From tamarad at physics.uq.edu.au Mon Sep 21 11:45:48 2015 From: tamarad at physics.uq.edu.au (Tamara Davis) Date: Mon, 21 Sep 2015 01:45:48 +0000 Subject: [ASA] First announcement: Diving into the Dark, 18-22 July, Cairns, Australia Message-ID: First announcement: Diving into the Dark, 18-22 July 2016, Cairns, Australia It?s our pleasure to announce ?Diving into the Dark?, the 2016 scientific conference for the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence in All-sky Astrophysics (CAASTRO), which will be held it in mid-July 2016 in Cairns (gateway to the Barrier Reef in Australia). http://www.caastro.org/event/2016-dark Title: Diving into the Dark: Bridging Cosmological Theory and Observations Dates: 18-22 July 2016 Location: Cairns, Australia (Pullman Cairns International http://www.pullmancairnsinternational.com.au/) Diving into the Dark: Bridging Cosmological Theory and Observations This conference will bring together theorists and observers studying the dark sectors of the universe - dark energy and dark matter. The search for a physical understanding of the dark sector continues, and progress will depend on the intricate interplay of new, large cosmological datasets, the predictions of physical theories, and accurate simulations. Which combinations of observable signatures are most interesting for distinguishing between models? How can we mitigate systematic errors in these measurements? What are the most exciting new theoretical developments? The conference will cover a diverse range of scientific topics including large-scale structure, gravitational lensing, peculiar velocities, and supernovae as cosmological probes. Scientific Organising Committee: Sarah Bridle (U.Manchester) Tamara Davis (U.Queensland) Catherine Heymans (U.Edinburgh) Wayne Hu (Chicago) Mike Hudson (U.Waterloo) Dragan Huterer (U.Michigan) Nikhil Padmanabhan (Yale) Andrew Pontzen (UCL) Mark Sullivan (Southampton) Risa Wechsler (Stanford) To put this conference in context, last year our CAASTRO scientific conference was ?Supernovae in the Local Universe? with 142 researchers in attendance: http://www.caastro.org/event/2014-supernova This year?s we are hosting the Astronomical Data Analysis Software and Systems (ADASS), with 280 people currently registered: http://www.caastro.org/event/2015-adass Registration will open on the 1st of December 2015. Abstract deadline will be the 25th March 2016. For now, save the date! It should be a lot of fun. Winter (July!) is a great time to visit a tropical location, as in July Cairns has an average high of 26 degrees Celsius. Best regards, Tamara Davis, on behalf of the local organising committee: Chris Blake, Ixandra Achitouv, Edward Macaulay, Katie Mack, David Parkinson, Chris Springob, and Brad Tucker :: Professor Tamara Davis :: ARC Centre of Excellence in All-sky Astrophysics (CAASTRO) :: University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia :: http://www.physics.uq.edu.au/download/tamarad :: tamarad at physics.uq.edu.au -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From andrew.hopkins at aao.gov.au Mon Sep 21 15:23:50 2015 From: andrew.hopkins at aao.gov.au (Andrew Hopkins) Date: Mon, 21 Sep 2015 15:23:50 +1000 Subject: [ASA] Fwd: Science & Technology Australia September Newsletter In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <55FF9466.9020201@aao.gov.au> -------- Forwarded Message -------- Subject: Science & Technology Australia September Newsletter Date: Mon, 21 Sep 2015 05:21:22 +0000 From: Science & Technology Australia Reply-To: Science & Technology Australia To: ahopkins at aao.gov.au Science & Technology Australia September Newsletter *Society Presidents please forward to your members* Science & Technology Australia - September Newsletter View this email in your browser *Name and title* Dr Sabrina Heng, ARC Senior Research Fellow, Centre for Nanoscale BioPhotonics, University of Adelaide. *Discipline* Chemistry/ BioPhotonics *What lured you into science in the first place?* Subjects that require logical reasoning like chemistry and philosophy have always appealed to me more than the others. But it was really a series of books / articles that lead me down this career path. One of them was Harvard Professor Chris Walsh?s article on ?Molecular mechanisms that confer antibacterial drug resistance?. The article describes the new tools and tactics used by scientists in the race to outsmart the superbugs. Back then, I remember thinking how I would really love to spend the rest of my life trying to find answers to these and other such questions. *What keeps you there?* I was diagnosed with an autoimmune disorder 10 years ago, where the good fortune of early diagnosis made a difference to my prognosis. My passion now lies in being in an environment where I am contributing towards developing tools for early disease diagnosis. That and the fact that I still get goose bumps when I read about the exciting new discoveries and devices made by my fellow scientists. *What makes science different from other careers?* After a while, it stops being a career and becomes who you are ? a scientist. You start thinking, rationalising, writing and observing the world like one. *What would you tell a 10-year-old about a career in science?