From jhurley at swin.edu.au Tue Jun 10 11:57:22 2014 From: jhurley at swin.edu.au (Jarrod Hurley) Date: Tue, 10 Jun 2014 01:57:22 +0000 Subject: [ASA] Reminder - survey for feedback on the process of allocating national HPC resources to astronomers closes this Friday Message-ID: <53966602.2090807@swin.edu.au> Dear ASA members, The Astronomy Supercomputer Time Allocation Committee (ASTAC) grants time on supercomputing facilities that is dedicated for national astronomy access. ASTAC is currently seeking feedback from Australian-based astronomers on the ASTAC process and generally on access to high-performance computing (HPC) resources available to astronomers. Whether you have previously applied for computing time through ASTAC or not, we would appreciate you taking a few minutes to provide us with your feedback by completing the following short survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/7SSLPLJ noting that the survey will close at 5pm this coming Friday, June 13th 2014. Background information on ASTAC can be found on the AAL website: http://www.astronomyaustralia.org.au/commitees/astac In summary, ASTAC issues a call for proposals twice yearly to allocate available time on HPC facilities located at NCI, Swinburne and iVEC. The total amount of dedicated time available per year is approximately 7.5 million computing hours (or service units) spread across the three facilities. Thanks in advance for your feedback. Jarrod Hurley (on behalf of ASTAC) From dcroton at astro.swin.edu.au Tue Jun 10 15:39:39 2014 From: dcroton at astro.swin.edu.au (Darren Croton) Date: Tue, 10 Jun 2014 15:39:39 +1000 Subject: [ASA] REMINDER: ANITA lecture: A New Window on Inflation, David Parkinson -- Wed 1pm (AEST) 11th June Message-ID: Dear ANITA and ASA members. A quick reminder for our upcoming ANITA lecture, tomorrow (11th June) at 1pm (AEST): "A New Window on Inflation: Cosmological Perturbations and Gravitational Waves", by David Parkinson from the University of Queensland. Click the following link to be taken to the ANITA Google+ page: http://goo.gl/2kBCG1 Slides are available for download in advance here: http://goo.gl/ePAoRD. More details can be found at at: http://anita.edu.au/lectures/. This lecture will be of particular interest to those who wish to better understand the recent BICEP2 results. All are welcome to join! Thanks, and see you there! Darren Croton & Chris Power ----------------------------- The lecture will be held through Google Hangouts on Air. You'll first need a Google account (e.g. gmail). Log in to it. If you've never done a Google Hangout before you'll need to install a plugin for your browser. See https://www.google.com/tools/dlpage/hangoutplugin On Google+ search for "Anita Chapter" and head to our page. Alternatively, go directly to our Chapter page here: https://plus.google.com/u/0/104967001091880466806/posts You'll see a post for the Hangout on Air at around 12pm - hit play and enjoy! Some hints for a better experience: You can breakout the small video window on the Google+ page by opening it in YouTube. This gives you a much bigger view. Post any comments/questions under the video in the comments box on the Google+ or YouTube page. We'll try and answer them in real-time. I don't believe that comments are updated automatically; you may need to reload the page to see the latest. All lectures will be hosted on our ANITA YouTube page for later viewing. -- Darren Croton Associate Professor & QEII Research Fellow Centre for Astrophysics & Supercomputing Swinburne University of Technology PO Box 218, Hawthorn, VIC 3122, Australia Phone: 61-3-9214-5537; Fax: 61-3-9214-8797 http://astronomy.swin.edu.au/~dcroton -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From swyithe at unimelb.edu.au Wed Jun 11 17:55:14 2014 From: swyithe at unimelb.edu.au (Stuart Wyithe) Date: Wed, 11 Jun 2014 07:55:14 +0000 Subject: [ASA] Reminder: Decadal Plan Publications and Instrumentation Database Message-ID: Dear Colleagues, This email is a reminder that all Australian astronomers are asked to include their papers in the Decadal Plan Publications and Instrumentation Database. Doing so will ensure that the science return from your research and from the facilities that you use for your research will be quantified among the successes of Australian astronomy over the past decade. The Decadal Plan Publications and Facilities Database should be completed by Friday 20th June. So far over 3500 papers have been entered. As you will be aware the Australian Astronomy community is currently in the Decadal Planning process for the period 2016-2025. An important part of the Decadal Plan is 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. Earlier this year members of the Australian community were asked to complete the Demographics survey, with an excellent response. The NCA is now also constructing a database of the facilities and techniques used for Australian astronomy publications. This will be the second and last major survey exercise