Quasar Bazaar: A Quasar Hack Week
IFPU
2 – 6 February 2026
This workshop aims to bring together astrophysicists, cosmologists, and data scientists to explore new uses and analyses of quasar data. We will focus on three main topics: quasars as standard candles, as tracers of large-scale structure and cosmological probes, and as variable objects, with particular interest in combining methods and perspectives across these areas. Recent (and future) surveys are providing rich datasets to work with: a catalog of 1.3 million quasar candidates from Quaia (Gaia DR3) up to z~4, spectra at different resolutions (e.g. Gaia and SDSS), multi-wavelength observations (e.g. DESI), and time-series (e.g. neoWISE). These diverse data types open opportunities for projects that connect different aspects of quasar science.
This event is designed to facilitate collaborative work and is organized as a mix of workshop, unconference, and hackweek, with the goal of brainstorming ideas, sharing expertise, and developing projects together.
Meeting program: https://indico.sissa.it/e/bazaar
Organisers:
- Gabriella Contardo (University of Nova Gorica)
- Serafina Di Gioia (ICTP)
- Konstantin Karchev (Universitat de Barcelona)
- Kate Storey-Fisher (Stanford)
- Roberto Trotta (SISSA)
Participants:
- Nestor Arsenov (Institute of Astronomy, Sofia & Konkoly Observatory, Budapest)
- Jose Ramon Bermejo-Climent (Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias)
- Gabriella Contardo (University of Nova Gorica)
- Natale de Bonis (University of Belgrade)
- Serafina Di Gioia (ICTP)
- Dominika Durovcikova (MIT)
- Daniela Huppenkothen (University of Amsterdam)
- Dragana Ilic (University of Belgrade)
- Konstantin Karchev (University of Barcelona)
- Andjelka Kovacevic (University of Belgrade)
- András Kovács (Konkoly Observatory, Budapest)
- Júlia Laguna I Miralles (University of Cambridge)
- Elisabetta Lusso (University of Firenze)
- Jannis Necker (Leiden University)
- Mahlet Shiferaw (Stanford University)
- Kate Storey-Fisher (Stanford University)
- Roberto Trotta (SISSA)
- Abby Williams (University of Chicago)