From john.obyrne at sydney.edu.au Mon Sep 29 14:33:19 2014 From: john.obyrne at sydney.edu.au (John O'Byrne) Date: Mon, 29 Sep 2014 14:33:19 +1000 Subject: [ASA] 2015 Postdoctoral Fellowships and PhD Scholarships at the University of Sydney Message-ID: 2015 Postdoctoral Fellowships and PhD Scholarships at the University of Sydney The Sydney Institute for Astronomy (SIfA) is a leader in Astronomy and Astrophysics, comprising 100 staff and students engaged in frontier theoretical and observational research and the application of new technology to the next generation of instruments and telescopes. SIfA is the home of CAASTRO - the ARC Centre of Excellence for All-sky Astrophysics (http://www.caastro.org). SIfA is the leader on several high-profile new surveys, including the SAMI Galaxy Survey, the Kepler K2 Galactic Archaeology Survey with a leadership role in the HERMES Galactic Archaeology (GALAH) survey. SIFA is a leader on major radio surveys using the SKA precursor telescope, ASKAP, a network of 36 radio telescopes armed with focal plane arrays. Australian astronomers have access to first-rate facilities at the AAT, Gemini, Magellan, and ATCA compact array, with Keck time under negotiation. Australia is also a member of the Giant Magellan Telescope consortium. As well as being a research leader, SIfA is committed to excellence in postgraduate training and research-led undergraduate training. SIfA has first-rate optics and photonics labs for instrumentation development (shared with the AAO), excellent access to supercomputers and facilities for processing big data from numerical simulations. SIfA is currently leading the development of the PRAXIS OH suppression and Hector multi-object IFS spectrographs. SIfA facilities include the Molonglo Observatory radio telescope and the Sydney University Stellar Interferometer (SUSI). The SIfA Director, Professor Joss Bland-Hawthorn, has recently been awarded an Australian Research Council (ARC) Laureate Fellowship that includes funding for 6 Postdoctoral Fellowships (3-5 yrs) and 6 PhD scholarships over the next two years. We are particularly interested in the following science fields: * near-field cosmology & galactic archaeology (GALAH, RAVE, Kepler, Gaia surveys) * The Local Group, chemical evolution, first stars and dwarf galaxies * galaxy evolution, accretion and feedback (SAMI, GAMA, ASKAP surveys) * next-generation astronomical instrumentation (astrophotonics) * software development (advanced linear programming, statistical methods) The University of Sydney is one of Australia?s premier institutes for higher learning, and occupies a beautiful campus in the heart of one of the world?s great cities. Rated as having one of the highest standards of living in the world, Sydney offers warm weather, great food, and a vibrant and diverse cultural community. Expressions of interest should be sent to jbh at physics.usyd.edu.au . For more information on SIfA, see www.physics.usyd.edu.au/sifa . Applications close 30 November 2014 so early circulation of this announcement at your institution would be appreciated. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR JOHN O?BYRNE Associate Head (Teaching & Learning), School of Physics Associate Dean (Standards), Faculty of Science Secretary, Astronomical Society of Australia Inc. Sydney Institute for Astronomy School of Physics | Faculty of Science THE UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY Rm 205, Physics Building A28 | alternate: Rm 222, 44-70 Rosehill St Redfern H90 (see map) Postal address: School of Physics | The University of Sydney | NSW | Australia | 2006 T +61 2 9351 3184 | F +61 2 9351 7726 E john.obyrne at sydney.edu.au | W http://sydney.edu.au/science/people/john.obyrne CRICOS 00026A This email plus any attachments to it are confidential. Any unauthorised use is strictly prohibited. If you receive this email in error, please delete it and any attachments. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This email uses 100% recycled words and ideas. Do you really need to print it? ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: 2015 Postdoctoral Fellowships and PhD Scholarships at the University of Sydney.pdf Type: application/pdf Size: 51399 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From john.obyrne at sydney.edu.au Mon Sep 29 16:50:53 2014 From: john.obyrne at sydney.edu.au (John O'Byrne) Date: Mon, 29 Sep 2014 16:50:53 +1000 Subject: [ASA] 2014 Bolton Symposium (first announcement) Message-ID: Dear Colleague We are pleased to announce that the 2014 Bolton Symposium, jointly hosted by CASS and the AAO, will be held on the 27th & 28th November 2014. This symposium is intended for post-doctoral astronomers to showcase the excellent science that is being done with the breadth of facilities available with the Australia Telescope National Facility and Australian Astronomical Observatory. The symposium will be held at the CSIRO Astronomy and Space Science ATNF headquarters in Marsfield, Sydney (see the website linked below for details). We encourage post-doctoral researchers using these facilities to submit talk abstracts, and for all astronomers to attend the meeting. Abstract and registration submission is now open and will close on the 27th October 2014. The Bolton Symposium website can be found at: http://www.atnf.csiro.au/research/conferences/2014/boltonsymp/index.html Kind regards, James Allison (CSIRO Astronomy and Space Science) Andy Green (Australian Astronomical Observatory) ####################### ------------------------------------------------------ Dr James Allison Bolton Fellow CSIRO Astronomy & Space Science, P.O. Box 76, Epping NSW 1710, Australia Rm: 201 Tel: +61(0)293724206 Email: jallison.astro at gmail.com ------------------------------------------------------- -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From john.obyrne at sydney.edu.au Tue Sep 30 10:36:04 2014 From: john.obyrne at sydney.edu.au (John O'Byrne) Date: Tue, 30 Sep 2014 10:36:04 +1000 Subject: [ASA] ASA Factsheet - Total Lunar Eclipse 8 October 2014 Message-ID: <5D67E085-57CA-4DA4-96EE-C1DAFC9B0AE9@sydney.edu.au> New ASA Factsheet As you may be aware, there is an upcoming Lunar Eclipse late on Wednesday 8 October. The eclipse will be visible throughout Australia, starting at 8.15pm (AEDT) in eastern Australia, or with a partially eclipsed moon in the west. A lunar eclipse may not be the most exciting or unusual astronomical event, but many of us still answer questions about them. In addition, lunar eclipses are readily accessible to the general public - location doesn?t matter too much and it?s not hard to find the eclipsed moon! More information about the eclipse can be found in the attached Factsheet produced by EPOC, the ASA's Education and Public Outreach Chapter. The sheet has also been posted on the ASA's Australian Astronomy web site (http://www.astronomy.org.au). The Factsheet link is http://astronomy.org.au/factsheets/ You may wish to use this sheet to inform friends, students or the public about this event. The sheet may be freely copied for wide distribution provided the Australian Astronomy and ASA logos are retained. John ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR JOHN O?BYRNE Associate Head (Teaching & Learning), School of Physics Associate Dean (Standards), Faculty of Science Secretary, Astronomical Society of Australia Inc. Sydney Institute for Astronomy School of Physics | Faculty of Science THE UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY Rm 205, Physics Building A28 | alternate: Rm 222, 44-70 Rosehill St Redfern H90 (see map) Postal address: School of Physics | The University of Sydney | NSW | Australia | 2006 T +61 2 9351 3184 | F +61 2 9351 7726 E john.obyrne at sydney.edu.au | W http://sydney.edu.au/science/people/john.obyrne CRICOS 00026A This email plus any attachments to it are confidential. Any unauthorised use is strictly prohibited. If you receive this email in error, please delete it and any attachments. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This email uses 100% recycled words and ideas. Do you really need to print it? ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: factsheet_27.pdf Type: application/pdf Size: 502172 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From aatts at aao.gov.au Wed Oct 1 14:24:45 2014 From: aatts at aao.gov.au (AAT Technical Secretary) Date: Wed, 01 Oct 2014 14:24:45 +1000 Subject: [ASA] Special call for CTIO (DECam, COSMOS, ISPI) proposals Message-ID: <542B820D.9030804@aao.gov.au> The AAO is calling for supplementary proposals to use DECam, the COSMOS spectrograph and/or the ISPI IR imager on the NOAO/CTIO Blanco 4m telescope in semester 2015A. Information about the available instruments can be found at http://www.aao.gov.au/science/observing/apply-for-observing-time Proposals should follow the standard guidelines for content and formatting as outlined in the web link