in the Decadal Plan process. The aim of the Publications and Facilities Database is to understand how astronomy infrastructure and techniques have been used during the past Decadal Plan period, and what the scientific impact of those facilities/techniques has been. This allows our community to assess the outcomes from previous investments and more effectively plan for the future. [Please note that all information will be aggregated nationally and not be tallied on an individual or institutional basis] The link to the Decadal Plan Publications and Facilities Database Input Page can be found at http://ph.unimelb.edu.au/astroads/upload.php The page is pass word protected. username: decadal password: plan This webpage will allow you to generate a library of your papers from the past Decadal Plan period using the ADS database. You will then be asked to assign the facilities/techniques that were used to conduct the research in these papers. Instructions are provided on the webpage, and are available at the bottom of this email. We have made an effort to ensure that input into the data base is as simple as possible and should only take about 30 seconds per paper. However we do recognise that the assignment of facility/techniques to individual papers is time consuming, and that it may not be possible for some members of the community to assign facilities/techniques to all of their papers in a single visit. If the assignment cannot be completed in a single session, it is therefore possible to revisited the webpage at a later date to complete your submissions. We ask that you complete your contribution to the Decadal Plan Publications and Facilities Database by Friday 20th June. Information on the 2016-25 Decadal Plan time-line, activities and working groups can be found at AustralianAstronomyDecadalPlan.org. Information about the NCA and previous Decadal Plans can be found on the National Committee for Astronomy web site. Best regards, Stuart Wyithe and Brian Schmidt ________________________________ Go to: http://ph.unimelb.edu.au/astroads/upload.php Enter your email (this will serve as a unique identifier for your papers, and allow you to edit your list) and your name as it would appear on ADS, e.g. "Wyithe, J" This page will generate a library of your papers over the past Decadal Planning period from the ADS database. You will then be asked to assign the facilities/techniques that were used to conduct the research in these papers. Once you are taken to your library of papers please note the following points that will ensure your publications are counted correctly: * In many cases the names submitted to the ADS database will generate listings that include some papers not belonging to the correct author. The generated listing therefore includes a check box next to the ADS identifier. To include papers in the Decadal Plan Publications Database please select this box. Note: Remember to tick the boxes besides papers you want to enter into the database, otherwise they will not be submitted. * Assignment of facilities/techniques and their percentage contribution to each selected paper is via drop down menus. Assignments of up to 5 facilities/techniques can be made for each paper. Default facilities/techniques can be selected on this webpage prior to generation of the library in order to make entry easier in cases where the same facility/technique is used for many papers. Exercise your judgement as to the fraction of the paper which can be attributed to a given facility or technique. You do not need to use all 5 categories, but totals DO need to add up to 100%. * We recognise that assignment of facility/technique to individual papers is time consuming, and that it may not be possible for members of the community to assign facilities/techniques to all of the selected papers in a single visit. If the assignment cannot be completed in a single session, please submit those paper assignments that have been made. The library may then be revisited from this webpage at a later date, in which case previously entered papers will be shown in red. Please note that when re-generating the library to complete paper assignments the same email address should be used. If errors are made during paper assignment, it is possible to delete these from from the database via the 'delete' tab that appears beside previously submitted papers. * If you encounter technical difficulties, please use the form at the bottom of the webpage. ==================================== 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 science.org.au/natcoms/nc-astronomy.html ==================================== -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From john.obyrne at sydney.edu.au Wed Jun 11 22:54:37 2014 From: john.obyrne at sydney.edu.au (John O'Byrne) Date: Wed, 11 Jun 2014 22:54:37 +1000 Subject: [ASA] Winners of 2014 Gruber Foundation Cosmology Prize Announced | Press Releases | IAU Message-ID: <34132A0A-7FDE-47FB-995D-D83B32049BE2@sydney.edu.au> Many ASA members