From sarah.brough at aao.gov.au Mon Jul 28 09:48:22 2014 From: sarah.brough at aao.gov.au (Sarah Brough) Date: Mon, 28 Jul 2014 09:48:22 +1000 Subject: [ASA] Feedback for Gemini Users' Committee meeting Message-ID: <53D58FC6.5000908@aao.gov.au> Dear All, The Gemini Users' Committee will have its annual meeting at La Serena, Chile on Aug. 18-19. We (Sarah Brough and Stuart Ryder) would be happy to get any Gemini User feedback before the meeting, especially on recent changes in the Gemini user experience; e.g. the introduction of Large & Long Programs, the Fast Turnaround program, Priority Visiting Mode, the Ureka software, and the Data Reduction Forum. Sincerely yours, Sarah Brough and Stuart Ryder (sdr at aao.gov.au) -- ------------------------------------------------------------ Sarah Brough Research Astronomer Australian Astronomical Observatory Phone: +61 (0)2 9372 4848 Office days: Mon, Tues, Thurs ------------------------------------------------------------ From Ray.Norris at csiro.au Mon Jul 28 13:42:06 2014 From: Ray.Norris at csiro.au (Ray.Norris at csiro.au) Date: Mon, 28 Jul 2014 03:42:06 +0000 Subject: [ASA] Notes from SKA Town Hall Meeting Message-ID: <39D63648-AF8B-4194-996D-3F3EE112BE33@csiro.au> Many thanks to those who attended Fridays SKA Town Hall Meeting. Notes from the meeting can be found on http://ozska.pbworks.com/2014july25_SKA_Town_Hall_Meeting Feel free to add any comments at the bottom of the wiki There was loud vocal support at the meeting for the idea of setting up an "Australian SKA Users Committee". I invite suggestions as to how to establish it and who should run it (not me!). Cheers Ray Ray.Norris at csiro.au CSIRO Astronomy & Space Science PO Box 76, Epping, NSW 1710, Australia Tel: +61 417 288 307 http://www.atnf.csiro.au/people/rnorris -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From andrew.hopkins at aao.gov.au Mon Jul 28 16:41:26 2014 From: andrew.hopkins at aao.gov.au (Andrew Hopkins) Date: Mon, 28 Jul 2014 16:41:26 +1000 Subject: [ASA] National Peer Review Network Project Message-ID: <53D5F096.9000705@aao.gov.au> Dear ASA members, I'd like to draw your attention to the attached OLT National Peer Review Network Project. For those of you at Universities, or involved in higher education assessment, there are national workshops being organised through August/September to discuss the Peer Review of Higher Education Assessment and Standards. Participation in these workshops is free, but you need to register (see details in the attachment). 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: PRNpowerpointUpdat24072014.pdf Type: application/pdf Size: 1003301 bytes Desc: not available URL: From Paul.Francis at anu.edu.au Mon Jul 28 16:51:49 2014 From: Paul.Francis at anu.edu.au (Paul Francis) Date: Mon, 28 Jul 2014 06:51:49 +0000 Subject: [ASA] Call for proposals - 2.3m Telescope Message-ID: <2CFF5158-A8A9-458D-917D-F6D79F9C985F@anu.edu.au> Dear Observer, The closing date for observing proposals for time on the ANU/RSAA 2.3m telescope at Siding Spring Observatory (SSO) in the quarter 1st NOVEMBER 2014 - 31st JANUARY 2015 is 23:59 AUGUST 15, 2014. Instruments available: Nasymth A: WiFeS Nasymth B: Imager or echelle. Observing proposals must be submitted electronically via the RSAA web pages. Full instructions are available at http://rsaa.anu.edu.au/observers/observing-rsaa. You will need the most recent versions of the template and style files which can be obtained from the web pages. *************************** PLEASE NOTE *********************************** (1) WiFeS users are requested to indicate on the proposal form whether they will be present at the telescope or observe remotely. Remote observing is available only to experienced WiFeS observers but can now be carried out from sites other than Mt Stromlo subject to technical feasibility. (2) Proposals for use of the 2.3m will only be considered if the PI is from the ANU or from another institution that contributes financially or has contributed financially and directly to the building and/or operations of the 2.3m telescope and its commissioned instruments. These institutions include those that collaborated on the successful ARC LIEF bid to fund the Blue Arm of the WiFeS spectrograph and the successful ARC LIEF bid for the WiFeS upgrade. All such proposals will be judged on their scientific merit alone. There will be no quotas placed on the amount of time available for qualifying institutions. These policies will remain in place for the present. Currently eligible (non-ANU) institutions are the AAO, UQld, UNSW and USyd as well as Swinburne, Monash and