above, and must be submitted through the new AAO proposal system, Lens: https://www.aao.gov.au/lens/ There is a minimum time request of 1 night, but no maximum. Observations will be carried out in visitor mode. Applications requiring bright or grey time are encouraged. Observers who applied for NOAO exchange time at the recent AAO call for proposals may apply for more time. The deadline is 5:00pm AEDT Wednesday 15 October. -- Lee Spitler AAT Technical Secretary Lecturer Australian Astronomical Observatory & Macquarie University Sydney, Australia P: +61 (2) 9850 4161 www.physics.mq.edu.au www.aao.gov.au From bryan.gaensler at sydney.edu.au Thu Oct 2 12:49:36 2014 From: bryan.gaensler at sydney.edu.au (Bryan Gaensler) Date: Thu, 2 Oct 2014 12:49:36 +1000 Subject: [ASA] Reminder: LSST town-halls in Sydney/Canberra/Melbourne/Perth, 27-31 October 2014 Message-ID: <009101cfddeb$8112cde0$833869a0$@gaensler@sydney.edu.au> Dear colleagues, SUMMARY: Town-hall meetings on possible Australian participation in LSST will take place over 27-31 October 2014. Register at http://caastro.org/event/2014-lsst. The Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) is an 8.4-m optical and infrared telescope about to commence construction on Cerro Pach?n, Chile. Over the 10-year period 2022 to 2032, LSST will image 18,000 deg^2 of the sky in six bands, visiting every position about 800 times to reach a final co-added magnitude limit r = 27.5. LSST will be transformational for a wide range of topics in astronomy, including weak lensing, BAOs, supernovae, NEOs, stellar astronomy, galaxy evolution, Galactic structure and transients. LSST will also explore new frontiers in astronomy data management, producing 30 TB of data and approximately one million transient alerts per night. Extensive further information on LSST can be found at www.lsst.org. LSST offers many scientific opportunities and synergies for Australian astronomers. To update the community on LSST and to initiate discussion about possible Australian participation in LSST, we will be holding a national series of town-hall meetings on LSST over the week of 27-31 October 2014. Our special guests for these events will be Professor Steven Kahn (LSST Director) and Professor ?eljko Ivezi? (LSST Project Scientist). The town-halls will be as follows: Mon 27 Oct: Sydney (AAO) Tue 28 Oct: Canberra (RSAA) Wed 29 Oct: Melbourne (Swinburne) Fri 31 Oct: Perth (ICRAR UWA) Each workshop will run over approximately 9.30am-3.30pm and will feature overviews from Profs Kahn and Ivezi?, contributed talks from Australian astronomers on proposed LSST science, and ample time for discussion about LSST and Australian participation. We invite you to register your attendance at one of these meetings. To sign up for your local LSST town-hall and for all logistical details, please visit : http://caastro.org/event/2014-lsst. There is no fee for attendance. We thank CAASTRO, AAO, RSAA, Swinburne, ICRAR and the LSST Corporation for their generous sponsorship of this activity. Bryan Gaensler CAASTRO Director From andrew.hopkins at aao.gov.au Fri Oct 3 09:19:24 2014 From: andrew.hopkins at aao.gov.au (Andrew Hopkins) Date: Fri, 03 Oct 2014 09:19:24 +1000 Subject: [ASA] STA Media release Message-ID: <542DDD7C.8010407@aao.gov.au> Dear ASA members, Please find attached a media release from Science and Technology Australia with comment on Minister Pyne's recent statements regarding NCRIS and the Future Fellowship scheme. Andrew Hopkins -- A.Prof. Andrew Hopkins, Head of Research and Outreach Australian Astronomical Observatory P.O. Box 915, North Ryde, NSW 1670, Australia ph: +61 2 9372 4849 fax: +61 2 9372 4880 -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: NCRIS FF oct 2 .docx Type: application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.documen Size: 386337 bytes Desc: not available URL: From andrew.hopkins at aao.gov.au Fri Oct 3 12:36:08 2014 From: andrew.hopkins at aao.gov.au (Andrew Hopkins) Date: Fri, 03 Oct 2014 12:36:08 +1000 Subject: [ASA] Fwd: STA Spring newsletter - pls forward on to society members In-Reply-To: <3892C315-94F5-4E53-BBBD-D8302CCB73EF@sta.org.au> References: <3892C315-94F5-4E53-BBBD-D8302CCB73EF@sta.org.au> Message-ID: <542E0B98.3010004@aao.gov.au> -------- Original Message -------- > > > > > > > Presidents, please forward this to your members. > > > > Not displaying correctly? View theweb version > > > > > > > > > > CONNECT: > > > > ON SOCIAL MEDIA > > > *Did you know that Science and Technology Australia is on YouTube?