Director's Message
Published in the RSAA Lunations
Vol1 Issue35 1–31 December 2022
This is my farewell message as RSAA Director! After 10 years in what is undoubtedly one of the most interesting, stimulating, challenging, and rewarding jobs in Australian astronomy, I am stepping down as Director, though continuing as a professor at RSAA.
It has been a genuine pleasure and privilege to serve RSAA and ANU as School Director. I'm happy that I’m handing over a School that is even stronger in terms of research and education than it was 10 years ago, but that is also evolving rapidly in terms of important cultural reform. The School remains in a sound financial position despite the challenges of the post-COVID economy, with the AITC funding itself sustainably and SSO having good prospects for a long-term future including the AAT. I’m confident that I’m leaving the School in excellent hands, with a strong and experienced Executive ready and able to support the new Director. I will also take this opportunity to give heart-felt thanks to Michelle Cicolini, who has simply been invaluable as my Executive Assistant, dispensing advice, support and good humour through thick and thin!
On the practical side, although my term as Director formally runs through to 6 January 2023, my sabbatical starts on 3 December and Naomi McClure-Griffiths will be Acting Director from then - my profound thanks to her for taking on the role! I have provided Naomi with a thorough briefing and of course she will be ably supported by the rest of the RSAA Executive, with Mark Krumholz stepping into Naomi’s role as Associate Director Academic and Mike Ireland stepping up to Mark’s role as Associate Director Education. We all hope that the Acting Director role will be of short duration, and that the new RSAA Director will be taking up their position early in 2023.
For the next 12 months I’ll be taking a sabbatical at the University of Oxford, hosted by Professor Roger Davies, where I’ll be working on galaxy evolution using integral field surveys (SAMI, Hector, MAGPI) and cosmology using peculiar velocity surveys (WALLABY, 4HS). I have been fortunate to be awarded a Royal Society Wolfson Visiting Fellowship, which will support my research by enabling me to bring my students, postdocs, and some collaborators to work with me in Oxford and to travel to meetings and conferences. I will remain the Australian astronomer on the ESO Council during 2023, and expect to visit Garching quite often both in that role and as chair of the Lessons Learned review for the second-generation VLT instruments. I’m greatly looking forward to a busy and (I hope!) productive year - but I also look forward to seeing you all here at Stromlo again in a year’s time.
Finally, let me wish everyone at RSAA a happy holiday season and all the best for 2023!
Cheers, Matthew.