* Can we ever find a cure for HIV? Can and how do scientists grow organs in a Petri dish? Can we ever stop an earthquake? If you have ever thought about these questions and more, then being a scientist definitely gives you the ability go and find the answers for yourself. *Have you got a favourite career moment?* I would like to think that my favourite career moment has yet to come, perhaps in the form a /Nature/ publication or the day my daughters decide to become scientists themselves, preferably with an MD/PhD (no pressure girls!) :) *Membership fees* A big round of applause for the many STA members who paid their membership dues very promptly this year. If you haven?t received an invoice or have any queries please contact us directly. accounts at sta.org.au Twitter Facebook Google Plus YouTube Dear Colleagues, Spring is well and truly in the air and the political landscape here in Canberra is active to say the least. We are gearing up for a number of important events in the second half of the year, including our 30th anniversary. All presidents of member groups should have had a ?save the date? by now; if not please make contact with gia.metherell at sta.org.au. Members have been a great help in tracking down all our friends over the years, so it should be a great night. Also we are planning election year activities. As usual we will survey the major political parties on their science policy intentions, and ensure you get the details before polling day. This time we will run a science policy forum to debate and discuss the issues in the lead-up to the federal poll. *Science meets Business 2015 * We are very excited to bring /Science meets Business/ to STA members, and invitations to register have just gone to member group presidents. If you want to be one of the lucky ones, make contact with your society head. The first-of-its-kind event aims to start a reshaped and refreshed conversation about the low levels of Industry-STEM collaboration in Australia, identifying examples of good and bad practice, and avenues for change. We hope to make this an annual event to broker better mutual understanding between science and business. A range of high-level speakers from business and science will lead this dynamic public debate over one day in the nation?s most innovative new building, the Frank Gehry-designed Dr Chau Chak Wing Building. More details are available HERE . *Women in Science toolkit and research report * The long-awaited Women in the Science Research Workforce report is out and available in full for members HERE [pdf]. Outstanding women scientists are achieving at the highest levels, obtaining advanced scientific qualifications and taking key roles in the fields of science and technology. But across the board we all know that we are not making the most of the nation?s natural talent, and that talented women are being lost to science every day. This report makes a very important contribution to the evidence base, and provides a valuable follow-up to the original 2009 FASTS report, Women in Science in Australia: Maximising Productivity, Diversity and Innovation [pdf]. The report focuses on developing clear actions and strategies to achieve organisational and sectoral change. A hands-on, web-based toolkit that accompanies the report is available HERE . *Search for ET kicks off topical science forums* "Are we alone in the universe or is alien life inevitable?" was the first in the new round of topical science events, with a stellar panel. Professor Paul Davies, Nobel Laureate Brian Schmidt, Australian search project leader Professor Matthew Bailes and two of Australia?s top young scientists, Alan Duffy and Professor Naomi McClure-Griffiths, tackled the big questions: Is intelligent alien life inevitable? How likely is it that we will find it in an infinite universe? Where and how do we start the hunt? What do we do if we find intelligent life? What does all this mean for Australian science? The panel also took the discussion inside the federal parliament, at a very well-attended Parliamentary Friends of Science event. The aim of this series is to take the best scientific minds, tackling the really big issues, straight to the public and the parliament. If you missed out you can view the whole event HERE . If you would like to be alerted to coming events please sign up HERE . *Science Meets Parliament 2016* Dates are tentatively set for the next SmP, 22 and 23 March, 2016. But as usual the dates will not be confirmed until the federal parliamentary sitting dates are set in late November. As usual, STA member organisations will be entitled to register two delegates for the nation?s premier Science/Parliament engagement event. All the details of last year?s events are available HERE . /Copyright ? 