[ASA] Nominations for the National Committee for Astronomy

[John O'Byrne]

CALL FOR COMMUNITY NOMINATIONS FOR THE NATIONAL COMMITTEE FOR ASTRONOMY

The National Committee for Astronomy (NCA) is one of twenty-two National Committees of the Australian Academy of Science (AAS). The NCA exists to foster astronomy in Australia, to liaise with international scientific bodies, and to advise the Council of the Australian Academy of Science on relevant matters. One of its main activities is to oversee the Decadal Plan process for Australian Astronomy.

The NCA is made up of eight members appointed by the Executive Committee of the Academy. The current members of the committee are listed at http://science.org.au/natcoms/nc-astronomy.html.

There is currently one vacancy on the NCA, as Prof. Harvey Butcher has recently completed his term as a member. To make the process of selecting a new member as open as possible, the NCA is calling for nominees from the broader astronomy community. Members of the NCA should be respected members of the Australian astronomy community with a broad spread of institutions and specialisations.
Since five of the seven continuing NCA members are from institutions in NSW/ACT, we are particularly keen to use this new appointment to broaden the geographic spread of the committee.

The National Committee guidelines can be found at
http://www.science.org.au/natcoms/guidelines.htm
The guidelines relating to membership can be summarised as follows:
* Members should be scientists active in the field
* Membership shall be appropriate to 'the best interests of Australian science'
* Membership will not usually exceed 8 people
* Members will usually be appointed for 4 years
* Re-appointment for one further term is possible in 'exceptional circumstances'
Note that all appointments are made by the AAS Executive Committee on the basis of a nomination forwarded by the Chair of the NCA.

Nominations will be reviewed by a panel consisting of the NCA Chair (Elaine Sadler), the President of the ASA (Kate Brooks) and one Fellow of the Academy who is not currently an NCA member (Warrick Couch). This review panel (in consultation with the Academy's Secretary for Physical Sciences, Prof. Jagadish) will make a recommendation on the vacant position, which will be forwarded to the AAS Executive Committee for approval.

Please send your nominations by email to the NCA Chair (Elaine Sadler, ems at physics.usyd.edu.au) before 5pm (AEST) on Monday 15 October 2012.

Nominations can be brief (name, institution and a very short outline of expertise are all that's needed, and self-nominations are also acceptable).

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   Professor Elaine M. Sadler FAA
   Chair, National Committee for Astronomy
   School of Physics A28
   University of Sydney
   NSW 2006, Australia

   email: ems at physics.usyd.edu.au
   phone: +61 2 9351 2622
   fax:   +61 2 9351 7726
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