From stuart.ryder at astronomyaustralia.org.au Mon Feb 28 15:26:16 2022 From: stuart.ryder at astronomyaustralia.org.au (stuart.ryder at astronomyaustralia.org.au) Date: Mon, 28 Feb 2022 15:26:16 +1100 Subject: [ASA] ESO Period 110 Call for Proposals Message-ID: <008e01d82c5b$54250cf0$fc6f26d0$@astronomyaustralia.org.au> ESO Period 110 Call for Proposals Dear all, The European Southern Observatory (ESO) has released the Call for Proposals for Period 110 (for observations between 1 October 2022 ? 31 March 2023). Under the terms of the Strategic Partnership between ESO and Australia, Australian-based astronomers have access to the facilities of the La Silla and Paranal Observatories, specifically the: * 3.6-m telescope (3.6 ) * New Technology Telescope (NTT ) * Very Large Telescope (VLT ) * Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI ). Proposals for ESO time to use the Atacama Pathfinder EXperiment (APEX ) antenna on Chajnantor will also be considered on the same basis as those from any ESO member state. Note that P110 marks the final opportunity to apply for APEX time through ESO. The proposal deadline is Friday 25 March 2022 at noon Central European Time (10pm Australian Eastern Daylight Time, 7pm Australian Western Standard Time). Complete details on how to apply can be found at the P110 Call for Proposals web page . All applicants should consult the Call for Proposals document for Period 110 , and are required to update their ESO User Portal accounts to submit or be on proposals. A wealth of information for Australian applicants can be found on AAL?s Australian ESO Forum . Any questions about policies or the practical aspects of proposal preparation should be addressed to the ESO Observing Programmes Office, opo at eso.org . Applicants who may wish to seek advice on proposal or observing strategies, optimal choice of instrument, etc. are invited to contact AAL?s ESO Program Manager at Stuart.Ryder at astronomyaustralia.org.au . What's new in Period 110? Applicants are strongly encouraged to review the expected changes in instrumentation offered and procedures for Period 110 given in Sec. 1.1 of the Call for Proposals . Among the items likely to be of most interest to the Australian community are: * Distributed Peer Review: With effect from P110, ESO is introducing a Distributed Peer Review (DPR) process for proposals requesting a total time (including overheads) of less than 16 hours, with the exception of proposals including at least one ToO run; proposals for Calibration Programmes; and DDT proposals. All other proposals submitted for P110 will be reviewed in the usual way by the OPC and its sub-panels. PIs of proposals qualifying for DPR accept that their proposals are reviewed by ten peers who have also submitted proposals in P110, and consent to reviewing ten proposals submitted by their peers as laid out in the DPR rules and guidelines. The PI may elect to delegate the reviewer's role to one of the co-Is listed in the proposal. * Scientific keywords: Starting in P110, a new set of scientific keywords replaces the traditional 4 OPC categories. From the p1 interface users must select at least two keywords, and at most five keywords (ten for Large Programmes). The keywords must be selected in decreasing order of relevance (i.e., the first selected keyword is the most relevant). * New Large Programme proposals accepted in P110: Large Programme proposals (those seeking >100 hrs over 1-4 Periods) are only accepted once per year during the Call for even-numbered Periods. Large Programmes can be requested to start either in P110 or P111, but the programme can extend at most up to Period 113. * Proposal anonymisation: The Dual-Anonymous Peer Review (DAPR) is now fully deployed, after being introduced successfully in Period 108. Applicants must formulate the scientific rationales of their proposals following these anonymisation rules and examples , which includes a detailed description of the DAPR paradigm. Failure to abide by the DAPR rules may lead to the disqualification of the proposal. * GRAVITY dual-field wide mode: A new dual-field wide observing mode with GRAVITY is offered in P110 for the UTs and the small and astrometric configurations of the ATs. This mode allows fringe tracking from a target that is up to 30 arcsec away from the science target by using the VLTI Star Separators to separate the beams. Further details can be found on the GRAVITY webpages. * Survey Telescopes availability: ESO observing time on the VLT Survey Telescope (VST) with OmegaCAM is no longer offered. Due to the schedule for installation of 4MOST on VISTA, VIRCAM is also no longer offered, except for DDT proposals during part of P110. * Visitor Mode: Although requests for Visitor Mode may be submitted for P110, any scheduled runs may need to be executed in Designated Visitor Mode instead if travel restrictions are still in place. * Online