SGAA/SSAA News No 4 - 04/04/08 _________________________________________________________________________ 1. Travel support SSAA - invitation to apply for grants 2. Application for Ph.D. talks at the general assembly of the SSAA 3. International Year of Astronomy (IYA) 2009 _________________________________________________________________________ 1. Travel support SSAA - invitation to apply for grants The SSAA (Swiss Society for Astrophysics and Astronomy) will have in 2008 some money from the sc|nat (CHF 10500.—) available for travel grants. The SSAA now invites applicants to apply until April 27, 2008 to schmid∂astro.phys.ethz.ch (Hans Martin Schmid, ETH Zurich). The request should provide the date, place, and the reason for the travel, as well as the cost to be covered by the SSAA. There are two types of travel grants: (a) international collaboration (CHF 5500.-) Travel money for international collaboration is preferentially given for travels to meetings where Swiss participation is considered to be useful, for visits at other institutions (for research projects), and observing runs. The person should be a SGAA member (a good reason to join!) and an active researcher in astrophysics. (b) support for young scientists (CHF 5000.-) Travel money for young scientists is given preferentially to Ph.D. students but also young Post-Docs, whereby the money may be used for observing runs, visits to other institutions, conferences, research schools etc. In the application it should be clarified in a few words why this travel is important for the research project of the applicant. Particularly encouraged to apply are young researchers who are in a situation where it is not so easy to get the money from other institutions. _________________________________________________________________________ 2. Application for Ph.D. talks at the general assembly of the SSAA The annual general assembly of the SSAA takes place on Friday, Sept. 26, 2008 at the ETH in Zurich. During the scientific meeting of the SSAA about 6 to 8 young scientists will have the opportunity to present during 15 minutes the results of their Ph.D. thesis. We now invite young scientist from Swiss research institutions, who have just finished or who will finish soon their thesis to apply for an oral presentation at our meeting before April 15, 2008 with an e-mail to schmid∂astro.phys.ethz.ch. _________________________________________________________________________ 3. International Year of Astronomy (IYA) 2009 Preparations for IYA2009 (http://www.astronomy2009.org/) are ongoing. The Swiss Single Point of Contact (SPOC) acting as a contact for the IAU is Pierre Dubath (Observatoire, GE). The Swiss IYA2009 Website is under construction and will be on-line soon. A steering committee with the following members has been set up for Switzerland. Philippe Jetzer : region Zurich : jetzer∂iftp.uzh.ch Stefano Sposetti : region Ticino : stefanosposetti∂ticino.com Kathrin Altwegg : region Bern : kathrin.altwegg∂space.unibe.ch Gilbert Burki : region Romandie : urki∂obs.unige.ch">Gilbert.Burki∂obs.unige.ch Bruno Binggeli : region NW-CH : inggeli∂unibas.ch">Bruno.Binggeli∂unibas.ch Werner Schmutz : region GR : werner.schmutz∂pmodwrc.ch Max Hubmann : SAS : hubmann_ulmer∂freesurf.ch Daniel Schaerer : SSAA : chaerer∂obs.unige.ch">Daniel.Schaerer∂obs.unige.ch Pierre Dubath : SPOC : ubath∂obs.unige.ch">Pierre.Dubath∂obs.unige.ch Its main roles are to organise and coordinate national events, to coordinate regional and local events, and to insure an efficient dissemination of information. ==> All persons wishing to organise or participate in the organisation of events under IYA2009 are encouraged to contact their regional representative or the SPOC. The success of the IYA2009 activities/projects relies very much on your active contributions. Information from Pierre Dubath and Daniel Schaerer 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://obswww.unige.ch/ssaa. For any information and messages to be circulated via the SGAA/SSAA mailing list please e-mail your text to Thomas Schildknecht (thomas.schildknecht∂aiub.unibe.ch) in plain ASCII (no accents and special characters). THANK YOU ! SGAA/SSAA----SGAA/SSAA----SGAA/SSAA----SGAA/SSAA----SGAA/SSAA
Swiss Society for Astrophysics and Astronomy