Astronomy in Action

Introduction

The Australia Telescope National Facility provides access to radio telescopes for astronomers across Australia and overseas. Our telescopes at Parkes, Narrabri and Mopra are among the most sophisticated and powerful in the world. Their successful operation depends on a large and dedicated team of people working at a number of locations.

In this section you will meet some of the ATNF staff and learn about their work and what motivates them. New profiles will be added regularly so please check back here soon. You can also meet some of our PhD students and learn about life as a postgraduate student. Future additions will include some of the visiting scientists from Australia and overseas who use the ATNF telescopes or work with our staff.

Meet our ATNF staff

The ATNF provides support for astronomers to do science. A national facility such as ATNF relies upon staff with a range of skills. In addition to our astronomers we have electrical and mechanical engineers, technicians, computing and IT experts, catering, administration, maintenance and finance staff, visitors centre and communication personnel and others. They come from across Australia and around the world. Most are based at ATNF headquarters in Marsfield, Sydney but others live in Parkes or Narrabri near our major telescopes.

If you would like to meet some of our staff and learn more about their jobs and lives please click on their names below.

  • Alex Dunning
    Role
    Electronics Technician
    Location
    Marsfield
    Speciality
    Designing and building receivers
  • Dr George Hobbs
    Role
    Astrophysicist
    Location
    Marsfield
    Speciality
    Pulsar astronomer
  • Dr Naomi McClure-Griffiths
    Role
    Astrophysicist
    Location
    Marsfield
    Speciality
    The Milky Way
  • Dr Erik Muller
    Role
    Astronomer
    Location
    Marsfield
    Speciality
    Star formation
  • Scott Munting
    Role
    Electronics Technician
    Location
    Narrabri
    Speciality
    Digital communications

ATNF Students

The ATNF provides a vital role in training the next generation of astronomers and engineers by co-supervising PhD and Masters students from across Australia and even overseas. As part of CSIRO, the ATNF is not a tertiary institution so cannot award degrees in its own right. Our PhD students are therefore jointly supervised by academics from their university and one or more ATNF staff in our Graduate Student Program. At present we have almost 40 students in the program from over a dozen different universities.

Being a co-supervised by ATNF gives a student ready access to world-class facilities and support. Our astronomy students are expected to act as Duty Astronomer at the Australia Telescope Compact Array at Narrabri for one or two weeks a year. They also take part in symposia and receive additional research support and accommodation when visiting ATNF headquarters in Sydney or at our telescopes.

  • Role
    PhD Student
    University
    La Trobe University
    Thesis
    The Magellanic Stream
Public
Public