La Silla Paranal Users Workshop - Getting Started with P110 Proposal Preparation: In conjunction with this Call, ESO is offering a short session on the latest information users need to write proposals for La Silla, Paranal, and APEX. This 1.5 hour session will happen on Friday March 11 2022 at noon CET (10pm AEDT, 7pm AWST) on Teams and cover the following topics: ? News and changes in P110 ? Distributed Peer Review (DPR): what it is, and how it does (not) impact the preparation of proposals ? APEX: why I should use this last chance to apply for time on this telescope There is no registration fee but intending participants are invited to register in advance , or follow the link for the meeting on the workshop website . Important Data Privacy Notice for all recent and intending Australian ESO applicants ESO supplies AAL with telescope/instrument demand and time allocation data relating to Australian astronomers only. Australian ESO applicant data is used only for statistical purposes, and will only be published or made available to other third parties such as AAL member institutions, in aggregated and anonymised form. ESO?s data collection/use provisions are available on the AAL ESO Forum for reference. It may be necessary to use automated data matching from data provided to the Data Central Lens proposal database to confirm the identity of ESO applicants. Applicants may opt out of providing data for Australian statistical purposes (including those from P101-P109 inclusive) by contacting Stuart.Ryder at astronomyaustralia.org.au . ______________________________ Dr. Stuart Ryder Program Manager (Mon, Wed, Fri) Astronomy Australia Ltd. T: +61 (02) 9372 4843 M: +61 (0419) 970834 E: stuart.ryder at astronomyaustralia.org.au W: www.astronomyaustralia.org.au O: c/o AAO, 105 Delhi Rd, North Ryde, NSW 2113, Australia AAL endeavours to be an environmentally sustainable organisation built upon equity, diversity and mutual respect for its staff and stakeholders. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: image003.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 1036 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: image004.png Type: image/png Size: 43714 bytes Desc: not available URL: From Douglas.Bock at csiro.au Wed Mar 2 08:35:38 2022 From: Douglas.Bock at csiro.au (Bock, Douglas (S&A, Marsfield)) Date: Tue, 1 Mar 2022 21:35:38 +0000 Subject: [ASA] Vacancies | Australia Telescope User Committee (ATUC) and Time Assignment Committee (TAC) Message-ID: <2135CA54-8F77-45EC-B814-32F489027D34@csiro.au> Dear Colleagues Members of the Australian astronomical community are invited to nominate for positions on the Australia Telescope User Committee (ATUC) and Time Allocation Committee (TAC) of the Australia Telescope National Facility (ATNF). CSIRO strives for diverse and inclusive representation in all its activities, including ATUC and TAC membership. We encourage anyone from a currently under-represented group to submit an expression of interest as we would greatly value their input in shaping the future of ATNF and acknowledge the historical absence of those perspectives. Below please find an outline of the vacant positions and a brief summary of each committee. The closing date for nominations is Tuesday 22 March 2022. Australia Telescope User Committee (ATUC) ATUC is a group of ten to fifteen scientists, including two student members, that represents the users of the Australia Telescope National Facility. ATUC meetings are a forum for users to raise any issues regarding the operation of the facility and to suggest changes to its operation. ATUC also discusses and recommends priorities for ATNF future development plans. ATUC meets twice a year, usually in April and October. Members are appointed for a term of three years, with student members being appointed for one year (two meetings). New members will join ATUC beginning at its October 2022 meeting. More information: https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/QCCBCYW8NocLrBOPQu0AWXV?domain=atnf.csiro.au ATNF Time Assignment Committee (TAC): The TAC is the committee that reviews and grades proposals for time on the Parkes radio telescope, Australia Telescope Compact Array and Long Baseline Array, and host country time on antennas of the Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex at Tidbinbilla. In future, the TAC will also review proposals for Guest Science Projects on the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP). The TAC meets twice a year, generally in early February and late July. Members are appointed for a term of three years. New members will join the TAC beginning at its February 2023 meeting. Expressions of Interest from researchers in the fields of pulsars, star formation, radio galaxies and AGN, polarisation, transients and variable sources are particularly encouraged. More information: