[ASA] CALL FOR COMMUNITY NOMINATIONS FOR THE NATIONAL COMMITTEE FOR ASTRONOMY

[Stuart Wyithe]

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 https://www.science.org.au/committee/astronomy

There are two vacancies on the NCA from 2015, as Dr Kate Brooks and Prof Elaine Sadler will complete their terms this month. One of these vacancies must be filled by a fellow of the academy.

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 all 6 of the continuing NCA members are male, we are particularly keen to use these new appointments to improve the gender balance of the committee.

The National Committee guidelines can be found at https://www.science.org.au/resources/guidelines-national-committees. 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 up to 3 years
* Re-appointment for one further year 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 (Stuart Wyithe), the President of the ASA (Andrew Hopkins) and one Fellow of the Academy who is not a continuing NCA member (Elaine Sadler).

This review panel (in consultation with the Academy's Secretary for Physical Sciences) 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 (Stuart Wyithe swyithe at unimelb.edu<mailto:swyithe at unimelb.edu>.au) before 5pm (AEST) on Friday 30th January 2015.

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

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>

www.science.org.au/committee/astronomy<http://www.science.org.au/committee/astronomy>
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