Director's Update
Published in the RSAA Lunations
Vol1 Issue47 1–31 December 2023
Last week I was at the ASTRO 3D annual retreat in QLD. This was a wonderful opportunity to catch up with colleagues sporting Aditi's winning Shirty Science design and enjoy some beautiful sunny weather. At the retreat we learned the bitter sweet news that the ASTRO 3D Chief Operations Officer (COO), Ingrid McCarthy, is leaving us to be COO for the new ARC industrial training centre for Radiation Innovation. I congratulate Ingrid on her new role, which will commence in January 2024, and wish her all the best!
Some very nice news to finish 2023 was provided by the academic promotion outcomes. Please join me in congratulating Stefania Barsanti, Michael Copeland and Yi Ki Ma who were each promoted to level B, Noelia Martinez Rey who has been promoted to level C, and Christoph Federrath who was promoted to level E. These promotions are well deserved recognition of their expertise and achievements, as well as ongoing high-level contributions to the School, University and discipline. Congratulations to all!
A major event this week has been the opening of the Optical Ground Station by the Vice-Chancellor Brian Schmidt and the ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr. The facility will enable high speed communication with satellites from low Earth orbit to the Moon, with future crewed NASA lunar missions, including Artemis II, as part of the Australian Space Agency’s Moon to Mars Demonstrator Mission program. This is the outcome of an enormous effort over the past 5 years and I offer my congratulations to Francis and the team for bringing this project to such an important milestone.
Following the recent Discovery Project announcements, it is now time for us to think about our new proposals. With the new expression of interest format for ARC Discovery Projects (DP25) the CoS research team is providing an information session following on from the recent ARC Webinar. The session will be Tuesday, 12 December, 10.00am – 11.00am (AEDT) STB Seminar Room 1, The Science Teaching Building, 136 Linnaeus Way. Given the huge change to the submission process I encourage everyone submitting this year to attend the session. Please register your attendance here:
2024 promises to be another enjoyable and busy year for RSAA.
Our school review is scheduled to be held in August 2024. In preparation, our Associate Directors and SSO and AITC Directors will be leading these town hall discussions and will communicate their plans in the next few weeks. A very useful discussion regarding the SSO has already taken place. I encourage everyone to engage with these discussions and look forward to working with you all towards the planning of RSAA’s future. The outcome from the school review will also provide a valuable and timely contribution to development of our strategic plan.
2024 marks the 100th anniversary of Mt Stromlo. We will be observing this milestone by celebrating the achievements of RSAA and its scientists and looking towards the future. Events being planned include a series of public lectures throughout the year and a scientific symposium during September to showcase the contributions of RSAA scientists and alumni. Details for these will be finalised early in the New Year.
This is the final Lunations for 2023, and on a personal note I wanted to say that I have thoroughly enjoyed my time at RSAA this year and thank the School for the welcome when I arrived in April, as well as the dedicated work throughout the year. As some of you know my daughter was in her final year of School, which has seen me doing a lot of commuting to Melbourne. However with this complete we are now looking forward to living in Canberra full time in 2024.
It's important to take a break over the holiday period and I have been pleased to see so many leave applications roll in during recent weeks! I will be heading to Japan for some skiing in January.
Have a great break and I look forward to seeing many of you to celebrate the year at our End of Year party on December 16th!
Image: ANU VC Brian Schmidt, Chief Minister Andrew Barr and Francis Bennet opening the Optical Ground Station at Mt Stromlo. Credit: Stuart Wyithe