https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/Cb2LCZY1Nqi5JB2yEuj-QVw?domain=atnf.csiro.au Next steps Nominees are asked to send their name, affiliation, and a < 100 word summary of their specialisation to Amanda Gray (Amanda.Gray at csiro.au) by Tuesday 22 March 2022. Please include in the subject line of your email which committee you are interested in. ATUC and the TAC are sub-committees of the ATNF Steering Committee (ATSC). At its May meeting, the ATSC will review nominations for membership, taking into consideration the range of specialisations and experience required for effective operation of its sub-committees. For further information, please contact George Heald (George.Heald at csiro.au). Regards Douglas Dr Douglas Bock FTSE Director Astronomy and Space Science | CSIRO douglas.bock at csiro.au | +61 2 9372 4300 | +61 457 552 777 (m) Cnr Vimiera & Pembroke Roads, Marsfield NSW 2122 PO Box 76, Epping NSW 1710 CSIRO acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the land, sea and waters, of the area that we live and work on across Australia. We acknowledge their continuing connection to their culture and we pay our respects to their Elders past and present. The information contained in this email may be confidential or privileged. Any unauthorised use or disclosure is prohibited. If you have received this email in error, please delete it immediately and notify the sender by return email. Thank you. To the extent permitted by law, CSIRO does not represent, warrant and/or guarantee that the integrity of this communication has been maintained or that the communication is free of errors, virus, interception or interference. Please consider the environment before printing this email. CSIRO Australia?s National Science Agency | csiro.au -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From john.lattanzio at monash.edu Wed Mar 2 08:53:04 2022 From: john.lattanzio at monash.edu (John Lattanzio) Date: Wed, 2 Mar 2022 08:53:04 +1100 Subject: [ASA] ASA and IAU Statement about Ukraine situation Message-ID: Dear Colleagues the ASA has joined with other astronomical organisations to issue a statement about the situation in the Ukraine, on the IAU website. This item contains advice and support resources for Ukrainian astronomers and refugee scholars. John Lattanzio -- *I'm an LGBTIQ Ally** - Find out more at **https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/_914C81V0PT6o4rMku1lDlu?domain=monash.edu Professor John Lattanzio President, Astronomical Society of Australia School of Physics and Astronomy Monash University Victoria 3800 AUSTRALIA Ph: +61 (0)3 9905-4428 WWW: https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/R-RzC0YKPviG1P8WytWGYf-?domain=users.monash.edu.au https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/uyzvCjZ1N7inWN9JOSnR-qH?domain=orcid.org ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "May you be surrounded by friends and family, and if that is not your lot, may the blessings find you in your solitude." Leonard Cohen -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From stuart.ryder at astronomyaustralia.org.au Wed Mar 2 09:49:49 2022 From: stuart.ryder at astronomyaustralia.org.au (stuart.ryder at astronomyaustralia.org.au) Date: Wed, 2 Mar 2022 09:49:49 +1100 Subject: [ASA] ESO job vacancies March 2022 Message-ID: <007401d82dbe$a8e31480$faa93d80$@astronomyaustralia.org.au> Dear colleagues, On behalf of ESO and the Dept of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources we would like to bring the following outstanding job opportunities to your attention, and that of anyone in your institution who may have the relevant skills and experience. Position Location Deadline Internship: External Relations and Science Policy Garching 24 Mar 2022 Adaptive Optics Engineer/Physicist Paranal 15 Mar 2022 Operations Staff Astronomer / Instrument Scientist Paranal 13 Mar 2022 Photonics Engineer/Physicist Garching 6 Mar 2022 In addition, there are ongoing openings for Internships in Science Journalism . Although these are unpaid positions, ESO does offer a monthly allowance to cover living expenses and provides accommodation in Garching, as well as cover the cost of a return trip from/to Australia. Applications are reviewed every 4-6 months during the year. The European Southern Observatory (ESO) is the foremost intergovernmental astronomy organisation in Europe and the world's most productive ground-based astronomical observatory. ESO carries out an ambitious programme focused on the design, construction and operation of powerful ground-based observing facilities enabling astronomers to make important scientific discoveries at various sites in Chile, and its headquarters in Garching, Germany. Australia has a 10 year Strategic Partnership enabling it to access ESO telescopes at La Silla Paranal Observatory, including the world-leading 8 metre Very Large Telescope. Australians may also apply for