Macquarie. (3) Macquarie, Swinburne and Monash proposals have a certain amount of guaranteed time. All proposals wishing to claim this should state explicitly in the abstract how much of this time they wish to claim. (4) Limited first night support at the telescope is provided to new observers. Nevertheless new observers are strongly encouraged to be present at the telescope at least one night before their observing run to familiarise themselves with the telescope and instrument operating systems. The latest information on using the telescope and its instruments can be found at http://rsaa.anu.edu.au/observers/obsering-rsaa. (5) Proposers are reminded to limit their scientific case to TWO pages, including figures and references. *************************************************************************** If you have technical problems in using the web-based submission process, please email tacinfo at mso.anu.edu.au. Paul Francis Chair, ANU TAC ============================= 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 swyithe at unimelb.edu.au Tue Jul 29 10:34:11 2014 From: swyithe at unimelb.edu.au (Stuart Wyithe) Date: Tue, 29 Jul 2014 00:34:11 +0000 Subject: [ASA] Decadal Plan: July update Message-ID: <76F8F0CC-A404-4A52-AD42-02183A9678AF@unimelb.edu.au> Dear colleagues, I would like to thank all those who participated in the successful decadal planning session at last weeks Astronomical Society of Australia meeting. I would particularly like to acknowledge the extensive thought and effort from the working groups and their executives that went into generating the detailed draft reports. Updates: 1) Following last weeks meeting, the working groups will now finalise their reports, which will be submitted to the NCA by the 30th August. Please contact the working groups to provide additional feedback well in advance of that date. I would like to reiterate that the working group reports are the vehicle for input into the Decadal Plan. Details for the working group contacts and copies of the draft reports are available at australianastronomydecadalplan.org 2) High quality images featuring Australian astronomers, results and infrastructure are an important ingredient in the Decadal Plan. Members of the community are invited to provide high resolution images (including credit) for possible use in the Decadal Plan. Images should be forwarded to Amanda Bauer (Amanda.Bauer at aao.gov.au) by the end of August. 3) In addition to images, the Decadal Plan will feature several ?box stories?. Suggestions for appropriate topics that might be used as box stories (and contact person) are welcome, and should be forwarded to Stuart Wyithe (swyithe at unimelb.edu.au). During September and October the Editorial Board will be drafting the Decadal Plan. I would like to advise the community of the updated membership of the Editorial Board, which will consist of Stuart Wyithe (Chair) Martin Asplund Douglas Bock Lisa Kewley Lister Staveley-Smith The draft Decadal Plan produced by the Editorial Board will then be reviewed by the NCA at their meeting in December, following which an exposure draft will be released to the community. Best regards, Stuart ==================================== 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 Brian.Boyle at industry.gov.au Tue Jul 29 16:27:17 2014 From: Brian.Boyle at industry.gov.au (Boyle, Brian) Date: Tue, 29 Jul 2014 06:27:17 +0000 Subject: [ASA] Australian SKA Office update [SEC=UNOFFICIAL] Message-ID: <82423F004EEAEF49A384DDA5555F375D4DA431CC@PPAC1PEX01.PROD.PROTECTED.IND> Dear ASA members At the SKA ?town hall? meeting during the ASA Annual Scientific Meeting last week I gave a commitment to increase the level of information-sharing between the Australian SKA Office and the Australian astronomy community. As a way of kicking this off, I would like to draw your attention to the Australian SKA website at www.ska.gov.au. The website carries a quarterly update from me as Australian SKA Project Director (the July update can be found here) and has a dedicated ?Science? section where you can find useful links to help you stay up to date on SKA progress. It carries links to the latest Australian precursor and SKA project updates and a who?s who of the Australia and New Zealand Coordination Committee?s Science Advisory Committee. There is also a ?multimedia? section where you can find high resolution images from the Australian project and links to relevant video material, which you are welcome to use in your own communications. There is also a section providing information about the SKA Organisation, the Australian SKA Office and