Swiss SKA Days held at EPFL BY DR SIMON BERRY AND THIJS GEURTS (SKAO)
The annual Swiss SKA days were held from 7-8 September, hosted by the École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) and bringing together national and international representatives of academia, industry and government.
In June, EPFL signed a Cooperation Agreement with SKAO which, alongside formalising Switzerland’s participation in the governance of the Observatory, enables Swiss partners to engage in procurement matters in the same way as SKAO Members. EPFL chose to organise a hybrid meeting, welcoming around 50 participants in person and a similar number virtually. Alongside a talk by SKAO Council Chair Dr Catherine Cesarsky, there was a suite of SKAO presentations on the current status of the project, regional centres, software development, procurement rules and the latest political developments. These
were accompanied by presentations and pitches from Swiss industry and other potential partners. Having a small SKAO presence in person at the event, the first such international business travel by HQbased staff for 18 months, meant a series of fringe meetings could be held on procurement matters with Swiss and French colleagues present in Lausanne, and most importantly, with officials from the Swiss government to finalise negotiations on Swiss membership of the SKAO. These meetings were particularly useful, reminding us that physical interaction is in some cases irreplaceable.
Dr Catherine Cesarsky giving a talk at the Swiss SKA Days in Lausanne, Switzerland. Credit: SKAO
SKAO takes the stage at World Expo in Dubai It’s often said that the SKAO was born global, so it’s only natural that the Observatory was represented at October’s Space Week of the World Expo in Dubai. The World Expo is a major global gathering of nations occurring every three or four years that provides an advertising platform for countries to highlight their achievements and brings together experts and policy-makers from around the world to discuss global common issues and challenges. To coincide with the Expo’s “Space Week”, during which national pavilions put a particular emphasis on space (and by proxy, astronomy), the SKAO jointly organised an event with Australia’s Government Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources (DISER), to showcase on a truly global level the history, scientific goals, and recent rapid progress of the SKA project. 40
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Among the speakers, some of whom were present virtually, Head of the SKAO Director-General’s Office Dr Simon Berry spoke about the role and importance of international collaboration across the SKA project, while Prof. Cathryn Trott of ICRAR and Dr Karen Lee-Waddell, Director of the Australian SKA Regional Centre, highlighted the Observatory’s science objectives and data challenges, respectively. Australia’s SKAO Council representative, Janean Richards of DISER, also gave an overview of the country’s contributions to the SKA project, which of course includes being one of the two telescope host countries alongside South Africa.
Further demonstrating the global nature of the project, the event included updates from SKAO members and observer countries including China, India, Italy, the Netherlands, Switzerland, South Africa, and the United Kingdom. Despite the challenges of COVID-19, the Expo still welcomed a large number of high-level stakeholders in Dubai, and Space Week saw science ministers, chief scientific advisors, and other senior science policy makers joining events across country pavilions, a great opportunity for the SKAO to demonstrate and increase its global connections.
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