may have seen this news today via other messages, but if not ? ASA Member Ken Freeman has been honoured for his significant contributions to Near Field Cosmology. The 2014 Gruber Foundation Cosmology Prize has been awarded to Jaan Einasto, Ken Freeman, R. Brent Tully, and Sidney van den Bergh for their individual roles in the development of Near Field Cosmology ? laying the foundation in our understanding of the structure and composition of the nearby Universe. The Cosmology Prize honours a leading cosmologist, astronomer, astrophysicist or scientific philosopher for theoretical, analytical, conceptual or observational discoveries leading to fundamental advances in our understanding of the Universe. For more details see http://www.iau.org/news/pressreleases/detail/iau1403/ Previous Australian winners are Jeremy Mould and Brian Schmidt. The ASA would like to congratulate Ken and also acknowledge his substantial contributions over many years. 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 A28Rm 222 | alternate: 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: From celine.dorgeville at anu.edu.au Thu Jun 12 15:44:50 2014 From: celine.dorgeville at anu.edu.au (=?iso-8859-1?Q?C=E9line_d=27Orgeville?=) Date: Thu, 12 Jun 2014 15:44:50 +1000 Subject: [ASA] 2014 ASA Women in Astronomy Workshop Registration Open! Message-ID: REGISTRATION is now OPEN for: The 2014 Astronomical Society of Australia Women in Astronomy Workshop We Are All Made of Stars: Establishing Equity and Diversity within Australian Astronomy 28-29 August, 2014, University House, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia In order to Establish Equity and Diversity within Australian Astronomy, we need the entire community to engage in the process. In this spirit, the 2014 Women in Astronomy workshop aims to attract attendees representing the breadth of Australian Astronomy and beyond, and is targeting decision makers within and outside of Astronomy. The 2014 workshop, in addition to its normal focus on gender diversity, will also explore issues surrounding other areas of diversity including LGBTIQ and cultural background. Senator the Hon. Michaelia Cash (Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Women) will welcome participants to this year?s workshop. The workshop will include talks by experts, professional training sessions, and breakout sessions that explore real life situations. The event will finish with a panel discussion of how to bring about meaningful change, moderated by Elizabeth Broderick, the Australian Sex Discrimination Commissioner, which will include ARC CEO Prof. Aidan Byrne, CSIRO CEO Dr. Megan Clarke, ANU Deputy Vice-Chancellor Research Prof. Margaret Harding, Swinburne University Vice-Chancellor Prof. Linda Kristjanson, and Prime Minister Science Prize Winner Terry Speed (WEHI). The workshop will be free to all participants, but venue size is limited. Please register for the workshop event and dinner at: http://www.mso.anu.edu.au/wia-workshop-2014/registration.html Travel support will be provided to participants who most need it, in a way that is supportive of the workshop diversity goals. Application details are provided on the workshop registration page. Because the workshop will be held during a parliament sitting week, we strongly recommend that you book your travel and accommodation as soon as possible. Please feel free to print as many copies of the 2014 Women in Astronomy poster as you would like, and to display them prominently at your institution :-) This year?s workshop promises to be a memorable event, and we very much look forward to welcoming you in Canberra soon! 2014 WiA workshop co-chairs, C?line d'Orgeville (celine.dorgeville at anu.edu.au) Prof. Brian Schmidt (brian.schmidt at anu.edu.au) -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From john.obyrne at sydney.edu.au Thu Jun 12 16:43:44 2014 From: john.obyrne at sydney.edu.au (John O'Byrne) Date: Thu, 12 Jun 2014 16:43:44 +1000 Subject: [ASA] Winners of 2014 Gruber Foundation Cosmology Prize Announced | Press Releases | IAU References: <34132A0A-7FDE-47FB-995D-D83B32049BE2@sydney.edu.au> Message-ID: Just to complete the record of ASA members among the winners of the Gruber Foundation Cosmology Prize?. I would like to note that Brian Boyle, Warrick Couch and Chris Lidman are all also previous winners as part of the Supernova Cosmology Project, along with Jason Spyromilio as part of the high-Z Supernova Search Team. Both teams were named along with team leaders Saul Perlmutter and Brian Schmidt as winners in 2007 for the discovery of the accelerating expansion of the universe. John Begin forwarded message: > From: John O'Byrne > Subject: Winners of 2014 Gruber Foundation Cosmology Prize Announced | Press Releases | IAU > Date: 11 June 2014 10:54:37 pm AEST > To: asa at physics.usyd.edu.au > > > > Many ASA members may have seen this news today via other messages, but if not ? > > > ASA Member Ken Freeman has been honoured for his significant