2015 Science & Technology Australia, All rights reserved./ You are receiving this email as a President of one of Science & Technology Australia's member societies. unsubscribe from this list update subscription preferences Email Marketing Powered by MailChimp -- 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 Paul.Francis at anu.edu.au Tue Sep 22 09:33:59 2015 From: Paul.Francis at anu.edu.au (Paul Francis) Date: Mon, 21 Sep 2015 23:33:59 +0000 Subject: [ASA] Skymapper call for proposals Message-ID: Call for Proposals for non-survey time on the SkyMapper Telescope: Semester 2016A Application deadline: 23:59 15th October 2015 Nights available: --------------------- 24.0 for ANU-led proposals (140 hours dome-open time given average weather statistics) 6.0 for other Australian-led proposals(35 hours dome-open time given average weather statistics) Period 01 January to 30 June 2016; these nights will need to be distributed over different lunar phases in the long term, but not necessarily in any given semester. How to apply -------------- For instructions for proposals and information on SkyMapper please refer to https://www.mso.anu.edu.au/~skymap/instructions_SMprop.html You can only apply for images that will not replicate the observations of the public SkyMapper Southern Sky Survey (all-sky dec < +2, 100 sec images in uv (6 visits) and griz (4 visits), operating until 2019). The SkyMapper team can prioritise public survey fields to a limited extent in any given semester. If you'd like a field to be observed with priority, please do not submit a proposal, but contact the SkyMapper team (skymapper at anu.edu.au) who will help on a best-effort basis. Proposals should not directly compete with SkyMapper legacy science projects, which are listed at https://www.mso.anu.edu.au/~skymap/TDR/SkyMapperSouthernSkySurveyScienceProjects.html Proposals should include a two-page scientific and technical justification. Please email to paul.francis at anu.edu.au before the deadline. If you do not receive confirmation that we've received your e-mail within 24 hours, please contact us again. Joint proposals with proposers from both ANU and the Australian Community should specify how they want the time broken down between ANU and other Australian time. Your proposal will be ranked by the ANU-TAC and, if successful, forwarded to the SkyMapper team for scheduling and robotic observation. All images will receive basic processing by the SkyMapper Science Data Pipeline alongside survey observations (and thus will be done in temporal order). Telescope Summary ----------------- SkyMapper is a 1.3m telescope with a 5.7 sq. deg. FoV and a 268 Megapixel camera. There are six primary filters (uvgriz), plus an H-alpha filter subject to strong scheduling constraints. If you have any questions not answered in the documentation, Chris Onken and Chris Wolf are able to help. (skymapper at anu.edu.au) ============================= A/Prof. Paul Francis Astrophysicist Mt Stromlo Observatory, and the Physics Education Centre College of Physical and Mathematical Sciences Building 38a, Tel 02 6125 2824 or 8031 The Australian National University Canberra ACT 0200 Australia paul.francis at anu.edu.au http://www.mso.anu.edu.au/~pfrancis/ CRICOS Provider #00120C -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From john.obyrne at sydney.edu.au Tue Sep 22 15:59:00 2015 From: john.obyrne at sydney.edu.au (John O'Byrne) Date: Tue, 22 Sep 2015 15:59:00 +1000 Subject: [ASA] "Dancing with the stars" Summer School + ANITA2016 Message-ID: <88E0CD5B-F2C6-46B4-BD0A-1D7E234DB724@sydney.edu.au> *** First announcement *** We are delighted to announce the Australian National Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics summer school and annual workshop for 2016, to be held at Monash University, Clayton Campus in sunny Melbourne, Victoria. Summer school: ?Dancing with the stars: The life and death of stars? Mon-Wed 8th-10th February 2016 ANITA annual conference/workshop: Thurs-Fri 11th-12th February 2016 Registration will open in October 2015. The summer school will be free for students and there will be no registration fee for the ANITA workshop. The conference dinner will be held on Thurs 11th Feb. See http://anita.edu.au for updates or contact the local organisers for further details. Save the date! Your local organisers, Paul Lasky, Daniel Price & Alex Heger _______________________________________________ Cathryn Trott Senior Research Fellow and ARC DECRA Fellow ARC Centre of Excellence for All-Sky Astrophysics International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research Curtin University Bentley WA, Australia cathryn.trott at curtin.edu.au -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From itso at aao.gov.au Tue Sep 22 19:23:34 2015 From: itso at aao.gov.au (International Telescopes Support Office) Date: Tue, 22 Sep 2015 19:23:34 +1000 Subject: [ASA] Call for Magellan Proposals in Semester 2016A Message-ID: <56011E16.10104@aao.gov.au> 2016A Call for Magellan Proposals Proposals for Australian access to the Magellan telescopes for Semester 2016A (mid-Jan - mid-Jul 2016) are due by: *5:00pm AEST on Friday 9 October 2015** * (A separate call for Gemini proposals in Semester 2016A with a 30 September 2015 deadline was issued earlier - please see http://ausgo.aao.gov.au/cfp.html). There will likely be a single MegaCam f/5 block in Mar/Apr 2016 (depending on the RA range of accepted proposals), as well as a single adaptive optics MagAO run of about 25 nights in Feb/Mar 2016. In recent semesters demand for instruments mounted on the Clay telescope has significantly exceeded that for instruments on the Baade telescope. In order to help address this issue the MagE instrument has been moved from Clay to Baade. Applicants are encouraged to consider whether their science might also be possible using the instruments on Baade (IMACS, FourStar, FIRE, MagE), should their preferred instrument on Clay not be available due to scheduling constraints. Complete information about all Magellan instrumentation on offer, travel funding, and the application procedure is available at http://ausgo.aao.gov.au/magellan.html. For any enquiries about Australian usage of Magellan please contact the AAO's International Telescopes Support Office (itso at aao.gov.au). Stuart Ryder Head of International Telescopes Support Australian Astronomical Observatory --------------------------------------------------------------------- *As of 1 July 2015, the Australian Gemini Office is now the International Telescopes Support Office. Please update your e-mail address book to use "itso at aao.gov.au" in place of "ausgo at aao.gov.au".