*You can > subscribe to our channelHERE . > > *Our top YouTube videos:*Nuclear energy: the debate Australia has to have. > Watch itHERE > > > Looking back to the Big Bang: the SKA telescope's unlimited potential. > Watch itHERE > > > How to Tweet like a pro. > Watch itHERE > > > *Did you know that Science and Technology Australia is on Twitter?* > Our Twitter feed will keep you up to date with news, events and funding > opportunities that are of interest to our members. > > *See some examples of our Tweets this month:*Applications for 2015 Science > and Innovation Awards close this Friday, 3 October. > Read itHERE > > Ian Chubb on science and public perceptions > Read itHERE > > Government science funding hits 30-year low > Read itHERE > > You can follow our Twitter feedHERE . > > *Did you know that Science and Technology Australia is on Facebook?*Our > Facebook feed will keep you up to date with news, events and funding > opportunities that are of interest to our members. > > *See some examples of our posts this month:*September 15 Sydney Morning > Herald editorial - Science for a better society and a stronger economy > Read itHERE > > Government announces the Cooperative Research Centre Program Review > Read itHERE > > The ARC has opened for Proposals for Industrial Transformation Research Hubs > for funding commencing in 2014 and Industrial Transformation Training > Centres for funding commencing in 2015 > Read itHERE > > You can follow our Facebook feedHERE > . > > > > > > > > Dear STA members and friends, > > Welcome to the spring edition of the STA newsletter, designed to keep you up > to date on what STA is doing, ways you can be involved, and developing > issues for all of us who work in science and technology. > > It has been a big month in Canberra with the release of thelong-awaited STEM > plan > from > Chief Scientist Ian Chubb, and Minister Macfarlane's announcement of a > Government innovation document that promises to address some of the issues > Chubb raises (speech andpress > release > ). > > Back in the STA office we are planning a bigger and better Science meets > Parliament (SmP) for STA's 30th birthday in 2015, and rolling out a series > of events that takes big science debates to the public and parliament. > > Remember we are here to help you navigate the maze of Federal Parliament, > and are always available to talk or offer advice ahead of a parliamentary > visit, or on ways to better engage with local parliamentarians. Just call or > email. > > Also between newsletters, a great way to keep abreast of STA activities, > developing issues, information and debates is to keep an eye on STA'sTwitter > andFacebook > feeds. > > > *Catriona Jackson* > Chief Executive Officer > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > *Science in a Fluoro Jacket* > > STA President, Dr Ross Smith, has written an opinion piece for/Australiasian > Science/on the forgotten majority of Australian scientists who are not > researchers. > > Read itHERE > . > > > *Nominations for STA executive positions* > > The following STA executive committee positions are open for nomination: > > * President-elect (1 year appointment, followed by a 2 year appointment as > President) > * Secretary > * Chair of the Policy committee > * Early Career Researcher > > A candidate must be a financial member of a member society and receive > support from two other individuals who are themselves members of a member > society. If you are interested please follow the link below or get in touch > to discuss. > > *Nominations are due by 5pm, 14 November 2014*. > > NominateHERE > . > > > *Science meets Parliament 2015* > > SmP 2015 is six months away, but to help members plan we are happy to > announce the*draft*dates are 24 and 25 March 2015, in Canberra. > > Dates cannot be set in stone until the Federal Parliament settles its > sitting calendar, and that doesn't take place until late November, so > registrations will not open for a few months yet. Remember SmP is an > invitation only event, with a member society allowance of two delegates > each. As always we will keep registration costs as low as possible within > the constraints of holding an event inside the Federal Parliament. > > When registrations open we will write to all Presidents of STA member > organisations with further details. > > Have a look at the wrap up of last year's eventHERE > . > > *Topical