Decadal plan for Australian astronomy 2016–2025: Mid-term review
The 2016–25 decadal plan for astronomy outlines six fundamental science questions, and details the major facilities and infrastructure required for Australian astronomers to play a world-leading role in answering those questions. Enormous progress has been made in the five years since the plan was written.
The mid-term review of the 2016 decadal plan for Australian astronomy makes nine major recommendations for the next five years and details the continuing investment into major facilities and infrastructure required for Australian astronomers to continue to play a world-leading role in answering key questions about our universe.
Mid-term review recommendations
- Achieve full membership of the European Southern Observatory at the earliest opportunity, and well before the current strategic partnership ends in 2027.
- Protect the substantial national investment by supporting the completion of the Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT), including funding of GMT instrumentation built in Australia.
- Pursue realisation of the full Square Kilometre Array Observatory, while continuing to exploit its ASKAP and MWA pathfinders.
- Continue supporting world-class national instrument development capabilities that maximise Australia’s engagement, influence and return from global projects.
- Continue investment in training people with strong scientific and translatable skills.
- Establish a long-term, sustainable, distributed and interoperable set of HPC and data centre arrangements that span the requirements of gravitational wave, radio, optical, and theoretical astronomers, and provide funding for commensurate training and education in data science and code development.
- Fund the design and development of an Australian gravitational wave pathfinder to lay the foundations for a future southern hemisphere detector hosted by Australia.
- Explore mechanisms to build stronger ties between the Australian astronomy community, the wider Australian space science community, and the Australian Space Agency.
- Pursue data access to the Legacy Survey of Space and Time via the exchange of time on Australian national facilities.
Committees
Mid-term review committee (from July 2019)
Chair: Professor Lister Staveley-Smith
Professor Tamara Davis
Associate Professor Amanda Karakas
Professor Chris Tinney
Associate Professor Cath Trott
Capabilities and opportunities review committee (April–July 2019)
Chair: Professor Lister Staveley-Smith
Associate Professor Sarah Brough
Dr Christoph Federrath
Associate Professor Amanda Karakas
Dr Eric Thrane
