This is a one-semester, introductory graduate course aiming at beginning graduate students and
advanced undergraduate students. We will provide an extensive and self-contained overview of
observational aspects of galaxy formation and evolution, incorporating the latest results. The
course is broadly organized into 2 parts: "basic properties and observational techniques” and
“formation, evolution and environments", taught by Drs. Wei-Hao Wang and Yen-Ting Lin,
respectively. Some basic knowledge of cosmology is preferred, although not required. We will not
have exams, although active classroom participation is highly desired; the grading is based on
homework, classroom participation, and a final report. The final report will be a proposal
requesting either telescope time for an observational project or support for conducting theoretical
studies. The proposals will be reviewed and graded based on the scientific merit. The lectures will
be delivered in Chinese, but both homework and the final report should be written in English.