Science Forums* > > Next week our eighth Topical Science Forum,/Immunisation - what to do when > the science is not enough/, takes place in Melbourne in partnership with the > Wheeler Centre for Ideas. > > Experts, Dr Rachel Dunlop, Dr David Tscharke and Professor Anne Kelso, will > tackle the critical issue of why vaccination rates are dropping when it has > saved millions of lives and what we can do about it. > > Book a seatHERE > , > or wait for the recorded footage, which will be posted later in October > onour YouTube channel . > > The YouTube video of our forum/Nuclear Energy: the debate we have to have/is > topping the charts, with 1200 views and building. See what all the fuss is > aboutHERE > . > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > You have received this email from Science & Technology Australia. Click here > if you wish tounsubcribe . > > > > ? 2014 - Science and Technology Australia > > > > > > > > > > > > -- A.Prof. Andrew Hopkins, Head of Research and Outreach Australian Astronomical Observatory P.O. Box 915, North Ryde, NSW 1670, Australia ph: +61 2 9372 4849 fax: +61 2 9372 4880 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From bryan.gaensler at sydney.edu.au Sun Oct 5 13:36:32 2014 From: bryan.gaensler at sydney.edu.au (Bryan Gaensler) Date: Sat, 4 Oct 2014 19:36:32 -0700 Subject: [ASA] Call for agenda items - ANZ SKA Science Advisory Committee In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <3F5E589E-03FE-4898-AC3A-E03E82D87414@sydney.edu.au> Dear ASA colleagues, As described in my email from August below, the Aus/NZ Square Kilometre Array Science Advisory Committee (SAC) meets on a regular basis to advise the ANZSCC on issues relating to the SKA and to the Australia/NZ SKA effort. The SAC is the main conduit through which the community can provide direct feedback to government and other stakeholders on all issues relating to the SKA. The next meeting of the SAC will be on Wed 22 October 2014. If there are any issues you wish to raise, submissions you wish to make, or questions you want answered at this meeting, please email me or one of the other SAC members below with the specifics and details by 5pm AEDT on Tue 14 Oct 2014. regards, Bryan Gaensler SAC Chair PROFESSOR BRYAN GAENSLER | Australian Laureate Fellow ARC Centre of Excellence for All-sky Astrophysics (CAASTRO) Sydney Institute for Astronomy | School of Physics | Faculty of Science THE UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY Room 216, 44 Rosehill Street, Redfern, NSW 2016, Australia T +61 2 9351 6053 | F +61 2 9036 7843 | M +61 430 129 997 E bryan.gaensler at sydney.edu.au | W http://caastro.org/gaensler On 04/08/2014, at 16:56 , Bryan Gaensler wrote: > Dear colleagues, > > At the ASA meeting earlier this month, it became apparent that some people are not familiar with the internal structure of the Australian / New Zealand Square Kilometre Array (SKA) project. > > As part of our efforts to bring you all up to speed, I'm thus writing in my capacity as Chair of the Aus/NZ SKA Science Advisory Committee (SAC) to tell you about our role and activities. > > The SAC was formed in July 2013, and is appointed by the Australia/ New Zealand SKA Coordination Committee (ANZSCC). Our charge is to advise the ANZSCC on SKA issues relating to: site delivery and protection; project design, delivery and implementation; accrued benefits to Aust/WA/NZ from their investments in the SKA; emerging scientific opportunities and risks; and benefits or impacts to the international SKA resulting from Aus/NZ activities. The SAC meets approximately every six months, and is provided with administrative and logistical support by the Australian Department of Industry. > > The current membership of the SAC is: > > Dr Brian Boyle (Department of Industry) > Dr Robert Braun (SKA Organisation) > Prof Bryan Gaensler (Chair; U. Sydney) > Dr Lisa Harvey-Smith (CSIRO) > Dr Naomi McClure-Griffiths (CSIRO) > Mr Tim Natusch (AUT) > Prof Lister Staveley-Smith (ICRAR UWA) > Prof Steven Tingay (ICRAR Curtin U.) > Prof Stuart Wyithe (U. Melbourne) > > The next SAC meeting is expected to be in Sep/Oct 2014. Please contact any SAC member to submit concerns, questions or topics that you would like addressed by the SAC at this meeting. In conjunction with the Australian and NZ SKA Offices, the SAC will also seek to begin providing summaries of our meetings to the community. > > regards, > > Bryan Gaensler > SAC Chair >