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DTSTART:20211125T060000Z
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SUMMARY:
DESCRIPTION:\n \nScience Forum South Africa 2021\n“Igniting conversations for World Science Forum 2022”\n1-3 December 2021\nProposals for Parallel Sessions organised by SFSA partners\nSession Title: Advancing Africa’s Astronomy Agenda\nDate: Thursday 2 December 2021 Preferred time: 15:30\nSession Overview: (Maximum 500 words providing short contextual background for\nthe sessions and highlighting key questions to be interrogated)\nAstronomy has seen substantial investment by the South African Department of\nScience and Innovation (DSI) and as a result, several significant astronomy initiatives\nhave burgeoned in the country and African continent at large. Using Southern Africa’s\ngeographic advantage of dark skies as a strategic driver for the development of globally\ncompetitive astronomy research programmes, South Africa is home to mega-science\nprojects capable of producing cutting edge science such as the Meerkat telescope,\nMeerLICHT, Southern African Large Telescope (SALT), the Hydrogen Epoch of\nReionization Array HERA, the Hydrogen Intensity and Real-time Analysis eXperiment\n(HIRAX), and the High Energy Stereoscopic System (H.E.S.S.) in Namibia. In addition,\nthe SKA project is scheduled to commence construction in South Africa. Prospects for\nthe future include the African Very Long Baseline Interferometry Network (AVN) and\nthe Africa Millimetre Telescope (AMT), with the latter providing an essential link to the\ninternational Event Horizon Telescope (EHT). Further evidence of the rapid growth of\nastronomy in the continent can also be seen through the winning of the bid to host for\nthe first time, in Africa, the IAU General Assembly (IAU-GA) in 2024. Both the SKA and\nthe GA 2024 were proposed by South Africa as “African” bids that will in time, benefit\nthe continent as a whole.\nThe DSI has supported the various initiatives mentioned above through the South\nAfrican Radio Astronomy Observatory (SARAO), the South African Astronomical\nObservatory (SAAO), as well as implementing training efforts through various Human\nCapital Development (HCD) programmes such as the National Astrophysics and Space\nScience Programme (NASSP). In addition to this, the DSI supports the Office of\nAstronomy for Development (OAD), a joint project of the International Astronomical\nUnion (IAU) and the South African National Research Foundation (NRF), that aims to\nfurther the use of astronomy as a tool for sustainable development globally. The DSI\nalso recently committed to hosting and supporting the Secretariat of the African\nAstronomical Society (AfAS) which is a voice of astronomy on the continent and is\nworking to address the challenges faced by Africa through the promotion and\nadvancement of astronomy.\nThis session offers an opportunity for the key role players to demonstrate how the\nvarious initiatives mentioned above are facilitating the development of astronomy in\nAfrica as well as future plans which will ensure that Africa becomes one of the leaders\nin astronomy internationally. It will also allow the role players to interact with one\nanother and demonstrate how the plans of the various institutions that are involved, are\nin alignment.\nPresentations and discussions during the session will focus on:\n1. Current and planned initiatives to grow and connect the African Astronomical\ncommunity;\n2. Flagship projects and involvement of participating stakeholders in science and\noutreach;\n3. Potential roll-out and benefit of astronomy hubs on the continent;\n4. Strengthening continental research collaborations through joint research\nprojects, observations, MSc/Ph.D. student’s joint supervisions, joint proposals,\netc.\n5. Vision and legacy of the IAU-GA 2024\nProgramme: (Description of the running order of the session – 90 minutes)\n• Working towards the development of Astronomy in Africa, The DSI vision\n(Takalani Nemaungani) – 10 min\n• Astronomy in Africa and the African Astronomical Society (Jamal Mimouni) –\n10 min\n• Radio Astronomy – An African context – MeerKAT, SKA, AVN, DARA\n(Fernando Camilo) – 10 min\n• Optical Astronomy and intelligent observatory – An African context – SAAO,\nSALT (Petri Vaisanen) – 10 min\n• High Energy Astrophysics – An African context – HESS and towards CTA\n(Markus Bottcher) – 10 min\n• Astronomy for Development (Sandra Benitez) – 10 min\n• Africa-Europe Radio Astronomy Platform – AERAP (Declan