SGAA/SSAA News No 23 - 23/04/2013 _________________________________________________________________________ 1. Call for for MERAC Funding and Travel Awards 2. Second call for "Astronomy Outreach" projects 3. Joint meeting of Swiss and Austrian Physics, Astrophysics & Astronomy Societies, september 3-6, 2013, in Linz 4. 43rd Saas-Fee Advanced Course, videos online 5. Saas-Fee courses: books available for orders 6. Special session @ SSAA General Assembly 2013 - call for topics 7. ESA summerschool in Davos 8. CHAPS reminder _________________________________________________________________________ 1. Call for for MERAC Funding and Travel Awards The SSAA is pleased to announce its first call for MERAC awards. Starting this year the SSAA committee will distribute Funding and Travel Awards (20'000 Euro in total) sponsored by Foundation MERAC (Mobilising European Research in Astrophysics and Cosmology), a nonprofit foundation in Switzerland to recognize, encourage and promote the research and mobility of young European Astrophysicists and Cosmologists. The objectives of the grants are to cover travel costs, participation at international conferences, short stays abroad, costs for collaborations, or alike, to support the development of research projects by young astrophysicists. The grants do not cover expenses for scientific apparatus or equipment. The grants are subject to the following conditions: - The grantee must be employed by or affiliated with a Swiss research institute or University. - The grants must be used to cover project costs, not or only partially covered by other institutions. - The grant has to be used within two years, after which unused funding must be reimbursed to the SSAA. - The grantee provides the SSAA with a financial report and short final report on the use of the grant. - The grantee allows the MERAC Foundation to make his/her biography and project summary public. Applications will be received twice per year (february 1, and september 1). They must include a short biography, a research project description with a summary, and a budget estimate. In case of a multiple applications, the list of other solicited funds shall be given. The applications should be limited to a maximum of 5 pages, in a single pdf file, to be sent to the Secretary of the SSAA, Georges Meynet (georges.meynet∂unige.ch). Exceptionally, this first call shall be with an application deadline of may 24, 2013. For the SSAA, Daniel Schaerer _________________________________________________________________________ 2. Second call for "Astronomy Outreach" projects The SSAA offers financial support of up to 5000 CHF for projects on Astronomy Outreach. Funding is possible for diverse outreach projects, including support for exhibitions, the preparation of material for schools, the organisation of events, and alike. Projects will be funded on a competitive basis. Please send a brief project description and your budget request to daniel.schaerer∂unige.ch. The deadline for the call is: june 28, 2013. Requests may also be supported outside this call, if funding permits. _________________________________________________________________________ 3. Joint meeting of Swiss and Austrian Physics, Astrophysics & Astronomy Societies, september 3-6, 2013, in Linz A joint meeting of the Swiss Physical Society, the Austrian Physical Society, the Austrian Society for Astronomy and Astrophysics, and the SSAA will take place september 3-6, 2013, in Linz (Austria). The program consists of plenary speeches, topical sessions, and additional events. A special session on "Habitable Worlds: From Detection to Characterization" will be held Thursday, 5 sept. We look forward to see many of you there! Abstract deadline: 13 may 2013 Registration deadline: 1 august 2013 Consult the meeting website http://www.sps.ch/en/events/joint_annual_meeting_2013/ _________________________________________________________________________ 4. 43rd Saas-Fee Advanced Course, videos online Course material and videos the 43rd Saas-Fee course on "STAR FORMATION IN GALAXY EVOLUTION: CONNECTING NUMERICAL MODELS TO REALITY" are now available online and for download at http://obswww.unige.ch/lastro/conferences/sf2013/videos.cgi Material (including videos) from past courses can be found on http://www.ssaa.ch/index.php?page=courses-and-course-material&hl=eng Thank you to the course organizers! For the SSAA, Daniel Schaerer _________________________________________________________________________ 5. Saas-Fee courses 39 and 40: books available for order The manuscripts from the past Saas-Fee courses on - Solar and Stellar Dynamos (39th course) - Astrophysics at Very High Energies (40th course) published by Springer Verlag in the Saas-Fee series have recently appeared (see http://link.springer.com/search?facet-series=%224284%22&facet-content-type=%22Book%22) Members can obtain the books with a discount of 20% from the list price of 69.95 EUR (Vol 39) and 74.99 EUR (Vol 40). This discount also applies to other books from the series. Members interested by this offer should contact saas-fee∂unige.ch to receive a "token" allowing them to order directly with Springer. For general information on Saas-Fee courses (material, videos, books etc.) see http://www.ssaa.ch/index.php?page=courses-and-course-material&hl=eng For the SSAA, Daniel Schaerer _________________________________________________________________________ 6. Special session @ SSAA General Assembly 2013 - call for topics During the next general assembly of the SSAA, to be held 11 october 2013 at the Uni Basel, we plan to have a special session (typically 1h30-2h) as in the previous years. We hereby sollicitate inputs from the community on proposed topics. For suggestions/inputs please contact the SSAA secretary. A detailed program and further information will be posted later on http://www.ssaa.ch/index.php?page=assemblees&hl=eng The SSAA committee _________________________________________________________________________ 7. ESA summerschool in Davos on satellite navigation, 15-25 july 2013 ESA INTERNATIONAL SUMMERSCHOOL ON GNSS 2013 in conjunction with the JRC SUMMERSCHOOL ON GNSS in cooperation with Stanford University Institut Supérieur de l’Aeronautique et de l’Espace (ISAE), Toulouse Graz University of Technology University FAF Munich supported by the Swiss Space Office (SSO) and the Swiss Space Center (SSC) at Schatzalp Snow & Mountain Resort, Davos, Switzerland 15-25 July 2013 The number of participants is limited to 50 - early registration is recommended (first come - first serve). see web page http://www.congrexprojects.com/13m07/introduction _________________________________________________________________________ 8. CHAPS reminder - with extended deadline 15 may Dear Colleagues, As you will certainly remember, a few weeks ago you received an email requesting input for an update of the Roadmap for Astronomy in Switzerland. The deadline to send us information was set to April 30 and it is approaching fast. We have learned that some of you are currently extremely busy with important deadlines to meet. Hence, we have decided to extend the deadline to Mai 15. Please remember that the completeness of this update depends upon your input. It is only if you provide your main achievements and major future plans that we will be able to write a document that truly reflects the many aspects of Swiss astronomy. By extending the deadline for input, we shorten the time available to draft the update. Hence, it is important to deliver your contribution on time. Many thanks in advance. Best wishes, For the editing committee, Wlly Benz SGAA/SSAA----SGAA/SSAA----SGAA/SSAA----SGAA/SSAA----SGAA/SSAA For more information concerning the SGAA/SSAA, astronomy in Switzerland, and related topics visit our Website http://www.ssaa.ch. For any information and messages to be circulated via the SGAA/SSAA mailing list please e-mail your text to the new secretary (georges.meynet∂unige.ch) in plain ASCII. Thank you ! SGAA/SSAA----SGAA/SSAA----SGAA/SSAA----SGAA/SSAA----SGAA/SSAA
Swiss Society for Astrophysics and Astronomy