From: <Kate.Brooks_at_email.protected>
Date: Thu, 27 Apr 2006 10:23:00 +1000

Hi all,

Regarding the Education session:

I was speaking with Helen Sim yesterday (ATNF's/AAO Public Relations
and Media Liaison officer). She suggested that the Education session
includes a focus on those graduates who have completed a PhD in
astrophysics and then moved on to other disciplines. She argues that in
the past these people were swept under the rug by the astronomy
community and often considered as failures. Thankfully this attitude
is changing (albeit slowly). As we see from the Decadal Plan case study
on Dr Paul Brooks, a PhD in astrophysics can be a great launching pad
for successful careers in the industry sector. This fact is often
overlooked when encouraging students to embark on a PhD in astrophysics
and yet it can be used in a positive way to counter-act the bleak
permanent job prospects in astronomy in Australia. Helen suggests we
highlight a couple of such case studies in the education session. For
example we could ask Paul Brooks to give a talk about his career path
and what skills he gained from completing a PhD in astrophysics. I
really like this idea and think it would appeal to the ASA audience.
What do you think?

I am sure we could come up with a list of numerous PhD graduates in
astrophysics who are now success stories in other disciplines.

Kate

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Dr Kate Brooks
Australia Telescope National Facility
PO Box 76 Epping NSW 1710 Australia
Phone: +61 2 9372 4683
Fax: +61 2 9372 4310
Kate.Brooks_at_csiro.<!--nospam-->au
http://www.atnf.csiro.au/people/Kate.Brooks
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Received on 2006-04-27 10:23:35