Major National Research Facilities proposal submitted
Earlier this year the government announced, as part of a new innovation statement, a new "Major National Research Facilities" program. Following a great deal of discussion at the ATNF and other astronomical institutions, and on expert advice, the decision was made to combine the two highest priorities of the Australian astronomical community into one proposal for MNRF funding. These priorities, as identified by the Australian astronomical community in the report "Beyond 2000: The Way Ahead" (to be published in June 2001), are additional access to the optical/infrared telescopes of the Gemini project and development of the Square Kilometre Array _ the next generation radio-telescope. This MNRF proposal was submitted to AusIndustry on 11 May. A major side-effect of the combination of priorities is that the astronomical institutions in Australia are probably more closely coupled now than they have ever been before, and so in a real sense this proposal is a united force to move all of Australian astronomy forward.
The specific aims of the proposal are to:
1) Increase Australia's share in the International Gemini Telescopes from 5% to 10%. The way in which we propose to buy in to this increased share is by not just sending money offshore, but by using the MNRF funding to build new instruments for Gemini. So this not only gets Australian astronomers a bigger share of Gemini observing time, but it also (a) improves the capabilities of the Gemini telescopes, and (b) advertises Australia's expertise in instrument-building, hopefully leading to more contracts to build instruments for other international telescopes;
2) Develop enabling technologies for the Square Kilometre Array (SKA). The way in which we plan to do this not only develops the technologies which will be necessary for the construction of the SKA, but also (a) does so by enhancing our existing radio-telescopes such as the Australia Telescope Compact Array, and (b) reinforces Australia's bid as the prime location to host the SKA.
Ray Norris
ATNF Deputy Director
(Ray.Norris@atnf.csiro.au)