KIRRANE) – 10\nmin\n• Panel discussion\nModerator: (Name and maximum 100 words biographical summaries – URL link if\nrelevant)\nDr B Fanaroff\nBernie Fanaroff was the director of the SKA SA project and the MeerKAT from its\nbegining in 2003 until the end of 2015. He has also been a radio astronomer (for five\nyears), a trade union organiser (for 18 years), Head of the Office for the Reconstruction\nand Development Programme – the RDP, the Deputy Director General of President\nMandela’s Office of the President, the chairman of the Integrated Justice System Board\nand the Interdepartmental Committee for Border Control, adviser to the Minster for\nSafety and Security and recently the facilitator of the Steel and Steel Products Master\nPlan for the Minister for Trade, Industry and Competition. He is a Fellow of the Royal\nSociety of London and has been awarded the Order of Mapungubwe.\nSpeakers: (Names and maximum 100 words per speaker biographical summaries –\nURL links if relevant)\nTakalani Nemaungani:\nTakalani Nemaungani is currently the Acting Chief Director for the Astronomy portfolio\nat the Department of Science and Innovation (DSI) in South Africa – Astronomy is a\nflagship project receiving the single largest investment in the budget within the DSI.\nTrained as an engineer from Wits University he began his career in 1994 in the private\nsector in companies such as Samancor and Sasol before joining the CSIR. He has\nplayed a pivotal role in the development of Astronomy in Africa and beyond as\nhighlighted through is roles in projects like the Square Kilometer Array (SKA), the\nAfrican Very Long Baseline Interferometry (AVN), the HESS telescope, the African\nAstronomical Society (AfAS), the IAU-OAD, NASSP, and providing strategic and\nfunding support to developing the multiwavelength astronomy community in South\nAfrica. He serves as the secretariat for the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and\nSouth Africa) Astronomy Working Group. Before joining the Astronomy division, he was\nthe Director of the Global Projects unit within the International Cooperation and\nResources division of the DSI where he was the Project Coordinator of the Promoting\nAfrica-Europe Research Infrastructure Project (PAERIP).\nJamal Mimouni:\nJamal Mimouni is an Algerian astrophysicist, who received his higher education partly\nin Algeria (B. Sc. in Theoretical Physics in 1977 from Algiers University) and partly in\nthe States (Ph. D. in Particle Physics in 1985 from the University of Pennsylvania,\nPhiladelphia). He is also an actor on the science, society, and the cultural dimension of\nthe scientific debate in the Arab-Muslim world and has developed a keen interest in the\nphilosophy of contemporary science, as well as to spreading scientific culture in\nsocieties of the developing world. On the “ground”, he has acted as adviser and\nresource person to amateur astronomy associations in Algeria and is the head of the\nwell-known Sirius Astronomy Association. He has been elected last year as President\nof the African Astronomical Society (AfAS) based in Cape Town, SA. He has been\nworking closely with the Algerian Ministry of National Education as a scientific adviser\nand has conceived and directed various regional training workshops for both\nElementary School and High School Physics Teachers: «From Geography to the\nCosmos». Finally, he has authored along with N. Guessoum a popular science book in\nArabic “The Story of the Universe: from Early Conceptions to the Big Bang” for an\nUniversity educated readership, and contributed to an academic collective book\n«Science and Religion in Islam».\nFernando Camilo:\nBorn and raised in Portugal; Physics PhD at Princeton University; during post-doc at\nJodrell Bank Observatory developed data acquisition system for Parkes radio telescope\nmultibeam surveys, which discovered more than half of all known pulsars; spent ~20\nyears at Columbia University in New York doing a variety of pulsar-related research,\nserving during a 2-year leave of absence as director of astronomy at Arecibo\nObservatory; since 2016, chief scientist at the South African Radio Astronomy\nObservatory (then SKA South Africa), where main role (with a team of ~40) is to ensure\nthat MeerKAT does the best possible science that it can.