* --------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From john.obyrne at sydney.edu.au Wed Sep 23 08:45:54 2015 From: john.obyrne at sydney.edu.au (John O'Byrne) Date: Wed, 23 Sep 2015 08:45:54 +1000 Subject: [ASA] UNSW workshops - December 9, 10, 11 Message-ID: Save the Date! You are invited to two workshops to be held at the School of Physics at UNSW in December: Celebrating Mopra: Looking to the Future December 10-11 preceded by an afternoon workshop the day before: The JCMT and the East Asia Observatory December 9 Further details will be announced shortly. Thank-you Michael Burton Michael Burton -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From daniel.huber at sydney.edu.au Thu Sep 24 16:10:16 2015 From: daniel.huber at sydney.edu.au (Daniel Huber) Date: Thu, 24 Sep 2015 06:10:16 +0000 Subject: [ASA] 5th Australian Exoplanet Workshop Message-ID: <57FFD235-3E91-437D-846A-944707A88B1F@sydney.edu.au> 5th Australian Exoplanet Workshop: "Australian Exoplanetary Science in the Era of K2, TESS and Gaia" 9-10 December 2015 - University of New South Wales, Sydney Registrations are now open for the 5th Australian Exoplanet Workshop which will be held at the Kensington Campus of the University of New South Wales from 9-10 December 2015. Hosted by the UNSW Astrophysics Group, this meeting aims to bring together Australian researchers working on exoplanets and related topics from both observational and theoretical perspectives. The workshop will cover all areas in planetary science such as exoplanet surveys, planetary atmospheres, orbital dynamics, theoretical modeling of planet formation and evolution, host star characterisations, and solar system science. This year's workshop will include a dedicated session on the K2, TESS and Gaia missions, which will provide high-precision photometry and astrometry on an unprecedented scale in the southern hemisphere. A goal of the workshop will be to discuss strategies for the Australian exoplanet community to efficiently exploit these spectacular resources over the coming years. There will also be an opportunity to discuss strategies for increasing linkages and collaborations to expand this critical research area in the future. For registration details and more information please visit: http://astronomy.swin.edu.au/planets/FifthWorkshop2015/ The registration deadline is 27 November 2015. Daniel Huber (on behalf of the SOC and LOC) -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From yeshe.fenner at astronomyaustralia.org.au Fri Sep 25 10:32:35 2015 From: yeshe.fenner at astronomyaustralia.org.au (Yeshe Fenner) Date: Fri, 25 Sep 2015 10:32:35 +1000 Subject: [ASA] Call for nominations: AAL Non-Executive Board Directors. Applications due 9th Oct 2015 Message-ID: <002301d0f729$ad16b250$074416f0$@astronomyaustralia.org.au> Dear ASA members, Astronomy Australia Ltd (AAL ) is seeking nominations for three upcoming vacancies on the AAL Board. Please see our advertisement for more details. Applications are due by 4PM AEDT on Friday 9th October 2015. AAL encourages applications from everyone with the appropriate expertise and skills. AAL also recognises the importance of gender balance and therefore encourages applications from women. Feel free to circulate this email to your colleagues and suitable candidates. Kind regards, Yeshe ______________________________ Dr Yeshe Fenner, PhD, PMP Executive Officer Astronomy Australia Ltd T: 03 9214 5520 M: 0430 708 995 E: yeshe.fenner at astronomyaustralia.org.au W: astronomyaustralia.org.au P: P.O. Box 2100 Hawthorn VIC 3122 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From aatts at aao.gov.au Fri Sep 25 16:39:35 2015 From: aatts at aao.gov.au (AAT Tech Secretary) Date: Fri, 25 Sep 2015 16:39:35 +1000 Subject: [ASA] Special call for CTIO (DECam, COSMOS, ISPI) proposals Message-ID: Due to low demand from the initial call, the AAO making a special call for proposals to use DECam, the COSMOS spectrograph and/or the ISPI IR imager on the NOAO/CTIO Blanco 4m telescope in semester 2016A. Information about the available instruments can be found at this link: 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. The International Telescopes Support Office (ITSO) at the AAO has secured funding via Astronomy Australia Ltd to reimburse the costs of Australian CTIO PI observer travel to Chile in Semester 2016A, on a similar basis to the way Australian Magellan observers are funded. Applications requiring bright or grey time are encouraged. Observers who applied for CTIO time at the recent AAO call for proposals may apply for more time. The deadline is 5:00pm AEDT Friday 9th 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