Attracting the new generation of scientists

BY ANIM VAN WYK (SKAO)

The SKA Observatory has big ambitions for its post-doctoral programme. Once the telescopes reach the commissioning phase, SKAO Director-General Prof. Philip Diamond would like to welcome three post-doctoral fellows each year.

“Any observatory like ours needs a programme to tap into the new generation of young scientists, both those interested only in astronomy but also those interested in the technical aspects of astronomy – whether it be the software or the development of new generations of hardware,” said Prof. Diamond.

Ideally, the SKAO’s post-doctoral fellowship programme would be named after a famous radio-astronomer, similar to the Jansky fellowship at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory in the US or CSIRO’s Bolton fellowship in Australia. Though the SKAO programme is still small, the Observatory welcomed a new post-doctoral fellow, Dr Simon Purser, earlier this year while Dr Philippa Hartley was promoted to SKAO scientist.

DR PHILIPPA HARTLEY

Dr Philippa Hartley

• Joined in September 2019, promoted to SKAO scientist in March 2022

• PhD thesis: Finding and looking through strong gravitational lenses

Tell us about your post-doc project.

My work has involved writing code to simulate what the telescopes will see, in addition to working with partners and collaborators to deliver a series of Science Data Challenges. These aim to familiarise the community with SKAO data and drive forward the development of new data analysis methods. What’s the best part of the SKAO? I get to work with people from all over the world to achieve together something amazing. It is a wonderful privilege to be part of this truly international project.

In your wildest dreams, Nature covers a journal article you authored that describes…

The true nature of dark matter and its effect on the growth and evolution of the Universe.

If you weren’t an astronomer, you’d most likely be…

I really don’t know! I nearly did a degree in fine art photography, so maybe that.

DR HAO (HARRY) QIU

Dr Hao Qiu

• Joined in March 2021

• PhD thesis: Detecting fast radio bursts (FRBs) with the ASKAP telescope in Australia

Tell us about your post-doc project.

My project – called SUPERHeRO – is conducted with a former SKAO project scientist, Prof Evan Keane. We aim to improve the precision of utilising FRBs as cosmology probes, researching possibilities in observations, theory, and statistics to improve our understanding of these extragalactic transients.

What’s the best part of the SKAO?

You get an insider’s view of the SKA and learn about the work needed to create a functional radio telescope for astrophysics. There is also adequate funding to support scientific research for an early career researcher such as attending conferences and obtaining computing infrastructure for data reduction.

In your wildest dreams, Nature covers a journal article you authored that describes…

Maybe using the SKA array to detect the epoch of helium reionisation with FRBs?

If you weren’t an astronomer, you’d most likely be…

I think I would’ve liked to be a chef.

DR SIMON PURSER

Dr Simon Purser

• Joined in January 2022

• PhD thesis: Ionised jets associated with massive protostars

Tell us about your post-doc project.

Like Philippa, I am part of the team preparing future SKA users by creating artificial datasets true to those that will ultimately be observed by the telescopes themselves. I help provide realistic models of the diffuse galactic foreground, which obscures the faint signature of reionisation in the early Universe.

What’s the best part of the SKAO?

Within the science data challenges team, there is a strong sense of working together towards a common goal. As for the job itself, I enjoy writing code and knowing that it will ultimately (hopefully!) be reused for future data challenges is satisfying in itself.

In your wildest dreams, Nature covers a journal article you authored that describes…

High-resolution images that resolve both the point at which young stars launch ionised gas jets and the point at which this material becomes focussed into a narrow beam. These images would reveal the dominant mechanism behind the production of the jets, helping resolve a long-standing debate.

If you weren’t an astronomer, you’d most likely be…

Either a software developer, personal trainer, or some strange combination of both!