other bodies associated with the project. Taking on-board your feedback at the ASA meeting, we plan to send out a quarterly message like this one, containing a link to my quarterly update and other material you may find interesting. We will create a mechanism whereby others can sign up to receive these messages. We will also be putting up an events resource, showing SKA-related events in Australia and around the world. When this is up, we would be very grateful if you could send us the details of any missing events that you may be attending or speaking at. In addition to this initiative, the Australian SKA Office is reviewing the way in which it communicates with a range of other stakeholders including Australian industry, local WA stakeholders, indigenous groups and the international SKA Organisation. We?ll keep you informed of developments. In the meantime, I welcome your feedback on the web pages, so please let us know if we?ve missed anything or if there are broken links, etc. The best contact for your feedback on the website is the Australian SKA Office?s Planning and Stakeholder Engagement Manager, Jerry Skinner. Jerry can be reached on jerry.skinner at industry.gov.au Best regards Brian Sent with Good (www.good.com) ************************************************************************* The information contained in this e-mail, and any attachments to it, is intended for the use of the addressee and is confidential. If you are not the intended recipient you must not use, disclose, read, forward, copy or retain any of the information. If you received this e-mail in error, please delete it and notify the sender by return e-mail or telephone. The Commonwealth does not warrant that any attachments are free from viruses or any other defects. You assume all liability for any loss, damage or other consequences which may arise from opening or using the attachments. The security of emails transmitted in an unencrypted environment cannot be guaranteed. By forwarding or replying to this email, you acknowledge and accept these risks. ************************************************************************* From andrew.hopkins at aao.gov.au Thu Jul 31 10:52:29 2014 From: andrew.hopkins at aao.gov.au (Andrew Hopkins) Date: Thu, 31 Jul 2014 10:52:29 +1000 Subject: [ASA] AAO Student Fellowships Message-ID: <53D9934D.1050905@aao.gov.au> AAO Student Fellowship Program ------------------------------ The Australian Astronomical Observatory provides opportunities for undergraduate students to participate in research projects. Students will spend 10-12 weeks in the period Dec 2014 - Feb 2015 working at the Australian Astronomical Observatory in Sydney on research projects under the supervision of AAO staff astronomers and engineers. Students will have the opportunity to participate in a field trip to visit the telescopes at Siding Spring Observatory. Please encourage your undergraduate students to apply. The deadline for applications is: *** 31 August 2014 *** Details are available here: http://www.aao.gov.au/science/research/students/fellowships The stipend is A$700 per week. How to Apply Applications are required to be sent by e-mail. Please send your application as a single Word or PDF document attachment to the AAO Student Fellowship Coordinator, A.Prof. Andrew Hopkins (andrew.hopkins at aao.gov.au). The application should include the following: - Full name and contact address (it is essential to include an e-mail address). - Full details of university studies, including a transcript of academic record (if your university supplies only hardcopy transcripts, please scan it and send us the JPEG or PDF file). - Names and e-mail addresses of TWO academic referees who have been asked to e-mail letters to A.Prof. Hopkins by the application deadline, outlining the applicant's suitability for this scholarship program. The AAO does not chase up late referees, and missing references can hinder your chances of selection. - A one page statement giving the applicant's reasons for applying and their interests in Astronomy/Astrophysics/Instrumentation. If you have prior research experience, computing skills, or other skills associated with astronomy or research, please emphasise these. - A short resume (2-3 pages) is optional, but often helpful, to provide as well. Please contact Andrew Hopkins with any queries about the program or the application process. Andrew Hopkins -- A.Prof. Andrew Hopkins, Head of AAT Science Australian Astronomical Observatory P.O. Box 915, North Ryde NSW 1670, Australia ph: +61 2 9372 4849 fax: +61 2 9372 4880 From swyithe at unimelb.edu.au Thu Jul 31 16:20:27 2014 From: swyithe at unimelb.edu.au (Stuart Wyithe) Date: Thu, 31 Jul 2014 06:20:27 +0000 Subject: [ASA] Final Reminder: Decadal Plan Publications and Instrumentation Database closing Sunday 3rd August Message-ID: <4D5DA637-D725-4CB1-BFF7-F855983C26C4@unimelb.edu.au> Dear Colleagues, This email is the final 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. Thank you to the large number of individuals who have completed this in the last 2 weeks. The Decadal Plan Publications and Facilities Database will be closed this Sunday 3rd August for analysis by the demographics working group. 