Interim School Director

Published in the RSAA Lunations
Vol1 Issue75 1–31 August 2026

I am pleased to announce that Luca Casagrande has been appointed to a second term as Associate Director IDEA, until August 2029. Thank you Luca for your continued efforts in this space, and your engagement both locally, in the college and more broadly.

RSAA has been continuously engaging with aspects of the post-ESO plans at national level. Most importantly, a future options report for the AAT has been sent by AAL with ANU input to the Department of Industry Science and Resources, and a strong case being made to secure a 10+ year future with very broad support. I met with Jamie Chaffey, the member for Parkes in August, and there has been strong engagements led by AAL at all levels of government. The upcoming Starfest in early October will enable us to again showcase our great national optical observatory.

Throughout the college, there have been acknowledged teething problems with various aspects of centralisation that occurred during and after Renew ANU. Within education (coursework) we anticipate having more support very soon. Thanks to conveners for their patience this year. Given all the changes, I would like to keep track of where the remaining pain points are with specific examples in the various portfolios (e.g. recruitment, HR, HDR, education, finance) so we can constructively work with the rest of the University to improve systems in 2027. Mat has created a form to record these examples - please record any issues as they arise.

I will be at Paranal Observatory again for the next 2 weeks, in the final such trip I had planned before the Christmas break. I will have significant availability for online meetings during this time, especially most mornings.

Michael Ireland

Image: Cristy Roberts