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Australian Gemini Committees and Governance

Australia's membership of the International Gemini Partnership (IGP) provides Australian astronomers with independent access to the latest generation of optical-IR telescopes. Astronomers are eager to maximise the scientific returns from membership, by undertaking research projects using the Gemini facilities in the most innovative and effective ways possible. There is also strong interest in the other benefits that flow from membership in a large international research project, including opportunities to form international research collaborations and to participate in national or international bids to provide new instrumentation.

The funding arrangements, agreed lines of responsibility, including the terms of reference of committees, the responsibilities of individuals, and the membership/succession rules for Gemini-related positions, are outlined in this document.

Funding

Australia's involvement in Gemini is funded partly by the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS), and partially by the Australian Research Council (ARC). Both the ARC and NCRIS funding is managed by Astronomy Australia Ltd. (AAL). NCRIS funds about 2/3 of Australia's operations payments and all Aspen program committments from 2008 to June 2011, while the ARC pays the remainder of the operations payments. The AGSC will advise the AAL Board on all matters relating to Gemini, as well as access to other 8m-class telescope facilities.

Australian Research Council

The Australian Research Council (ARC) is the Partner Agency which has signed the International Gemini Agreement providing for Australian membership of the International Gemini Partnership. As Australia's signatory to the Gemini Agreement, the ARC has ultimate responsibility for Australian participation in Gemini. The ARC carries out this function through a number of advisory committees and individual appointments:

Australian Gemini Board Member

Australia has one seat on the Board of the International Gemini Partnership. The Australian Gemini Board Member has the following responsibilities:

  1. To attend IGP Board meetings and represent the interests of the ARC and Australian users;
  2. To chair the Australian Gemini Steering Committee;
  3. To liaise with the ARC and the Australian Gemini Scientist to ensure that the Australian position on Board-related matters is properly developed and promoted;
  4. To reinforce within the IGP Board the Australian priorities agreed by the Australian Gemini Scientist and the Australian Gemini Science Advisory Committee; and
  5. To provide briefings to, and to receive advice from, Australian stakeholders in the Gemini partnership.

The Australian Gemini Board Member will be appointed by the Australian Government (normally by the CEO of the ARC), and will serve for a term of three years which normally will be non-renewable. The Board Member will normally be a professional astronomer.

The current Australian IGP Board Member is Prof. Warrick Couch (wcouch -@- astro.swin.edu.au)

Australian Gemini Steering Committee

The Australian Gemini Steering Committee (AGSC) has the following Terms of Reference:

  1. To advise the Australian Government on all matters relating to Australian membership of the International Gemini Partnership;
  2. To oversee the operation of the Australian Gemini Office, including the appointment of the Australian Gemini Scientist and the Australian Gemini Science Advisory Committee; and
  3. To offer advice to, and to respond to requests from, other bodies regarding Australian involvement in Gemini.

The AGSC will be appointed by, and be advisory to, the Australian Government (via the ARC or DIISR as appropriate). Membership of the AGSC will comprise:

It is expected that the AGSC will meet annually (possibly informally) with the Australian members of the Anglo-Australian Telescope Board to explore issues of mutual interest.

The current members of the Australian Gemini Steering Committee are:

Australian Gemini Science Advisory Committee

The Australian Gemini Science Advisory Committee (AGSAC) provides the means for involving the broad community in Gemini activities. It has the following Terms of Reference:

  1. To solicit and receive advice from, and to provide feedback to, the Australian community regarding the optimal use of, and extensions to, the Gemini facilities;
  2. To advise the Australian Gemini Scientist on all matters relating to the scientific exploitation of Gemini by Australian users;
  3. To advise the Chair of the Australian Time Assignment Committee on any matters relating to the allocation of Australian observing time on Gemini facilities; and
  4. To advise the Australian Gemini Steering Committee on scientific and/or engineering matters relating to Australian participation in the Gemini partnership, including advice on forward plans for Australian participation in the partnership.

The Australian Gemini Science Advisory Committee will be appointed by the AGSC. Its members will be broadly representative of the entire spectrum of Australian interest in (1) the scientific exploitation of Gemini facilities, and (2) participation in projects to develop new Gemini instrumentation. The Australian Gemini Scientist will normally Chair the AGSAC. The Chair of the Australian Time Assignment Committee will normally be a member of AGSAC.

The current members of the Science Advisory Committee are:

ex officio:

Ordinary Members:

Australian Gemini Scientist, Deputy Gemini Scientists, and the Australian Gemini Office

The Australian Gemini Office (AusGO) is staffed by the Australian Gemini Scientist (AGS), and one or more Deputy Gemini Scientists (DGS). The AusGO will normally be hosted by the home institution of the AGS, under contract to AAL. It is not necessary for any DGS to be based at the same institution as the AGS; indeed, there is a perceived advantage to having at least one DGS external to the AusGO, so as to distribute the expertise and visibility of AusGO more widely across the community.

Procedures for the appointment of the AGS, DGS, and for the operation of the AusGO are entrusted to the AGSC. The term of the AGS and DGS shall normally be 3 years, with extensions at the discretion of the AGSC. The AGS and DGS are expected to spend half their time on AusGO duties, with the remainder on their own research activities making use of the facilities of the Gemini Observatory, and other telescopes to which Australian astronomers have access. The AusGO may also enlist the services of Instrument Specialists from within the Australian community, to provide support for instruments outside the expertise of the AGS and DGS, or to technically assess proposals on which the AGS or DGS are involved.

The responsibilities of the AGS and DGS, and the roles of the AusGO are:

  1. Liaison with the International Gemini Partnership (IGP) and other National Gemini Offices (NGOs) on scientific, operational, engineering, and instrumentation matters. The AusGO will be the primary point of contact in all of these areas. The AusGO will disseminate information into the Australian community, and receive and forward information from the community to the IGP/NGOs.
  2. Arranging appropriate representation of Australia in all scientific, operational and engineering/instrumentation activities of the IGP. Depending on the circumstances, this might involve AusGO staff or persons selected from the Australian community on the strength of their experience/interest or their institutional perspective.
  3. Managing the process of allocating Australian time on the Gemini telescopes, including the provision of technical assessments of Australian proposals. The Australian Time Assignment Committee (ATAC), officially formed by the Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research (DIISR), is charged with the task of ranking proposals for observing time on Gemini, as well as for time on other facilities as may become available to the Australian community (e.g. Magellan). The melding of Australian observing programs into the Gemini queues will require high-level liaison between the Australian users and the Gemini Observatory, which will be mediated by the AusGO.
  4. Promoting and fostering the use of Gemini facilities by all appropriate members of the Australian community. IGP Operations will cover only those activities directly involved in an observing run. Australian infrastructure will be identified or established (or shared with other NGOs) to provide:
    • information on facility and instrument capability to allow proper design of observing programs,
    • information on the support available for data reduction and analysis,
    • access to the Gemini archives, and
    • support for remote observing
  5. Assisting in the preparation of instrumentation bids that involve Australian institutions. This will include pro-active solicitation of participation, and brokering of partnerships to strengthen any Australian bid. For successful bids, the AusGO will provide agreed accountabilities to the ARC and the IGP. It may also have a monitoring role to play on behalf of both the IGP and the interested Australian community.
  6. Assisting in the dissemination of information to media and the community regarding discoveries made by Australian astronomers using the Gemini telescopes, both to cater to public interest in astronomy and to demonstrate the tangible returns of Australian participation in the IGP.

The Australian Gemini Scientist for the period 2008-2011 is Dr Stuart Ryder from the Anglo-Australian Observatory. The Deputy Gemini Scientists for the period 2008-2011 are Dr Terry Bridges at the Anglo-Australian Observatory, and Dr (TBA) at the ANU's Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics.

Australian Time Assignment Committee

The Anglo-Australian Observatory provides secretarial support to the Australian Time Assignment Committee (ATAC). Membership of ATAC is open to any member of the Australian astronomical community. A call for nominations is issued as and when vacancies arise, via the ASA's membership e-mail exploder. An appointments committee comprising the President of the ASA (or nominee), the senior Australian astronomer on the AAT Board (or nominee), and the Chair of the AGSC (or nominee) will appoint new ATAC members, having regard for a diversity in institutional representation (no one institution should have more than 2 members at a time), gender, and broad coverage of research expertise within ATAC.

Australian Gemini Office, ausgo -@- aao.gov.au