This is the webpage for the 2014 edition of the course Origin and Evolution of the Universe, part of the Leiden Astronomy Masters degree. This website is under construction, and will evolve long with the course. Therefore visit this page regularlly. The course is taught by Dr. Henk Hoekstra, with assistance of PhD student Allison Hill. If you have questions about the course you can find her in office Oort room 458 on Thursdays between 2 and 3 pm.

The textbook that forms the basis of the lectures is "An Introduction to Modern Cosmology" (2nd edition) by Andrew Liddle. This book provides a basic introduction to cosmology, but lacks some depth. Therefore we will also may make use of "Cosmological Physics" by John Peacock, but this book is not required. An alternative book is "Cosmology: The Origin and Evolution of Cosmic Structure" (2nd edition) by Peter Coles and Francesco Lucchin, which was used in previous years. It is between the two other books in terms of level. The material that is treated in class delimits waht will be tested in the written exam for the course. To aid in the preparation for the exam there will be two homework assignments: homework should be handed in after 1 week, before it is treated in the problems classes. All homework handed in will be graded and the total score will count towards 30% of the final grade (but only if this is higher than the exam grade).

Lectures and problem classes will typically take place in room 414 of the Huygens building on Monday from 13:45-15:30. A detailed schedule of the course is provided below. Changes from the nominal schedule are provided. Please check regularly for changes.