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European Radio Astronomy Consortium

Newsletter Issue 12/2021

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Study "Strong-field Gravity Tests with the Double Pulsar" published in journal Physical Review X

Strong-field Gravity Tests with the Double Pulsar

Researchers at The University of Manchester have helped conduct a 16-year long experiment to challenge Einstein’s theory of general relativity. The international team including scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy, the University of British Columbia and the University of East Anglia looked to the stars through seven radio telescopes across the globe and used them to challenge Einstein’s most famous theory with some of the most rigorous tests yet. The study Strong-field Gravity Tests with the Double Pulsar was published on December 13, 2021 in the journal Physical Review X and reveals new relativistic effects that have now been observed for the first time. Read the full press release of the  University of Manchester.

Image: © Norbert Junkes/MPIfR (Effelsberg), Letourneur and Nançay Observatory (NRT), ASTRON (WSRT), ATNFCSIRO (Parkes), Anthony Holloway (Jodrell Bank), NRAOAUINSF (VLBA), NSFAUIGreen Bank Observatory (GBT).

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Article on the ORP project in the EU Research & Innovation Magazine Horizon

Article on the ORP project in the EU R&I Magazine Horizon

The EU Research & Innovation Magazine Horizon published on December 8, 2021 an article by Gareth Willmer on the Opticon RadioNet Pilot (ORP) project with the title Is Europe entering a golden age of astronomy?

Read the full article on the Horizon Magazine website here.

Image: © vchal, Shutterstock

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Virtual ORP IRAM 30m School attracted hundreds of participants

Hundreds of participants at the virtual ORP IRAM 30m School

The ORP IRAM 30m School organised virtually by the Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM) on November 15-19, 22 and 23, 2021 was a success with the participation of hundreds of students.

The School combined topics on (sub)millimetre astronomy with technical lectures on instrumentation, observing techniques, and data processing and, very importantly, with observations carried out at the 30m telescope. Besides general areas of interest for 30m telescope users, this year was devoted to the NOEMA interferometer, and in particular to the synergies between this facility and the 30m telescope.

Read more about the ORP IRAM 30m School here.

Image: School group picture © IRAM

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EVN series of online seminars: The sharpest view of the radio Universe

EVN series of online seminars: The sharpest view of the radio Universe

The European VLBI Network (EVN) has announced the second edition of the series of online seminars The sharpest view of the radio Universe: VLBI – Connecting Astronomers Worldwide. Five seminars will cover different science topics illustrating how Very Long Baseline Interferometry can improve our understanding of many astronomical phenomena and how this technique is useful for the whole astronomical community. In the upcoming seminar on Friday 28 January 2022 - 16:00 CET, Cornelia C. Lang from the University of Iowa will give the talk High resolution observations of magnetic fields in the Central Molecular Zone of the Galactic Center.

The seminars can be followed live via Zoom as well as through the JIVE/EVN YouTube Channel.

Find all details here.

Image: © 2018 The European VLBI Network

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ESCAPE Virtual Observatory School - 2nd Edition, February 22 – March 4, 2022

ESCAPE Virtual Observatory School

ESCAPE is organising its second international Virtual Observatory School as a hybrid meeting at the Observatoire Astronomique de Strasbourg/France and online (Zoom), from February 22-24 and on March 4, 2022. Participation will be restricted to a limited number of participants, 25 at site and 25 remotely. Application closed December 10, 2021. Find full information here.

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POLICY NEWS

ESFRI Strategy report on Research Infrastructures published

Find here the new ESFRI Strategy report on Research Infrastructures and Roadmap 2021.

Report: Enabling open science and societal engagement in research

The Publications Office of the European Union published the report Enabling open science and societal engagement in research. This report presents insights and recommendations from a workshop held on 1 July 2021 attended by beneficiaries of the Science with and for Society (SwafS) Responsible Research and Innovation institutional change portfolio of projects funded under Horizon 2020 and the initial group of European University Alliances under the European Universities Initiative that received funding under the SwafS programme.

New pre-draft of AGA

The European Commission published another pre-draft of the Annotated Model Grant Agreement (AGA) for Horizon Europe on November 30, 2021.

Info-days for EU Missions

The European Commission has announced dedicated Info-Days for the EU Missions to be held virtually between January 18 and 19, 2022. EU Missions are an additional part of the Horizon Europe Research and Innovation programme for 2021-2027 aiming to address some of the greatest challenges facing our society. Full information here.

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ACCESS OPPORTUNITIES

European VLBI Network: Call for Proposals open

European VLBI Network: Call for Proposals open

The call for proposals for the European VLBI Network is open. EVN access and travel support is possible through the OPTICON RadioNet Pilot project (ORP). For eligible projects, this transnational access support would include travel reimbursement for visiting JIVE to analyse and process your EVN, EVN+e-MERLIN, or global VLBI data. All regular proposals should be submitted through the Northstar submission tool.

