecting Yerevan and Tbilisi, in a country on the border of Europe and Asia, at the heart of a region shaped by Persian, Byzantine, Ottoman, and Russian history. For most students, it will be unlike anywhere they have ever been.
Our Host Country
Armenia is one of the world’s oldest civilizations, with a history stretching back thousands of years. It sits at the crossroads of Europe and Asia, shaped by an extraordinary confluence of cultures, empires, and traditions that have left behind a remarkable legacy of architecture, art, music, and cuisine. For many students, Armenia will be an entirely new part of the world. The Academy is not just an intellectual experience, it is a window onto a unique culture and landscape.
Details
Dates: July 4 – August 1, 2027
Cohort size: 24 to 36 students
Eligibility: Students aged 15-17 who have completed algebra, trigonometry, and physics (mechanics). The working language of the Academy is English, requiring proficiency of C1 or better. Students aged 14 will be considered in extraordinary circumstances.
Financial aid: We strive to meet demonstrated need.
What You'll Do
The centrepiece of the Academy is an original research project. You’ll work with real telescope data, write and debug your own code, and produce new scientific results.
The Research
Working in a team of three, you will measure the brightness of a RR Lyrae variable star, a class of star whose periodic brightness changes make them precise tools for mapping distances within the Milky Way. This is original research, not a simulation or a textbook exercise.
The Curriculum
Lectures and problem sets cover the mathematics and physics required to complete the research project: Fourier analysis, time-series statistics, telescopic image reduction, error propagation, and stellar structure. Every topic connects directly to something you will need to do in the lab.
The Outcome
You will present your findings to the full Academy in a formal talk. You will leave with genuine experience in observational astronomy, astrophysics, and computer programming. You will learn the fundamental skills of research including quantitative reasoning, collaborative problem-solving, presentation and communication, and working carefully under uncertainty. These skills have value and applicability far beyond astrophysics.
The Academy is about far more than just astrophysics. You will learn how to be a scientist. You will learn how to live and study with a global group of your peers who are as smart and capable as you are. You will learn how to communicate and work as a team. You will learn how to ask faculty and peers for help.
A Typical Day
Morning
A typical morning at the Academy begins with breakfast (or not!) followed by lecture and discussion. At mid-day we break for an hour or two for lunch.
Afternoon
After lunch (and a quick game of football, cards, chess, or a quick trip to the music practice room), lecture resumes until the late afternoon. An hour before dinner, we return to the dorm to change into smart-casual attire, then walk to the dining hall as a group.
Evening
Evenings are prime homework and research time. You will work on 1-2 challenging problem sets per week, designed to help you practice skills and techniques you’ll need to complete your research project. In the late evening we return to the dorm for quiet hours and lights out.
Leisure & Sport
UWC Dilijan has a well-equipped gym, fitness centre and a swimming pool. It has world-class outdoor facilities such as a football field, tennis and basketball courts. Students are encouraged to bring their musical instrument to the program for leisure-time practice and to play in informal groups. Practice rooms and pianos are available for student use.
Wednesday and Saturday afternoons, as well as Sundays, will be dedicated to exploring the surrounding area, playing sports, music practice, games, and taking part in outings.
Several excursions will be planned as part of the programme.
The Team
The faculty who teach the Academy are three active research scientists, each with a PhD in astrophysics or a closely related field, and experience teaching and mentoring students at the college (or even high school) level, and are available to write letters of recommendation for university applications upon request.
Four university-age resident fellows will live with you in the dormitory and guide you through assignments and research tasks, providing support when needed. Our residential director leads safeguarding and ensures student wellbeing by providing guidance on non-academic, health, and mental health matters. All faculty live on campus with the students for the full duration of the program. The Academy quickly becomes a close-knit, supportive, and caring community.
Facilities
Campus
UWC Dilijan’s grounds extend over 8 hectares of sloping and wooded countryside, located in the Dilijan National Park.
The college’s architectural design provides access to knowledge anywhere at any time through technology that fuels a continuous, relevant and adaptive learning environment. The highest international standards, most advanced environmentally friendly and renewable technologies were employed in the construction.
Boarding Houses - Toons
Students live in comfortable residences called “toons”, which in Armenian means “house”. Usually there are two or four students living in one room.
Laundry and other amenities are available in every toon.
Medical Centre
UWC Dilijan has a modern, well-equipped medical centre on campus to provide high quality health care for students and staff. The centre has several hospital beds including an isolation ward. A team of qualified nurses ensure that the medical centre is manned 24 hours per day, and there is an experienced doctor available to staff and students for consultation. We have one full-time senior doctor and 4 nurses. In addition to this exceptional facility, Dilijan is well-served by the Tavush Medical Centre, located only a few minutes from the school campus. The Tavush Medical Centre can provide first-class support for more serious medical issues should they arise.
Cafeteria
The cafeteria chefs have a difficult task to cater to the demands of people from over 80 countries represented on the campus during the academic year. They offer a rich and varied menu, with a strong emphasis on Mediterranean cuisine. Vegan food, dairy-free food, boiled food, gluten-free food and cereal products are all available and are properly labelled.
The cafeteria provides food five times a day – three meals (breakfast, lunch and dinner) and two snacks taken to the college (one at break time and one in the evening).