positions with ESO across all its operations on the same basis as member states. Working at ESO gives Australians exposure to sophisticated scientific and engineering skills and helps build formal and informal networks with European astronomers, engineers and colleagues in other big science organisations. Further details are available at ESO 's Recruitment Portal. While borders have been re-opening for travel (for vaccinated individuals), there are still restrictions on overseas travel from Australia. If you're an Australian citizen or permanent resident, you can't leave Australia unless * you're fully vaccinated, or unable to be vaccinated due to age or medical exemption; * you get an exemption to travel; or * you're travelling to a destination that's exempt from restrictions. Foreign citizens are able to depart Australia at any time. There is general 'Smart Traveller' Advice for outgoing and returning travellers regarding COVID-19 at the COVID-19 Portal, including a helpful step by step guide for those planning to travel during COVID-19, and advice on re-entry and quarantine measures. Other potentially helpful links: * Advice for international travellers (Department of Health) * COVID-19 and the border (Department of Home Affairs) * State and territory COVID-19 rules and requirements (Australian Government) * COVID-19 Restriction Checker and links to state and territory governments (Australian Government) * Smart Traveller Advice relevant to Germany (Australian Government) * Smart Traveller Advice relevant to Chile (Australian Government) ______________________________ Dr. Stuart Ryder Program Manager (Mon, Wed, Fri) Astronomy Australia Ltd. T: +61 (02) 9372 4843 M: +61 (0419) 970834 E: stuart.ryder at astronomyaustralia.org.au W: www.astronomyaustralia.org.au O: c/o AAO, 105 Delhi Rd, North Ryde, NSW 2113, Australia AAL endeavours to be an environmentally sustainable organisation built upon equity, diversity and mutual respect for its staff and stakeholders. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: image001.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 1036 bytes Desc: not available URL: From romy.pearse at astronomyaustralia.org.au Wed Mar 2 16:16:42 2022 From: romy.pearse at astronomyaustralia.org.au (Romy Pearse) Date: Wed, 02 Mar 2022 16:16:42 +1100 Subject: [ASA] AAL is seeking a Chief Strategic Partnerships Officer In-Reply-To: <619A573B-23F6-4322-BB33-E900C3ADA8A0@swin.edu.au> References: <846209DF-A530-4942-8D53-241BDA16FD14@swin.edu.au> <619A573B-23F6-4322-BB33-E900C3ADA8A0@swin.edu.au> Message-ID: <0A303A1B-F992-471B-983C-76F93157C020@astronomyaustralia.org.au> AAL is seeking a Chief Strategic Partnerships Officer Dear all, AAL is currently seeking a Chief Strategic Partnerships Officer. A high impact role with a Canberra focus, reporting to the AAL CEO. The Chief Strategic Partnerships Officer (CSPO) is a new externally-focused role that will seek to maximise the economic return from Australia?s strategic partnership with the European Southern Observatory (ESO). The CSPO will be AAL?s key interface with industry, universities and funding agencies in all matters related to ESO. Please see the full position description on AAL?s website. Applications close 17 March 2022. Please contact AAL?s CEO Mark McAuley to discuss this role: 0407 529 290 Kind regards, Romy Pearse ______________________________________________ Romy Pearse Communications Manager Astronomy Australia Ltd T: 03 9214 8485 E: romy.pearse at astronomyaustralia.org.au W: astronomyaustralia.org.au P: P.O. Box 2100 Hawthorn VIC 3122 Monday to Thursday AAL endeavours to be an environmentally sustainable organisation built upon equity, diversity and mutual respect for its staff and stakeholders. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: image001.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 23419 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: image002.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 1042 bytes Desc: not available URL: From john.lattanzio at monash.edu Thu Mar 3 07:32:28 2022 From: john.lattanzio at monash.edu (John Lattanzio) Date: Thu, 3 Mar 2022 07:32:28 +1100 Subject: [ASA] ARC Amendment (Ensuring Research Independence) Bill 2018 Message-ID: Dear ASA Members On 9 February 2022, the Senate referred the Australian Research Council Amendment (Ensuring Research Independence) Bill 2018 to the Senate Education and Employment Legislation Committee (the committee) for inquiry and report by 15 March 2022. This bill seeks to remove the ability of the Minister to veto proposals recommended for funding by the ARC. Information on the bill is available here . Submissions were requested by the Committee, and all submitted documents are viewable here (the ASA submission is number 23). An open letter from members of the ARC College of Experts (two of whom resigned as a result of the recent vetoes) is available