Submission deadline: February 1, 2022, 16:00 UTC

The 100-m radio telescope of the MPIfR: Call for Proposals open

The 100-m radio telescope of the MPIfR: Call for Proposals open

Access to the 100-m radio telescope of the MPIfR, one of the World’s largest fully steerable instrument is open to all qualified astronomers. Use of the instrument by scientists from outside the MPIfR is strongly encouraged. The institute can provide support and advice on project preparation, observation, and data analysis. Access/funding is offered through the ORP project. See the full call information here.

Deadline: February 3, 2022 (15:00 UT)

ALMA Cycle 9 Pre-Announcement

ALMA Cycle 9 Pre-Announcement

The Joint ALMA Observatory will start Cycle 9 observations in October 2022 for 12 months. A total of 4300 hours is anticipated for approved proposal observations for each 12-m Array and for the Atacama Compact Array (ACA), also known as the Morita Array. Projects with observations in the highest-frequency Bands 8, 9, and 10 are strongly encouraged. A Call for Proposals with detailed information on Cycle 9 will be issued in March 24, 2022.

Deadline: April 21, 2022

European ALMA Regional Centre

The European ALMA Regional Centre (ARC) provides the interface between the ALMA project and the European science community. The ARC is staffed by scientists with expertise in radio astronomy and interferometry and it supports its users throughout the lifetime of a project, from proposal preparation to data analysis. Users that want to visit an ARC node for a face-to-face visit can apply for funding through the ORP project. 

The Westerbork Apertif Long Term Archive (ALTA) is a brand new facility offering to the world-wide astronomical community free virtual access to data and scientific products produced from all sky surveys of the Northern sky that will be conducted with the new Apertif frontend of the Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope (WSRT), as well as tools to query, further exploit and perform data mining of these products adaptable to diverse research goals. The access/funding offered through the ORP project.

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JOB OPPORTUNITIES

• MPIfR / ERC project M2FINDERS - 4 Postdoctoral positions in Radio Astronomy - positions - deadline 31.12.2021

• University of Leeds - Research Fellow in Computational Astrochemistry – position – deadline 03.01.2022

• ESO – Astronomer/Project Scientist – position – deadline 06.01.2022, ALMA Regional Centre astronomer – position – deadline 06.02.2022

• NRF - SKA Mid – Deputy Site Manager – position – deadline  07.01.2022

• University of Nottingham - 2 Research Associate/Fellows in Physics and Astronomy – position & other position - deadline 09.01.2022

• University of Bielefeld - Research Position in data intense radio astronomy - position – deadline 10.01.2022

• CSIRO - HR Business Partner - SKA-Low Telescope - position – 16.01.2022

• University of California - Brinson Postdoctoral Fellowship - position – deadline 30.01.2022

• Chalmers - 2 Assistant Professors in Basic Science – position – deadline 31.01.2022

• JIV-ERIC - JIVE Support Scientist – position – deadline 01.02.2022

• University Oslo - Postdoctoral Research Fellow in extragalactic astrophysics – position

• University of the Western Cape - Postdoctoral Fellowships in observational and theoretical cosmology related to SKA – position

• University of British Columbia – Assistant Professor of Physics and Astronomy - position

• Hong Kong University of Science and Technology - Faculty Positions in Particle Physics and Cosmology - position

Check also EURAXESS

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EVENTS

• 239th AAS meeting - January 9-13, 2022 — Salt Lake City/Utah, US and virtual

• Info days for EU Missions - 18.-19.01.2022, virtual

• Horizon Europe Coordinators' Day - Grant Agreement Preparation - January 26, 2022 - virtual

• Annual Conference and General Assembly of the African Astronomical Society – March 14-18, 2022 - hybrid / Cape Town

• 12th IVS General Meeting - March 27–April 1, 2022 - tbd if Helsinki, virtual or hybrid

• VLBI in the SKA Era – February 14-18, 2022 - virtual

• IAU Symposium 365: Dynamics of Solar and Stellar Convection Zones and Atmospheres - May 23-27, 2022 - Moscow/RU

• EAS Annual Meeting 2022 - June 27 - July 1, 2022 - Valencia/ES

• The National Astronomy Meeting (NAM) 2022 - July 11-15, 2022 - tbd

• ESOF2022 - July 13-16, 2022 - Leiden/NL

• COSPAR 2022 – July 16-24, 2022 – Athens/Greece

• ADASS XXXII - September 11-15, 2022 - Victoria/CA (event page will follow)

• European Radio Interferometry School (ERIS 2022) - September 19-23, 2022, Dwingeloo/NL (preliminary dates/TBC, event page soon)

• ICRI2022 - October 19-21, 2022 - Brno, Czech Republic

 See also the Calendar

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