[ASA] President's end of year update

[Stas Shabala]

Dear ASA Members,

As the end of year approaches, I would like to take this opportunity to give a summary of activities of our Society since the AGM and ASM.

Astronomy-wide activities. As one of three bodies responsible for coordinating the activities of Australian astronomers, the ASA works closely with the National Committee for Astronomy (NCA) and Australia Astronomy Limited (AAL). An increasing focus this year has been on developing the case for full ESO membership, led by AAL; and most recently the commencement of the Decadal Plan process, led by the NCA. Early 2024 will see both these processes gather steam, and I encourage all ASA members to consider contributing to shaping these important documents.
The NCA and ASA worked together to collate white papers and coordinate a virtual town hall relating to the next ARC Centre of Excellence round. There was strong participation from potential CIs/PIs, and another good example of the community striving to work together where possible. My thanks to NCA Chair Virginia Kilborn for facilitating this process, and best of luck to all astronomy proposals over the next several months.
On a different note, I thank the ASA community for constructive engagement relating to the national referendum on the Voice to Parliament. Following a poll of the membership, the ASA made a public statement<https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/WTlNCMwGxOt2LXJ0Khw9OYd?domain=asa.astronomy.org.au> reflecting the memberships’ collective position. I was very pleased to see overwhelmingly constructive and respectful feedback from members with a range of personal views on the issue. Some of this feedback has also been useful to Council’s thinking on how we can continue to best serve our membership.

Submissions to government. The ASA works closely with cognate societies, particularly the Australian Institute of Physics (AIP). The ASA and the AIP made a joint second submission to the National Science and Research Priorities process<https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/po3_CNLJyQUZQ76rKI4nktC?domain=asa.astronomy.org.au>. Using examples from astronomy and physics, we highlighted the crucial role of fundamental sciences, and advocated for explicit inclusion of fundamental research as one of the Priorities. These messages are consistent with our submission to the first round of consultation<https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/CWL5COMKzVTNgnO9VukFQf6?domain=asa.astronomy.org.au> some months ago, and have been further amplified by organisations such as Science and Technology Australia (STA). We hope for a similarly positive outcome to the recent NSW curriculum review<https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/9jXfCP7LAXf02W6rYijdHst?domain=curriculum.nsw.edu.au>, which was revised to include astronomy content following strong representations from astronomy allies including the ASA and AIP<https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/cpT6CQnMBZfXKOREGFrUsX1?domain=asa.astronomy.org.au>.

ASA Chapters. Much of the society’s work is done by community members through the ASA Chapters.

  *   The ECR Chapter has been busy as usual, the most recent developments being a new ECR colloquium series and Python workshops run by ADACS.
  *   The IDEA Chapter ran the biennial Pleiades Awards. These awards are an important feature of the ASA calendar, and represent a significant investment of effort by both participating institutions and the IDEA Steering Committee. My thanks and congratulations to all who participated.
  *   The ANITA Chapter is running its annual workshop<https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/fgEgCROND2uGpEOk9coz4o7?domain=anita.edu.au>, and a summer school on Tidal Disruption Events, in February.
  *   The EPOC Chapter is working on the development of a new Astronomy Careers Guide.
  *   The Group for Astroparticle Physics (GAP) ran a full-day focus session at the summer AIP meeting in Canberra earlier this month, on the theme of radio-gamma-ray synergies, with particular attention to the opportunities offered by the combination of CTA and ASKAP / SKA.
  *   A new Time Domain Astronomy (TDA) Chapter has formed.
  *   The Communications Working Group has set up a new Slack channel for ASA communications.
  *   The Sustainability Working Group has been closely involved in planning for the 2024 ASM.
I encourage all members to consider getting involved in the work of ASA Chapters. For example, there is a current call for nominations for the IDEA Chapter Steering Committee, closing on 22 December. Involvement in the work of ASA Chapters is a way of having your say in how our community functions, and contributing to its improvement.

2024 ASM. Continuing astronomy’s tradition of innovation, the 2024 ASM will be held as a “online first” for the first time, over the week 24 - 28 June. This will be an exciting opportunity to explore innovative ways to run an online meeting. Thanks to Vanessa Moss and Clancy James for their work as Co-Chairs. I encourage the ASA community to support this initiative and offer ideas and feedback on how it is organised and run. A big thanks again to Richard McDermid, Liz Mahony and their teams at Macquarie and CSIRO for a brilliant 2023 ASM.

PASA. The Society journal will flip to Gold Open Access from 1 January 2025. ASA members at institutions with read-and-publish deals with Cambridge University Press (e.g. via the CAUL consortium<https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/fllmCVARKgC2E3ZLrhW-r3a?domain=caul.libguides.com>) will be able to continue publishing without fees, and have their articles freely available for anyone to read. My thanks to PASA  Editor-in-Chief Ivo Seitenzahl for leading this transformation, including careful consideration of various scenarios and extensive consultation with ASA members<https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/nXwHCWLVXkU6QO4g7TL2CUS?domain=docs.google.com>.

Finally, keep an eye out for:

  *   ASA Prize nominations. Nominations and submissions are now open, closing on 16 February, 2024. Please see the Prizes<https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/GYevCXLW2mU4g29yvhrH64n?domain=asa.astronomy.org.au> pages for details.

·         ASA membership survey is likely to commence in the first half of 2024. I encourage all members to provide feedback on what the ASA is doing well, and what can be improved.

·         ESO and Decadal Plan. The first half of 2024 will see much work in these areas. Please keep an eye out on emails from the NCA and AAL (and maybe even the ASA!) for opportunities to contribute.

I wish you all a restful, safe and enjoyable holiday period, and a successful 2024.

Best wishes,

Stas

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A/Prof Stas Shabala
(he/him/his)
President, Astronomical Society of Australia
Discipline of Physics | School of Natural Sciences | College of Science and Engineering
University of Tasmania
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