The ATNF Radio School 2026 is an immersive training program designed for PhD students, postdoctoral researchers and early career astronomers who want to build solid foundations in radio interferometry and hands-on data skills. Hosted by the Australia Telescope National Facility (ATNF) at the Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA) site in Narrabri, NSW, this year’s school blends core theory with practical calibration and imaging tutorials at one of Australia’s premier radio astronomy facilities. 

Over the course of the week, participants will learn the fundamentals of radio interferometry, antenna calibration, data flagging and imaging through a mix of expert-led lectures and interactive, practical sessions. Unique to 2026, the program will feature tutorials making use of ATCA’s new Broadband Integrated GPU Correlator (BIGCAT), the next-generation correlator system that significantly expands ATCA’s instantaneous bandwidth and data flexibility, giving attendees early experience with cutting-edge correlator operations and data pipelines. 

The 2026 Radio School is aimed at PhD students and postdoctoral researchers in astronomy. The Radio School offers a supportive environment to engage deeply with real interferometric data, develop essential calibration and imaging workflows, and connect with leaders in the field. No prior experience with radio astronomy is required.

For those students who are unable to attend the Radio School in-person in Narrabri, a virtual option will be available for the lectures.

Key Dates:

Registration Opens:  mid-February 2026

Registration Closes: 15 April 2026 (or once capacity has been reached)

Radio School: 1 – 5 June 2026

Program

The Science Organising Committee are current drafting the program for the Radio School. It will be posted here once finalised.

Social Events

The Organising Committee will be organising some social events during the Radio School, the cost of which is included in your in-person registration fees. These activities include:

  • Dinner and Trivia at Narrabri RSL Club
  • Dinner and Star Party at ATCA
  • Walk around Sawn Rocks

If you would like to attend any of these events, please indicate this during registration.

Registration

There will be a registration fee for attendance at the Radio School. The registration fee for in-person attendance at the Radio School which covers all lunches, morning and afternoon teas, as well as organised social events events, but not accommodation and travel.

In-person registration is capped at 45 students and registration is only complete upon receipt of full payment of registrations fees prior to 15 April 2026.

Registration Fees:

  • Full Registration: AUD360
  • Reduced Student Registration: AUD300
  • Online registration: free

Please complete this form to register for Radio School. Once your registration form is received, you will be sent a secure, individual link to complete payment.

Student Travel Grants

We are pleased to be able to offer Radio School students the opportunity to apply for financial assistance to attend Radio School. This will be in the form of a waiver of the registration fee and AUD500 towards travel costs.

Conditions:

  • Funding will only be made available to PhD students and where limited or no alternative funding is available to the applicant.
  • Funding towards travel costs will only be paid after the completion of Radio School, and upon the production of evidence of the travel expenses incurred.
  • Grants will only be awarded until the allocated budget has been exhausted

If you would like to apply for an grant, please do so by filling out the ‘Student Travel Grant Application’ section of the the Registration Form.

For more information regarding Student Travel Grants, please contact amanda.gray_at_csiro.au.

Accommodation Information

Students are responsible for organising their own accommodation in Narrabri.

Accommodation options in the town of Narrabri include: 

No on-site accommodation at the ATNF facilities at the observatory will be available during the Radio School.

Travel Information

Students are responsible for organising their own travel to and from Narrabri.

Trains

Trains are the recommended and most economical mode of transport to Narrabri. Train runs daily between Sydney and Narrabri. The trains leave both Sydney and Narrabri at approximately 9am and the journey takes just over 7 hours.

Please note that reservations are required and trains to and from Narrabri sell out quickly. It is recommended that you make your reservation as soon as your registration for the Radio School has been confirmed.

Flights

Link Airlines offers flights to Narrabri from Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne as well as some other smaller centres. Flights are only available on select days and not on weekends. Please check the airline’s website for further details.

Flights are also available to Moree (about 1 hour north of Narrabri by car) and to Tamworth (about 2 hours east of Narrabri by car) from Sydney.

It is recommended that students self-organise car-pooling from airports where possible and only with a driver who is confident and has experience driving on rural roads.

Buses

We will be arranging bus transfers from the train station in Narrabri on Sunday, 31 May and also back to to the train station on Saturday, 6 June. Students are responsible for organising their own travel for arrival to and departure from their accommodation outside of these dates and from other locations.

Bus transport will also be arranged from the town of Narrabri to the telescope each morning and afternoon. The bus will pick up and drop off at the accommodation listed above (and possibly others, if demand is sufficent). A schedule and route for the bus will be provided closer to the Radio School.

Organising Committee

SOC: Tessa Vernstrom (Chair), Christoph Brem, Jaiden Cook, Phil Edwards, Emmy Escott, Tim Galvin, Chris Phillips, Sanja Lazarevic, Elizabeth Mahony, Vanessa Moss, Sai Wagh,

LOC: Amanda Gray, Jane Trindall

If you have any questions about the Radio School, please contact Amanda Gray at amanda.gray_at_csiro.au.

Code of Conduct

The organizers are committed to making this meeting productive and enjoyable for everyone, regardless of gender, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, nationality or religion. We will not tolerate harassment of participants in any form. Please follow these guidelines:

  • Behave professionally. Harassment and sexist, racist, or exclusionary comments or jokes are not appropriate. Harassment includes sustained disruption of talks or other events, inappropriate physical contact, sexual attention or innuendo, deliberate intimidation, stalking, and photography or recording of an individual without consent. It also includes offensive comments related to gender, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race or religion.
  • All communication should be appropriate for a professional audience including people of many different backgrounds. Sexual language and imagery is not appropriate.
  • Be kind to others. Do not insult or put down other attendees.

Participants asked to stop any inappropriate behaviour are expected to comply immediately. Attendees violating these rules may be asked to leave the event at the sole discretion of the organisers without a refund of any charge. Any participant who wishes to report a violation of this policy is asked to speak, in confidence, to any of the LOC or SOC members.

This code of conduct is based on the “London Code of Conduct”, as originally designed for the conference “Accurate Astrophysics. Correct Cosmology”, held in London in July 2015. The London Code of Conduct was adapted with permission by Andrew Pontzen and Hiranya Peiris from a document by Software Carpentry, which itself derives from original Creative Commons documents by PyCon and Geek Feminism. It is released under a CC-Zero licence for reuse. To help track people’s improvements and best practice, please retain this acknowledgement, and log your re-use or modification of this policy at https://github.com/apontzen/london_cc.

Page last updated: 27-01-2026