contributions to Near Field Cosmology. > The 2014 Gruber Foundation Cosmology Prize has been awarded to Jaan Einasto, Ken Freeman, R. Brent Tully, and Sidney van den Bergh for their individual roles in the development of Near Field Cosmology ? laying the foundation in our understanding of the structure and composition of the nearby Universe. The Cosmology Prize honours a leading cosmologist, astronomer, astrophysicist or scientific philosopher for theoretical, analytical, conceptual or observational discoveries leading to fundamental advances in our understanding of the Universe. > > For more details see http://www.iau.org/news/pressreleases/detail/iau1403/ > > Previous Australian winners are Jeremy Mould and Brian Schmidt. > > The ASA would like to congratulate Ken and also acknowledge his substantial contributions over many years. > > > 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 A28Rm 222 | alternate: 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: From john.obyrne at sydney.edu.au Thu Jun 12 22:08:06 2014 From: john.obyrne at sydney.edu.au (John O'Byrne) Date: Thu, 12 Jun 2014 22:08:06 +1000 Subject: [ASA] Election for the ASA Early-Career Researcher Chapter Message-ID: <66665C6F-A49E-4E46-BA62-4378AC166FBB@sydney.edu.au> Dear ASA members, The election period for the ASA Early-Career Researcher Chapter Steering Committee is open. This process elects the ECR Steering Committee, with all positions open for election. Election opens: June 13, 2014 Election closes: 5pm (AWST), June 20, 2014 Please visit the ECR webpage for nomination descriptions from each of the candidates: http://asaecr.smp.uq.edu.au/ecr-elections-nominees/ The electronic voting form is available from: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/GRVB535 Regards, Cathryn Trott ECR Returning Officer ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 A28Rm 222 | alternate: 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: From john.obyrne at sydney.edu.au Sat Jun 14 16:00:33 2014 From: john.obyrne at sydney.edu.au (John O'Byrne) Date: Sat, 14 Jun 2014 16:00:33 +1000 Subject: [ASA] WiA 2014 workshop registration announcement with correction Message-ID: At C?line?s request I am re-sending this email with a small correction. We are concerned that some ASA members may not have received the original email. If you receive this but did NOT receive the original (sent mid-afternoon AEST on Thursday 12 June), please let me know. You may want to check your spam filters first! Thanks. John O'Byrne REGISTRATION is now OPEN for: The 2014 Astronomical Society of Australia Women in Astronomy Workshop We Are All Made of Stars: Establishing Equity and Diversity within Australian Astronomy 28-29 August, 2014, University House, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia In order to Establish Equity and Diversity within Australian Astronomy, we need the entire community to engage in the process. In this spirit, the 2014 Women in Astronomy workshop aims to attract attendees representing the breadth of Australian Astronomy and beyond, and is targeting decision makers within and outside of Astronomy. The 2014 workshop, in addition to its normal focus on gender diversity, will also explore issues surrounding other areas of diversity including LGBTIQ and cultural background. Senator the Hon. Michaelia Cash (Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Women) will welcome participants to this year?s workshop. The workshop will include talks by experts, professional training sessions, and breakout sessions that explore real life situations. The event will finish with a panel discussion of how to bring about meaningful change, moderated by Elizabeth Broderick, the Australian Sex Discrimination Commissioner, which will include ARC CEO Prof. Aidan Byrne, CSIRO CEO Dr. Megan Clark, ANU Deputy Vice-Chancellor Research Prof. Margaret Harding, Swinburne University Vice-Chancellor Prof. Linda Kristjanson, and Prime Minister Science Prize Winner Terry Speed (WEHI). The workshop will be free to all participants, but venue size is limited. Please register for the workshop event and dinner at: http://www.mso.anu.edu.au/wia-workshop-2014/registration.html Travel support will be provided to participants who most need it, in a way that is supportive of the workshop diversity goals. Application details are provided on the workshop registration page. Because the workshop will be held during a parliament sitting week, we strongly recommend that you book your travel and accommodation as soon as possible. Please feel free to print as many copies of the 2014 Women in Astronomy poster as you would like, and to display them prominently at your institution :-) This year?s workshop promises to be a memorable event, and we very much look forward to welcoming you in Canberra soon! 2014 WiA workshop co-chairs, C?line d'Orgeville (celine.dorgeville at anu.edu.au) Prof. Brian Schmidt (brian.schmidt at anu.edu.au) -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: