SKAO establishes presence in telescope host countries

The SKAO presence is kicking off in Australia and SouthAfrica, hosts of its two telescopes, as preparations ramp up for construction.

Agreements have been signed with the partner institutes in both countries - CSIRO in Australia and SARAO in South Africa- to optimise the efficient and productive function of the Observatory. They set out the principles for cooperation for the delivery of day-to-day functions and activities of the SKA telescopes, and are in addition to the Host Country Agreements which are currently being finalised. The partner institute agreements cover matters including procurement, health, safety and environmental rules, relations with local communities around the two sites, and staffing.

Almost all staff working in Australia or South Africa to deliver the SKA telescopes will be employed by either SARAO or CSIRO, but there will be some key exceptions, including the SKAO’s two telescope directors and two site construction directors.

In May, Dr Sarah Pearce and Dr Lindsay Magnus were appointed as telescope directors for SKA-Low in Australia and SKA-Mid in South Africa, respectively. Both are highly respected figures in the field: Dr Pearce was chief scientist of Australia’s national science agency CSIRO, while Dr Magnus was head of operations at SARAO. They are the most senior SKAO operations representatives in each country, overseeing staff and all elements of the respective telescope systems which are distributed across a number of locations, and reporting directly to Director of Operations Dr Lewis Ball.

Dr Sarah Pearce

Dr Lindsay Magnus

In early June there was further progress as the SKAO’s Site Construction Directors were appointed to lead construction activities in the two countries. Tracy Cheetham, previously the head of construction planning for SARAO, was appointed in South Africa. Antony Schinckel, previously the SKA’s head of construction planning for Australia and lead of the SKA programme at CSIRO, takes on the role in Australia. Between them, they have nearly 50 years’ experience delivering telescopes and associated infrastructure, including the design and construction of SKA precursor telescopes MeerKAT and ASKAP.

These rapid developments will continue in the coming months with more staff being recruited for both sites, as the team expands out from SKAO Global HQ in the UK in preparation for this new exciting phase.

Tracy Cheetham

Antony Schinckel