In this issue:
Welcome to the December issue of ICRAR's eNewsletter. So many exciting things have happened recently, the most exciting for us has to be a tie between our funding extension for another five years, and being part of the recently announced contracts for SKA preconstruction work. But the good news doesn't end there - since our last eNewsletter ICRAR has been awarded over 2.3M in ARC funding.
We've also featured in the news lately with the discovery of atomic matter in the jets from black holes, using gravitational wave research to help understand how black holes gain weight, stacking up galaxy images to see into the distant Universe and giant bursts of radio waves from our galaxy.
We've also been the first users of the recently opened Pawsey Supercomputing Centre at iVEC in Perth and announced a brand new visiting fellowship for women astronomers that will open next year. In local news, we welcome CSIRO Astronomy and Space Science to Perth with their new offices recently opened and last, but certainly not at all least, our Director Professor Peter Quinn was inducted as a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (ATSE).
In this issue you can also catch up on SKA news from the international SKA office in their November eNews and catch up on their headlines from December.
In September we celebrated the 2nd anniversary of our citizen science project, theSkyNet with a brand new website which has been going from strength to strength ever since - we reached a processing power of almost 60 TFLOPS last month (that's about half a top 500 supercomputer!) You can also join us in celebrating Christmas with theSkyNet in our advent calendar. We wish you all the best for the new years break, and we'll see you in 2014.
ICRAR |
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ICRAR News
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ICRAR has been extended for another five years thanks to a $26M investment announced by WA Premier Colin Barnett in August. The $26M from the Western Australian State Government will allow ICRAR’s local activities in science and with industry to continue, but will also expand the high tech and scientific capabilities of the State. |
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An international team of astronomers has answered a long standing question about the enigmatic jets emitted by black holes. ICRAR's Dr James Miller-Jones also win a WA Tall Poppy Award for this, and other, research. |
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The international Square Kilometre Array (SKA) office awarded contracts to prepare for the world’s largest radio telescope in November, marking the start of the return on Australia and WA’s investment in the ambitious Square Kilometre Array. |
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Professor Peter Quinn, ICRAR Director and Professor of Astronomy and Astrophysics at The University of Western Australia was among 25 Australian researchers, technological scientists, engineering, innovation and business leaders elected in October as new Fellows of the prestigious Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (ATSE).
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Other ICRAR News
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New Staff Members
New staff members and postgraduate students have joined ICRAR since the last edition of our eNewsletter:
- Dr Andrew Williams, MWA Monitor and Control Engineer;
- DrThushara Gunaratne, Postdoctoral Research Associate;
- Professor Carole Jackson, WA Fellow;
- Dr Anna Kapinska, Research Associate;
- Clare Peter, CAASTRO Administration Officer;
- Dr Paul Hancock, Early Career Research Fellow;
- Dr Luke Davies, Research Associate;
- Dr Amanda Moffett, Research Associate;
- Dr Omar Tibolla, Research Fellow;
- Dr Weiguang Cui, Research Associate;
- Dr Richard Newton, Research Associate;
- Courtney Fowler, Executive Assistant;
- Rita Tomic, Administrative Assistant.
We wish them all a warm welcome to ICRAR. |
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Other News
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CSIRO Astronomy and Space Science has expanded its ‘footprint’ through a new presence in Perth, Western Australia (WA), complementing its existing ASKAP and SKA project support facilities at Geraldton, and at the Murchison Radio Observatory (MRO) in the Mid-West of WA. |
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International SKA News
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All the news from the International SKA Office in the April edition of their eNews, released last month. |
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The SKA organisation office has been busy in the last few months, with lots of fresh news to share, including the first absorption line detected by ASKAP and outcomes from the latest board meeting. |
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TheSkyNet Update
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