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. 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 Gayandhi.DeSilva at aao.gov.au Fri Aug 1 10:02:51 2014 From: Gayandhi.DeSilva at aao.gov.au (Gayandhi De Silva) Date: Fri, 01 Aug 2014 10:02:51 +1000 Subject: [ASA] Future use of UHRF Message-ID: <53DAD92B.5060100@aao.gov.au> Dear Colleagues, Recently the AAO discovered that several optical components of the Ultra-High Resolution Facility (UHRF) spectrograph on the AAT have deteriorated beyond functionality. It is therefore currently not available for use. Our assessment of the situation is that a significant investment in hardware and labour is needed to restore UHRF to astronomical use. Our statistics over the last 8 years show that UHRF has been the least requested instrument out of the facility-class instruments available on the AAT. Further more, there has been no Australian proposals submitted for UHRF during this period. Therefore the AAO is assessing the impact of decommissioning UHRF and this email is to poll the community as to its need/use of such a Ultra-High (300K - 1 Million) resolution facility (note functionality of the UCLES spectrograph is not affected here). In particular, if you anticipate using UHRF over the next 5 years, we ask that you respond to Gayandhi De Silva (gayandhi.desilva at aao.gov.au ) and indicate: * What improvements to UHRF would be most useful for your science ? * If implemented, how many nights do you anticipate requesting over the next 5 years ? * What other facilities could you use in the event UHRF is decommissioned ? Thank you. Gayandhi De Silva -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From andrew.hopkins at aao.gov.au Fri Aug 1 14:07:44 2014 From: andrew.hopkins at aao.gov.au (Andrew Hopkins) Date: Fri, 01 Aug 2014 14:07:44 +1000 Subject: [ASA] Fwd: Update on National Peer Review Network on Assessment - workshops In-Reply-To: <48F03325BD9C1C46B35C995110EB91778DA1494B@MBXSBYN3.utas.ad.internal> References: <48F03325BD9C1C46B35C995110EB91778DA1494B@MBXSBYN3.utas.ad.internal> Message-ID: <53DB1290.9080606@aao.gov.au> -------- Original Message -------- Subject: Update on National Peer Review Network on Assessment - workshops Date: Fri, 01 Aug 2014 03:55:29 +0000 From: Jeff Beckett Hi all, UTAS is currently a lead institution in an Office for Learning and Teaching (OLT) Peer Review Network project on assessment. The Peer Review Network aims to provide a forum for sharing and disseminating good practice in external assessment across different contexts, identify key academic staff who are experienced in the external peer review of assessment and to provide professional learning opportunities for academic staff and benchmarking partners. As part of the proposed new Higher Education Standards Framework, emphasis has been placed on the importance of external referencing in assuring standards across the higher education sector. For more information about the Peer Review Network project on assessment, please visit http://www.utas.edu.au/student-evaluation-review-and-reporting-unit/nprn. Please find attached the *workshop program* for the National Peer Review Network. *We have still have places available at the UWS, ECU and Griffith workshops*. Please forward to any other academics interested in attending the workshops. To register for the workshops please contact Dr Sara Booth on Sara.Booth at utas.edu.au *Dr Jeff Beckett | Project Officer | Student Evaluation, Review & Reporting Unit [SERRU]* cid:image001.jpg at 01CF7024.D6D96A20 Division of the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Students & Education) | University of Tasmania Locked Bag 1313, LAUNCESTON TAS 7250 | T: (03) 6324 3274 | E: Jeffery.Beckett at utas.edu.au |W:http://www.utas.edu.au/serru | -- 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: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: image/jpeg Size: 2499 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... 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