School Director's Update

Published in the RSAA Lunations
Vol1 Issue69 1–28 February 2026

Although it's already been a few weeks it has been great to see everyone back and refreshed for the new year.

ANU graduations have occurred during February and RSAA sends our congratulations to all our graduating students from 2025. Two highlights for the School as part of graduations were Qianhui Chen who was the student speaker at graduation on February 5th, and Axelle Raffin who was awarded the Postgraduate Medal for Academic Excellence.

Welcome to our new student cohorts. We welcomed our Masters students at a morning tea on Thursday, and will hold the annual student meeting next week.

Over the summer we advertised the Stromlo Fellow in Radio Astronomy continuing position.  A shortlist will have interviews and give colloquia over the coming few weeks. The times for these colloquia have been placed in the School seminar calendar and I hope that many of you will be able to attend.

Today we were joined by the Interim Vice-Chancellor and Professor Penny Sackett to celebrate the renaming of the building housing the Advanced Instrumentation and Technology Centre to The Penny Sackett Building. This renaming recognises the role of Professor Sackett in leading the renewal of the Mount Stromlo Observatory following the devastating bushfires, including helping re-establish the Observatory as a world-class centre for discovery and innovation. Thank you to all who attended for helping to make this such a memorable occasion.
 
Please read on for more news from across the School.

Image: Axelle Raffin with her Postgraduate Medal for Academic Excellence.