[ASA] 2016-25 Decadal Plan Working Groups

[Stuart Wyithe]

Dear colleagues,

Following the July solicitation of feedback and expressions of interest in draft process and Working Groups for the 2016-25 Decadal Plan, the National Committee for Astronomy (NCA) is pleased to announce the Decadal Plan time-line and working group structure. These are summarised in the attached document. Thank you to all those people who provided feedback.

The working groups and chairs are:

1.1   Galaxies and Cosmology Chair:  Lisa Kewley
1.2   Stars and Planets, Chair:  Michael Ireland
1.3   The Galaxy Co-Chairs:  Jill Rathborne and Naomi McClure-Griffiths
1.4   High Energy and Fundamental Astrophysics, Chair:  Duncan Galloway

2.1   International Scale Facilities Chair:  Karl Glazebrook
2.2   National and Institutional Scale Facilities Chair:  Kate Brooks
2.3   eScience Chair:  Darren Croton

3.1   Demographics Chair:  Sarah Maddison
3.2   Education, Training and Careers Chair:  Kevin Pimbblet
3.3   Industry Chair:  Carole Jackson
3.4   Research Funding Chair:  Chris Tinney


The NCA would like to thank the working group chairs for agreeing to take on this significant role for the benefit of our community.

There was strong support from the Australian community following the NCA's first call for expressions of interest in working groups, with over 80 members already indicating their intention to contribute. These working groups are open, and additional membership is strongly encouraged. You will note that the focus of working groups 1.2 and 1.3 has been adjusted from that proposed in July, and that working group 1.4 High Energy and Fundamental Astrophysics has been added. The previously proposed working group 1.4 Theoretical Astrophysics has been removed in favour of having specific discussions of that topic held within the context of each of the working groups 1.1-1.4.

Members of the community who have not yet nominated for one or more of the working groups during the initial announcement period and now wish to do so should reply to swyithe at unimelb.edu.au<mailto:swyithe at unimelb.edu.au>


Background:

The NCA carries out a formal strategic planning process on a 10-year time scale. This provides the opportunity for Australian astronomy to carry out a stock take of its capabilities, assess its impact both nationally and internationally, provide a vision for the future, and to set priorities and develop strategies on how that vision might be implemented.

The document New Horizons, A Decadal Plan for Australian Astronomy 2006-15 has been influential as a tool for presenting our vision to key stakeholders outside the research sector. This includes Australian Astronomy's key stakeholder, the Commonwealth Government, as well as industrial/research partners both nationally and internationally. As the currency of the last Decadal Plan for Australian Astronomy concludes in 2015, it is now time to consider the process for producing the next Decadal Plan, covering the period 2016-25.

Best regards,

Stuart

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Professor Stuart Wyithe
Australian Laureate Fellow
Chair, National Committee for Astronomy
School of Physics
University of Melbourne
Vic, Australia  3010

Phone:  +61 3 8344 5083
Fax:  +61 3 9347 4783
Email: swyithe at unimelb.edu.au<https://evserver2.unimelb.edu.au/EnterpriseVault/swyithe@unimelb.edu.au>

science.org.au/natcoms/nc-astronomy.html<http://science.org.au/natcoms/nc-astronomy.html>
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