The Fourth Byurakan Summer School (4BSS) for Yerevan State University (YSU) students will take place in the Byurakan Astrophysical Observatory (BAO), Armenia from August 19-23, 2013. It is being organized jointly by BAO and the Armenian Astronomical Society (ArAS) and is the 4th one in the series of the Byurakan local schools. The School will be combined with the IAU Symposium #304 organizational training for YSU and other university students who are involved in the LOC supporting team.

The Byurakan Observatory is one of the main observational centers of the former Soviet Union and is an important observatory with modern facilities in the Middle East region. It was founded in 1946 by V.A. Ambartsumian and is well known for a number of famous discoveries and its large spectroscopic surveys.

The Byurakan Observatory hosts a number of medium-size optical telescopes, among them the most important is the 2.6m classical telescope and 1m Schmidt telescope. There are various modern astronomical instruments. The Byurakan Observatory holds the Digitized First Byurakan Survey (DFBS, or the Markarian survey), containing low-dispersion spectra for ~20,000,000 objects. Presently many qualified specialists work in Byurakan, who are prepared to teach modern astrophysics to young people.

Some 15 students have been selected for 4BSS from YSU Departments of Physics and Radiophysics and some 25 students have been selected for the IAU S304 training courses. The participants will stay in the BAO hotel. A bus will take these participants to Byurakan and back. Meals will be offered in Byurakan, too.