\nPetri Vaisanen:\nProf. Petri Vaisanen is the Director of the South African Astronomical Observatory\n(SAAO) in Cape Town and the observing site in Sutherland. He obtained his PhD from\nthe University of Helsinki on the topic of galaxy evolution. After spells in USA, and the\nEuropean Southern Observatory in Chile, he came to South Africa in 2004 where he\nworked for the Southern African Large Telescope (SALT) as an astronomer and later\nas its Head of Astronomy Operations, before taking up his current SAAO position in\n2018. The SAAO runs and hosts a large suite of optical and infrared telescopes and\ninstruments and engages is technology development as well as post-graduate\nastronomy training.\nMarkus Bottcher:\nMarkus Boettcher obtained his Ph.D. from the University of Bonn, Germany, in 1997,\nhaving done his Ph.D. research at the Max-Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy in\nBonn. He was a postdoctoral fellow at Rice University in Houston, TX, from 1997 – 2002,\nincluding a NASA Chandra Postdoctoral Fellowship from 1999 – 2002. He became\nassistant professor at Ohio University, Athens, OH, in 2002, associate professor in\n2007, and full professor in 2012. In 2013, he moved to South Africa to take up the\nposition of SARChI Chair of Astrophysics and Space Physics at North-West University,\nPotchefstroom. His area of expertise is theoretical high-energy astrophysics, with\nspecial emphasis on extragalactic sources, such as active galactic nuclei and gamma-\nray bursts.\nSandra Benitez:\nSandra Benitez Herrera studied Physics at the Complutense University of Madrid,\nSpain, and obtained her PhD at the Max-Planck Institute for Astrophysics in Garching,\nGermany. She also has a specialization in Science Communication by the Fiocruz\nFoundation, in Brazil. For several years, she was a researcher and educator at the\nMuseum of Astronomy of Rio de Janeiro and currently works at the Outreach\nDepartment of the Astrophysical Institute of the Canary Islands. She is a member of the\nGalileoMobile program and coordinator of the “Amanar: under the same sky” project,\nto support the Sahrawi refugee community. Sandra joined the OAD team this October\nand is working on Astronomy for Mental Health.\nDeclan Kirrane:\nDeclan Kirrane is the founder and Managing Director of ISC Intelligence in Science in\nBrussels. He has more than 25 years of experience disseminating scientific and\nresearch activities in Europe and worldwide from organizations and governments. He\nhas been involved in the dissemination of the research activities funded by the\nEuropean Union’s Framework Programme for Research and Technological\nDevelopment and Demonstration (FP) since 1994, the former Horizon Europe.\nWith Financial Times, he was the launch editor of CORDIS, the European\nCommission’s research information Service. He was Editor of the\nCommission’ Innovation and Technology Transfer Newsletter and CORDIS focus. His\nexpertise covers ICT, Health, Defence, Space, Science Policy, GPRD legislation, EU\nR&D and Innovation policies, programmes and funding instruments. He has worked\nextensively on science policy evaluation methodologies and technology options for\npolicy, and decision-makers use investment in science for broader economic\ndevelopment and competitiveness. With the Office of Science in the US Department of\nenergy, he Launched the Ford Foundation Bellagio process on science policy\nevaluation methodologies.\nHe is closely involved in EU-Africa science and innovation relations and investments,\nparticularly the EU’s investment strategy for Africa. The was closely involved in the\nSouth African government’s bid to host the Square Kilometre Array Radio Telescope,\nthe SKA, South Africa and its partner countries succeeded in securing the rights to build\nthe SKA in South Africa. He manages the Africa-Europe Science and Innovation\nPlatform, AERAP.\nDeclan has been actively promoting a more assertive role for science within the context\nof the United Nations General Assembly since 2010. This has culminated in the annual\nScience Summit within the context of the General Assembly, which he chairs.\nSession organiser(s): (Names of institutions and contact details of contact person –\nURL links if relevant)\nCharles Takalana\nAfrican Astronomical Society (AfAS)\ncharles.takalana@afasociety.org\n+27 (0) 81 481 7416\n+27 (0) 21 201 1622\nwww.afasociety.org\nKevin Govender\nInternational Astronomical Union (IAU) – Office of Astronomy for Development (OAD)\nkg@astro4dev.org\n+27 (0) 21 460 9350\nwww.astro4dev.org\nYunus Manjoo (AfAS)\nAfrican Astronomical Society (AfAS)\nyunus.manjoo@afasociety.org\nwww.afasociety.org\n
URL:http://www.africanastronomicalsociety.org/events/2891/
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