here . Prof Marcus Foth has volunteered to be the principal petitioner on a *federal petition to the House of Representatives*. The petition?s rationale and requests are based on the open letter referred to above. The petition is available for signature online until midnight 16 March 2022. I encourage you to please sign the petition and share it with your colleagues. (You will receive a confirmation email with a link you?ll need to click in order for your vote to be counted.) Note that it will take *a large number of signatures *for the petition to have any impact on MPs. Please forward this link to any who might be supportive. Best wishes to all John Lattanzio -- *I'm an LGBTIQ Ally** - Find out more at **https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/OH4lC71R2NTADMjGjFWYf28?domain=monash.edu Professor John Lattanzio President, Astronomical Society of Australia School of Physics and Astronomy Monash University Victoria 3800 AUSTRALIA Ph: +61 (0)3 9905-4428 WWW: https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/X9E5C91WPRTkGnV4VuOEZIo?domain=users.monash.edu.au https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/WJ2VCgZ0N1iAM65E5F7P2Ax?domain=orcid.org ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "May you be surrounded by friends and family, and if that is not your lot, may the blessings find you in your solitude." Leonard Cohen -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From matthew.colless at anu.edu.au Thu Mar 3 22:17:55 2022 From: matthew.colless at anu.edu.au (Matthew Colless) Date: Thu, 3 Mar 2022 11:17:55 +0000 Subject: [ASA] Fwd: Invitation to the IAU Centre Listening Sessions References: Message-ID: Begin forwarded message: From: Piero Benvenuti > Subject: Invitation to the IAU Centre Listening Sessions Date: 3 March 2022 at 09:45:01 To: Piero Benvenuti >, Connie Walker >, "Di Vruno, Federico" > Distinguished Delegates and dear Colleagues, I am contacting you because of the interest you expressed for the Working Paper on the protection of dark and quiet sky which was presented under Item 18 in the recent 59th STSC Session. The IAU is very grateful for your excellent support. Please find below an invitation by the new IAU Centre to a series of "listening sessions" aimed at involving all interested parties in the planning of the Centre's activities. We will be glad if you would extend this invitation to any person you think might be interested in participating. Best regards, Piero Benvenuti Director, IAU Centre ================= Dear Colleagues, The IAU Centre for the Protection of Dark and Quiet Sky from Satellite Constellation Interference will start its operations on April 1st, 2022. The Centre working plan stems from the excellent contributions produced by the Working Groups that co-organized the Workshops SATCON 1 & 2 and the Conferences ?Dark and Quiet Skies for Science and Society" I & II which analyzed in detail the interference caused to astronomy by the satellite constellations and outlined possible mitigation strategies. The Centre therefore will not begin its activities from scratch, rather it intends to continue the path initiated by the Working Groups, coordinating and fostering the contributions of all those individuals and Institutions that feel committed to implement the mitigating solutions that have been outlined by the above Workshops and Conferences. In order to produce a first Working Plan that is coherent with the expectations of the astronomical community and of the industrial stakeholders, the Management Team of the Centre has decided to hold a series of ?listening sessions?, open to all interested parties, with the aim of consolidating our vision and assess its adequacy and feasibility. For sake of efficiency the sessions are organized according to the 4 core areas of activity of the Centre (SatHub, Industry and Technology, Policy, Community Engagement) and are repeated twice during the second and third week of March, running from Tuesday to Friday, at 16 UT and 05 UT respectively to accommodate both halves of the world. The detailed information on the listening sessions, including their schedule and registration form, is available at https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/pziGCJyBrGfqN6W5YfVW5J9?domain=iau.org. You are warmly invited to participate and please extend the invitation to all parties you think might be interested. Looking forward to meeting you online, Best regards, The Centre Management Team Piero Benvenuti Federico Di Vruno Constance Walker -- [https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/X9pGCL7EwMfR6GD41UPDu6b?domain=drive.google.com] Emeritus, University of Padova Professor Matthew Colless > Director, Research School of Astronomy & Astrophysics The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia Work: +61-2-6125-0266 Mobile:+61-431-898-345 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: