Äîêóìåíò âçÿò èç êýøà ïîèñêîâîé ìàøèíû. Àäðåñ îðèãèíàëüíîãî äîêóìåíòà : http://www.mso.anu.edu.au/~bessell/FTP/NCRIS.pdf Äàòà èçìåíåíèÿ: Tue Aug 29 10:47:50 2006 Äàòà èíäåêñèðîâàíèÿ: Tue Oct 2 01:06:06 2012 Êîäèðîâêà: Ïîèñêîâûå ñëîâà: galactic cluster

NATIONAL COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH INFRASTRUCTURE STRATEGY

Investment Plan
For the research capability

Radio and optical astronomy v2.2
August 23 2006


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Version 1.0 1.1 1.2 2.0 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.1 2.2

Date 31 June 7 July 31 July 17 August 18 19 21 22 23 24 A A A A A A ug ug ug ug ug ug us us us us us us t t t t t t

Comments Initial version distributed to community for comments Progress report submitted to NCRI S Included summary section and section on data management Revised invest ment profile bas ed on NCRIS feedback. Revised contributions from proponents. Minor editing of infrastructure c ases Inclusion of further items on GMT and AAO regional benefits Addition of input from Governance WG Further edits from proponents Further edits from proponents Financial tables included, updated organization charts


3 INSTRUCTI ONS Purpos e This Invest ment Plan is to be c ompleted in res pec t of funding to support Australian res earc h infrastructure under the National Collaborative Researc h Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS). Guidance on issues related to the dev elopment of this Invest ment Plan can be found in the NCRI S Roadmap and NCRIS Inv estment Framework. GST The Department will not provide funding to cov er any amounts of GST incurred by any Party to the Investment Plan in circ umstanc es where the applicant is entitled to claim input tax credits for those GST amounts. Therefore, budget figures should be the GST exclusive costs of all items in res pect of which any Party is entitled to an input tax credit. Confidential Information No confidential information should be inc luded in this Invest ment Plan. If it is considered necessary to provide c ertain confidential inf ormation to the Depart ment or the NCRI S Committee in association wit h this Invest ment Plan, then only a non-c onfidential summary explaining the nature and owners hip of the information s hould be provided in Attachment J. DEST will then contact relev ant parties to obtain access to the confidential information in an appropriat e manner. Consideration of Invest ment Plans Investment Plans will only be c onsidered by the NCRIS Committee and DEST if they have been prepared by the Facilitator identified for the relev ant NCRI S Research Capability.


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CONTENTS Part One Part Two Part Three Part Four Part Five Part Six Fac ilitator's Declaration Overview Research Infrastructure Access and Pricing Ownership and Management Implementation Strategy and Business Case

Attachments A B C D E F G H I J K List of assets Constitution / Memorandum of Underst anding Organisation charts Curric ulum Vitae for key personnel Implementation strat egy Financial statements Risk management strategy Letters of commit ment Further infrastructure needs Confidential inf ormation Other, as required


5 PART ONE ­ FACI LITATOR' S DECLARATI ON

I, [Facilitator's name], confirm that I have prepared this Investment Plan in accordance wit h the NCRI S principles as set out in the NCRIS Inv est ment Framework.

............................................... Signed Brian J Boy le ............................................... Name 7 September 2006 ............................................... Date


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PART TWO - OVERVIEW Details of the or ganisation that will contr act with the Commonwealth: Organisation Name: Ultimate parent organisation (if appropriate): Organisation Type (please select one of the following) - Higher Educ ational institution; - Australian Government research institution; - State or territory researc h institution; - Privat e sector research organis ation; - Other (Pleas e state) Contact Officer (name and position held): Phone number: Fax number: Email Address: Websit e: Physical Address: Postal Address for all corres pondenc e: Astr onomy Research Australia Ltd


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Details of all other or ganisati ons that will contr ibute r esources to this I nvestment Pl an: Organisation Name: Organisation Type (please select one of the following) - Higher Educ ational institution; - Australian Government research institution; - State or territory researc h institution; - Privat e sector research organis ation; - Other (Pleas e state) Contact Officer det ails (pleas e include Name, Position, Phone Number and Email Address): Organisation Name: Organisation Type (please select one of the following) - Higher Educ ational institution; - Australian Government research institution; - State or territory researc h institution; - Privat e sector research organis ation; - Other (Pleas e state) Contact Officer det ails (pleas e include Name, Position, Phone Number and Email Address): Organisation Name: Organisation Type (please select one of the following) - Higher Educ ational institution; - Australian Government research institution; - State or territory researc h institution; - Privat e sector research organis ation; - Other (Pleas e state) Contact Officer det ails (pleas e include Name, Position, Phone Number and Email Address):


8 Fundi ng Summary: Table 1: Outline of the overall funding (GST exclusive) for the Inv est ment Plan: Table 2: Summary of the contributions to be made by eac h participant organisation: (Tables 1 and 2 c ombined, as Table 2 is basically a sub-t otal that feeds in to Table 1)
Organisation NCRIS ANU Members ARC Cash Total In-kind Total Cash Total Cash In-kind Total CSIRO GSKA MNRF UNSW WA Govt Total In-kind Total In-kind Total In-kind Total In-kind Total $15,612,898 $2,222,243 $2,222,243 $3,920,000 $3,920,000 $4,614,655 $4,614,655 $62,500 $62,500 $125,000 $125,000 $2,000,000 $2,000,000 $19,056,910 $4,500,000 $4,500,000 $22,014,758 $3,500,000 $3,500,000 $26,707,458 $15,247,661 2006/07 $3,433,500 $3,433,500 $1,300,000 $1,300,000 $60,000 $60,000 $164,300 $164,300 $867,000 $936,543 $1,803,543 $6,280,000 $6,280,000 $889,000 $7,630,000 $7,630,000 $911,000 $7,330,000 $7,330,000 $933,000 $4,840,000 $4,840,000 $174,158 $174,158 $889,000 $184,605 $184,605 $911,000 $195,681 $195,681 $933,000 2007/08 $8,684,067 $8,684,067 2008/09 $8,821,600 $8,821,600 2009/10 $14,781,853 $14,781,853 2010/11 $9,278,980 $9,278,980 Total $45,000,000 $45,000,000 $1,300,000 $1,300,000 $778,744 $778,744 $3,600,000 $3,158,786 $6,758,786 $30,000,000 $30,000,000 $4,614,655 $4,614,655 $187,500 $187,500 $10,000,000 $10,000,000 $98,639,685

Table 3: Breakdown of expenditure (the totals should match those in Table 1):
Type Expense - Inter national Access Expense - O per ating Expenses - C apital Grand Total 2006/07 -$6,464,898 -$3,878,000 -$5,270,000 -$15,612,898 2007/08 -$3,423,210 -$3,185,033 -$11,200,000 -$17,808,243 2008/09 -$3,766,000 -$5,088,092 -$13,130,000 -$21,984,092 2009/10 -$3,828,666 -$5,116,792 -$17,730,000 -$26,675,458 2010/11 -$3,121,833 -$4,647,161 -$8,790,000 -$16,558,994 Total -$20,604,607 -$21,915,078 -$56,120,000 -$98,639,685


9 Additional Tables Table 4: Break down of revenue per facility and organisation
Facility 6.19% Gemini Funding ARC Cash In-kind Total GSKA MNRF Total NCRIS Total AAO Total ARA Members NCRIS Total Gemini additional Total GMT ANU NCRIS Total GMT/ PILOT/8m Total MIRA CSIRO NCRIS WA Govt Total PILOT ARC NCRIS UNSW Total Grand Total In-kind Total Cash Total In-kind Total In-kind Total Cash Total In-kind Total $4,420,000 $80,000 $80,000 $500,000 $500,000 $62,500 $62,500 $642,500 $15,612,898 $500,000 $500,000 $125,000 $125,000 $625,000 $19,056,910 $22,014,758 $26,707,458 $15,247,661 $3,920,000 $3,920,000 $500,000 $500,000 In-kind Total Cash Total Cash Total Cash Total GSKA MNRF NCRIS Cash Total Cash Total $4,216,898 $950,000 $950,000 $950,000 $60,000 $60,000 $183,500 $183,500 $243,500 In-kind Total $2,540,000 $2,540,000 $2,540,000 $1,300,000 $1,300,000 $1,300,000 $1,300,000 $2,600,000 NCRIS Cash Total $358,593 $358,593 $358,593 $6,280,000 $6,280,000 $1,700,000 $1,700,000 $2,000,000 $2,000,000 $9,980,000 $358,594 $358,594 $358,594 $7,630,000 $7,630,000 $2,200,000 $2,200,000 $4,500,000 $4,500,000 $14,330,000 $358,594 $358,594 $358,594 $7,330,000 $7,330,000 $8,400,000 $8,400,000 $3,500,000 $3,500,000 $19,230,000 $11,240,000 $358,594 $358,594 $358,594 $4,840,000 $4,840,000 $6,400,000 $6,400,000 In-kind $2,142,243 $2,142,243 $2,074,655 $2,074,655 $3,168,334 $3,168,334 $4,971,877 $2,720,000 $2,720,000 $2,720,000 $164,300 $164,300 $237,140 $237,140 $401,440 $3,219,666 $3,219,666 $4,108,666 $2,800,000 $2,800,000 $2,800,000 $174,158 $174,158 $243,340 $243,340 $417,498 $3,273,666 $3,273,666 $4,184,666 $2,500,000 $2,500,000 $2,500,000 $184,605 $184,605 $249,593 $249,593 $434,198 $1,214,500 $1,214,500 $2,147,500 $1,050,000 $1,050,000 $1,050,000 $195,681 $195,681 $255,886 $255,886 $451,567 2006/07 2007/08 $867,000 $936,543 $1,803,543 $889,000 $911,000 $933,000 2008/09 $889,000 2009/10 $911,000 2010/11 $933,000 Total $3,600,000 $3,078,786 $6,678,786 $2,074,655 $2,074,655 $10,876,166 $10,876,166 $19,629,607 $10,020,000 $10,020,000 $10,020,000 $778,744 $778,744 $1,169,459 $1,169,459 $1,948,203 $2,540,000 $2,540,000 $2,540,000 $1,300,000 $1,300,000 $1,300,000 $1,300,000 $2,600,000 $1,434,375 $1,434,375 $1,434,375 $30,000,000 $30,000,000 $19,200,000 $19,200,000 $10,000,000 $10,000,000 $59,200,000 $80,000 $80,000 $1,000,000 $1,000,000 $187,500 $187,500 $1,267,500 $98,639,685


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Table 5: Break down of expenditure per facility
Facility 6.19% Gemini Transaction Type Expense International Access Expense Oper ating Total Expense Oper ating Expenses - C apital Total Expense Oper ating Total Expense International Access Total Expense Oper ating Total Expense Oper ating Total Expense Oper ating Expenses - C apital Total Expense Oper ating Expenses - C apital Total Total -$4,420,000 -$4,420,000 -$142,500 -$500,000 -$642,500 -$15,612,898 2006/07 -$3,924,898 -$292,000 -$4,216,898 -$600,000 -$350,000 -$950,000 -$243,500 -$243,500 -$2,540,000 -$2,540,000 -$2,600,000 -$2,600,000 -$358,593 -$358,593 -$1,000,000 -$8,980,000 -$9,980,000 -$125,000 -$500,000 -$625,000 -$17,808,243 -$21,984,092 -$26,675,458 -$16,558,994 -$358,594 -$358,594 -$3,000,000 -$11,330,000 -$14,330,000 -$358,594 -$358,594 -$3,000,000 -$16,230,000 -$19,230,000 -$358,594 -$358,594 -$3,000,000 -$8,240,000 -$11,240,000 2007/08 -$3,423,210 -$300,000 -$3,723,210 -$1,000,000 -$1,720,000 -$2,720,000 -$401,440 -$401,440 2008/09 -$3,766,000 -$312,000 -$4,078,000 -$1,000,000 -$1,800,000 -$2,800,000 -$417,498 -$417,498 2009/10 -$3,828,666 -$324,000 -$4,152,666 -$1,000,000 -$1,500,000 -$2,500,000 -$434,198 -$434,198 2010/11 -$3,121,833 -$337,000 -$3,458,833 -$500,000 -$550,000 -$1,050,000 -$451,567 -$451,567 Total -$18,064,607 -$1,565,000 -$19,629,607 -$4,100,000 -$5,920,000 -$10,020,000 -$1,948,203 -$1,948,203 -$2,540,000 -$2,540,000 -$2,600,000 -$2,600,000 -$1,434,375 -$1,434,375 -$10,000,000 -$49,200,000 -$59,200,000 -$267,500 -$1,000,000 -$1,267,500 -$98,639,685

AAO

ARA Gemini additional

GMT GMT/ PILOT/8m

MIRA

PILOT


11 Proj ect Descripti on In no more than five pages, please provide a s ummary of the Inv estment Plan that addresses the recommendations of the NCRI S Roadmap and the Invest ment Criteria set out in the NCRIS Investment Framework. Alignment with NCRIS roadmap The NCRIS roadmap states: For Aus t ralia to remain a major international cont ributor to ast ronomy it is es s ential that w e c ontinue to have a st rong pres enc e in leading-edge international inf ras t ructure, both the current and next generations. Aus t ralia also needs to maintain the domestic inf ras t ruc ture w hic h c onstitutes the bulk of obs erving capacit y f or Au st ralian ast ronomers. This balanc ed strat egy is implement ed in this plan by investing in the following domestic and international optic al and radio infrastructure, identified as highest priorities in the communities strategic plan New Horizons: The Australian Astronomy Dec adal Plan 2006-2015. Thes e are: · · · · · Anglo-Australian Obs ervatory Gemini telescopes (6. 19% share of the two 8m-diameter telesc opes) Mileura International Radio Array (MI RA): A pathfinder for the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) Additional acc ess up to the equiv alent of 15% of an 8m-class telescopes including the effective 12. 4% from Gemini Design and development for the next generation of optical/infrared telescopes; the Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT) and PILOT.

These reflect the strat egic infrastructure priorities laid out in the NCRI S roadmap viz. The Aust ralian ast ronomy community has identified its priorities f or inf rast ructure investment in the Aust ra l ian Ast ronomy Decada l Plan 2006-2015. Consistent w ith that plan, the Committee c onsiders that the priority areas f or NCRIS investment in optical and radio ast ronomy should be (in no speci fic order): o Additional support f or the Anglo- Aust ralian Obs er v atory ( A AT optical/inf rared teles c ope); o Delivery o f the Square Kilometre A rray (SKA ) Phase 1 radio teles c ope f a cility; and o A c c es s to the equivalent of 20% o f an 8m-clas s teles c ope through the existing Gemini partners hip and through ne w teles c ope and inst rument agreements. The plan also propos es the st rategic inves tments to be made in the next -generation of optical/IR f a cilities to provide valuable options in the future development of any c as e f or Landmark-s c ale inf rast ructure in this domain as rec ommended by the NCRIS committee in the st rategic roadmap viz. The Committee considers the National Committee of A st ronomy's rec ommendation that a Giant Magellan Teles c ope Landmark Facility Committee be established by relevant government, busines s and academy partners to w o rk to w a rd s Aust ralian participation in the GMT consortium has merit and encourages the parties to consider it.


12 Excellenc e in Australian researc h: NCRI S Invest ment Criterion 1 Astronomy is one of Australia's highest impact sciences (Australian Scienc e and Tec hnology At a Glance, DEST, 2004), wit h internationally ack nowledged strengths in ground-based optic al and radio astronomy, backed by theory and computation. In the past dec ade, Australian astronomers have play ed leading roles in major discov eries, inc luding the acceleration of the universe and the existenc e of dark energy, a new type of galaxy, a unique double pulsar, and planets orbiting other stars. The impact of Australian astronomy has ris en signific antly compared to the rest of the world over the past 5 years. Ov er the period 1994-98, papers with Australian authors rec eived an average of 5.5 citations (cf. world average 5.0); by the period 1998-2002, this had risen to 9.9 citations (cf. world average 6. 8) [Source: Australian Astronomy Decadal Plan 2006-2015, adapted from ANU Capabilities and Performance St atement 2004]. This has been driv en by the capability's access to world-class infrastructure, principally the 3.9m optic al/IR Anglo-Australian Telesc ope, the radio telescopes of the Australia Telescope National Facility and, more recently, the t win 8m Gemini optical/I R telescopes. Each of the components of this plan offers Australian astronomy either an internationally unique capability in s ome valuable sens e (e.g. the AAO as the world's fastest survey spectroscopy machine, PILOT as one of the world's most sensitive mid-infrared telesc opes) or acc ess to a worldbest facility (Gemini now, MI RA in five year's time, GMT in 10 years and SKA in 15 years). The combined suite of facilities encompass ed by this research capability addresses both fundament al (dark matter and dark energy) and exciting (black holes and planets) topics in astronomy and physics. Access policies and c apacity to promote collaboration: NCRI S Invest ment Criterion 2 The principles of merit-based time assignment and effective data management systems are embedded in the infrastructure proposed in this investment plan. These are already, or will be, facilitated by integrated propos al and data management systems, including WWW-bas ed telescope-time application and peer-review proc edures, comprehensiv e on-line archiv es, availability of pipeline data-reduction tools and res earc her access to reduc ed data products and catalogues. In astronomy, forefront science can only be done in cooperation with scientists from around the world and scientists work ing in different wavelength regions. The substantial benefits that accrue from such linkages inc lude acc ess to cutting-edge data and technologies, lev eraging of the scientific funding of larger nations, and inc reased international c ollaboration. Australian astronomy has a strong c ulture of international link age ­ it leads the nation in the fraction of publications produced with int ernational collaborators, its on-s hore facilities are in high demand from int ernational users, and all its new f acilities propos ed in this plan will be built with international partners: · 77% of Australian astronomy papers over the past decade have international co-authors; · 40% of the us ers of Australian national facilities come from ov erseas; · 33% of Australian astronomy citations aris e from international astronomy facilities to whic h Australia makes no financial contribution (cf. ~5% of Australian astronomy s pending devot ed to int ernational facilities). Facility O w ne r s hip and Management Structure: NCRIS Investment Criterion 3 A central component of the management of the NCRIS constituted to provide effect Board capable of taking the plan is the establishment of a single Gov ernanc e body for the invest ment; Astronomy Res earc h Australia Ltd (ARA). ARA is ive, broad-ranging oversight of the NCRI S program, with an expert strategic decisions ov er the period of the NCRIS plan.

ARA will give the Australian government a single point of accountability, initially in the gov ernanc e of any NCRIS invest ment in astronomy, and potentially growing to include other items of national infrastructure for astronomy.


13 ARA will contract the day -to-day operation of the domestic facilities (AAT, MI RA) to existing Australian organizations (AAO, CSI RO respectively). Both hav e a long-standing rec ord of world'sbest practice in the operation of astronomic al infrastructure. ARA will contract the management of the Australian Gemini Office to AAO, while the signatory for the Gemini Agreement with the international agencies/organisations will remain the ARC-DEST. In the long term, ARA may prov ide a comprehensive solution for the funding and management of national astronomy facilities, simplifying the complex existing arrangements while offering sufficient vers atility to interf ace Australia with the next generation of int ernational facilities. As such, the long-term rationalis ation of the infrastruc tures supporting Australian astronomical research potentially enabled by the establishment of ARA may prov e to be one of the most valuable outc omes of the NCRI S process. Although this invest ment plan propos es that the ARA costs be shared bet ween NCRI S and the members, the long-term s ustainability may be best guaranteed by members contributing a significantly larger fraction, up to 100%, as ARA grows over the 2006-11 period. Implementation Strategy and Effective Business Case: NCRI S Criterion 4 Wit hin its $45M indic ative envelope, the inv est ment plan proposes significant invest ment in MI RA ($19.2M), AAO ($10M) and Gemini ($6.9-10.6M). Furt her, it proposes initial limited (~$1M) invest ment in a PILOT design study and in the firs t year of the design and development phas e (DDP) for GMT. The plan also propos es a number of strategic options (up to $5M) in the optic al domain. This includes furt her invest ment in the GMT DDP, PILOT construction and/or additional 8m time. The breadth of this plan reflects the maturity of the field's science and infrastruct ure, and the comprehensiv e stock-taking and strat egising of the Decadal Plan process. The `c onditionality' of the strategic options in the plan is a rational and prudent res ponse to the inev itable uncert ainties of a 5-year plan, partic ularly one with int ernational linkages. In particular, the astronomy capability views the initial PILOT and GMT invest ments as central to the success of this `strategic options' strategy. Information obtained from these studies will enable ARA to most effectively evaluate the option (or combination of options) that will max imise the scientific return to the capability and economic/social ret urn to the country. The plan maps out the long-term evolution of a carefully struct ured set of major facilities. These facilities have individual lifetimes of dec ades, from original c oncept, through design, construction, operation and revitalis ation, to ultimat e dec ommis sioning. For the health of Australian astronomy we need to be supporting facilities at all stages of this lifecycle, as indeed this plan does. Specifically, the plan provides for the revitalisation of the AAO, on-going operation and access for Gemini (and perhaps other 8m t elescopes ), the design and development for GMT, PILOT and MI RA, and the construction of MIRA (and, perhaps, PILOT); it also foreshadows the decommissioning of the AAT and de-sc oping of ex isting radio facilities by the time GMT and SKA come int o operation. The proposed infrastructure enables a broad range of scientific inv estigations and s upports the research of essentially the entire optic al and radio astronomy community, as well as having important applications in ot her science areas such as space science and I CT. The strat egy has been developed with a clear rec ognition that Australia's role in int ernational astronomy will be limited by access to funds and it is very muc h in the interests of the wider Australian community that the av ailable funds be directed for max imum impact and value. This has inv olved sober assess ment of those areas in which Australia can be most competitiv e1, the development of a
1

. This has involved the explicit de-pr iotisation of investment in space-based astronomy and in certain ma jor international facilities such as the Atacama Lar ge Millim etre Array.


14 vision of how Australia can exploit thes e areas of competitive advant age to the benefit of all astronomy ­ and turning this into an explicit strategy for the future. The 5-y ear financial plan is secured by strong commit ment of funding from a range of co-investors, and by a planning process designed to ens ure adequate flexibility to deal wit h the uncert ainties inherent in this type of infrastructure planning. This approac h will allow ARA to respond to changing inf ormation ­ on c osts, feasibility, value and revenues ­ to ensure maximum value is obtained from the NCRIS and co-inv estment funds while managing key risks. Us e of optionsbased principles for planning and managing the strategy ­ in a manner analogous to the earlier work done on the SKA Business Case ­ ens ures t hat risk management is integrated into the invest ment process and that the flexibility exists to respond to risks and opport unities as they emerge. Key elements of the strategy ­ es pecially in relation to MI RA, PILOT and GMT ­ are in fact sound invest ments in inf ormation options on which longer term planning for the next generation of large facilities can be based. At the same time, bot h MI RA and PI LOT are seen as extremely valuable infrastructure in their own right that are deliv erable within the time-frame of NCRI S. Involvement in the design phase of GMT will also build capability in relev ant industries and academic depart ments, which may later be exploited in the construction and operational phas es of the telesc ope. From the pers pective of international lev erage, the $45m NCRI S inv estment yields acc ess to $632m [##need to check this figure] in infrastructure proposed over the 5-y ear period 2006-11. The NCRIS invest ment critically enables the Australian astronomers to surmount the participation hurdle in international programs and cons equently exploit the invest ments made by other partners in such large-scale infrastructure. The minimum required scale for competitive user facilities in the 21st century means that dollars inv ested in an international collaborativ e project will often yield better value for money than dollars invest ed in a nationally-bas ed one. It has been possible to establish the longer term viability of the invest ments with a high degree of confidenc e. This is based on financial c ommit ments already made; on high levels of wider interest in access to thes e infrastructure assets that are, and will be for a long time to come, state-of-t heart; and on the presenc e of active markets in trading acc ess rights that offer bot h risk coverage and opportunities to expand involv ement where justified. For these very large infrastructure assets, we have had to assume that a form of continuing gov ernment involv ement would be available beyond 2011.


15 PART THREE ­ RESEARCH I NFRASTRUCTUR E In this part, you are required to show how the proposed infrastructure facilities meet NCRIS Investment Crit erion 1, ie: An i nvestment plan must result i n excellent resear ch infr astructure that addr esses the national requirements of the relevant capability area described in the NCRIS Roadmap. In addressing the criterion, you should fully addres s: · · all issues relevant to Crit erion 1 that are identified in the NCRIS Roadmap; and the requirements of Section 3.1 of the NCRI S Investment Framework `Cont ent of Investment Plans'.

This part should detail all infrastructure that is to be funded by this Invest ment Plan, including any elements that relat e to Platforms for Collaboration. The assets that will be funded by this Invest ment Plan should be detailed in Attac hment A. ............................................................................................ Nati onal Requirements ­ the Austr alian Astr onomy Decadal Plan 2006-15 The Australian astronomy community has been characterized over the last decade by coherent strategic planning ac ross all wavelength bands and sub-disciplines, exemplified by the unified plan for major optical and radio facilities funded under t he MNRF-2 program. In 2005, the Australian astronomic al community mapped out its strategic vision in New Horizons: A Decadal Plan for Australian Astronomy 2006-15. The Dec adal Plan identifies the national requirements relating to astronomy and propos es a strategic roadmap that addresses these requirements and is well supported across the astronomy community. Although the Decadal Plan pre-dates the finalis ation of the NCRI S process, the strat egic aims of bot h the Dec adal Plan and the NCRIS proc ess are highly aligned. This inc ludes a strong foc us on world-class scienc e outc omes and on a national, collaborative (integrat ed) approach to ac hiev ing those outcomes, and equal emphasis on laying the foundations for the infrastructure of next dec ade in the optical and radio domains. NCRI S funding has a central role to play in delivering the Decadal Plan strategy, and the infrastructure invest ments propos ed in this Invest ment Plan are consistent wit h the strategy proposed in the Decadal Plan. Nati onal Requirements ­ the NCRIS context · Infrastructure is a critical component of an obs erv ationally led capability such as astronomy. In this area, the Dec adal Plan highlighted the following key strategies. o o o A strong focus on engagement in international collaborations Investment in the next generation of front-rank infrastructure in both optical and radio astronomy. Maint ain appropriate inv estment levels in existing world-class infrastruct ure until new infrastructure is av ailable, followed by reprioritisation of res ources.

Nati onal Requirements - Science Focus The primary focus of most astronomy researc h ­ and the proposed applic ation of the res earch infrastructure for whic h NCRI S support is being sought ­ is knowledge deriv ed for its own sake.


16 Knowledge of the universe is a public good, one in whic h there is substantial interest and whic h provides cultural value, perhaps the greatest being the ins piration of young minds to think scientifically and to ent er scientific and engineering careers. While we have identified scope for signific ant tangible benefits from the proposed infrastructure inv estment, we are not arguing that this should constitute the primary rationale. We are propos ing s upport for truly excellent science direct ed at the most fundamental questions about our univ erse. The Dec adal Plan sets out, and discusses, nine big questions y et to be satisfactorily ans wered, where the emerging tools of modern astronomy have good prospects for making a major contribution: o What is the nature of the dark energy and dark matter that appears to make up about 95% of the univers e? o How and when did the first stars form in the early univ erse? o How are galaxies assembled and how do they ev olve? o Is our understanding of gravity correct? o How do the super-massiv e black holes in the c ores of galaxies work ? o What is the origin and ev olution of cos mic magnetism? o How do stars and planet ary systems form? o How common are planetary systems and c onditions suitable for lif e? o How do stars produc e and recycle the element al building blocks of life? All thes e questions are conc erned wit h the basic conditions that shape, and have shaped, us and the world in which we live. The same astronomy that probes the limits of our universe is als o probing the limits of our understanding of many of the laws of physics and the very nat ure of matter and energy. The s uite of infrastructure proposed for inv estment will enable Australian astronomers to continue to make world-leading contributions to ans wering thes e questions. Nati onal Requirements - I nter nati onal focus The Invest ment Plan foc us is on a s mall group of major researc h infrastructure inv estments that will support Australia continuing to play a key role at the forefront of int ernational astronomy. Astronomy is a truly international science that is now highly dependent on internationally funded and operat ed major infrastructure facilities. Sophisticated systems for sharing costs and for managing access to ens ure that the best scienc e is undertaken by the best scientists ­ wit h appropriate technical s upport in, and development of, the facilities ­ have been developed by the international astronomy c ommunity 2. Over the pas t 30+ years, the Anglo-Australian Telescope has been an Australian-bas ed ex ample of this approac h in optical astronomy, while the ATNF has served as the ex emplar in radio astronomy for almost 20 years. Closely analogous systems apply to the Gemini telescopes and are planned for the Giant Magellan Telescope, the Ant arctic PILOT telescope and the Mileura International Radio Array (MI RA). The principles embodied in thes e systems closely parallel the vision developed in the NCRI S Roadmap ­ in relation to both the collaborativ e design and development of facilities and the bas is on whic h access is provided. Several principles hav e been central to the development of the inv estment proposition set out in this document: o o A predominant consideration through the strategy development has been its focus on supporting exc ellence in scienc e ­ int ernationally competitive, involving deep international collaboration and in many cas es operating at the world leading edge ­ in astronomy. The strategy als o recognises the scientific and ec onomic benefits of combining support for Australian facilities, with obtaining acc ess to large international facilities at the best offshore sites. Thus we can maintain Australia's high international standing in astronomic al science across many wav elengt h bands.

2

77% of A ustra lian astronomy papers over the past d ecade have internationa l co-authors (New Horiz ons: A D ecadal Plan For A ustralian a stronomy 2006-2015, A ustralian Academ y of S ciences)


17 o o We focus on areas where Australia has an established pres enc e and capability in international astronomy of a very high order, and thus real competitiv e adv antage Excellenc e in the skill set is a central element of competitive advantage in a field that is increasingly competing for access to facilities located around the world. Australia has in the past proven highly competitiv e in this way, and a k ey element of the strategy is designed to maint ain this competitive advant age. These skills include those relev ant to the costeffective delivery of capability to telescopes via s mart instrumentation and data capt ure and analysis capabilities. In two items of propos ed infrastructure, one currently more dev eloped than the ot her, Australia appears highly competitiv e in the location of pros pectiv e new facilities: o A next generation radio telesc ope, the Mileura Int ernational Radio Array (MI RA), capable of internationally competitiv e scienc e breakthroughs, and with good pros pects for enhancing Australia's competitive advantage for siting the propos ed Square Kilometre Array facility in Australia. The strategy has been designed to deliv er a major upgrade to Australian radio astronomy capability while being consistent wit h the cost-effective/risk-mitigated option of progressiv e upgrading of the inv estment out to the full SKA. The strategy maximizes Australia's pros pects for playing a leading role in the technology dev elopment in SKA in addition to being selected as the site for this facility. o The first major Antarctic optical/infrared telescope, with Australia well placed to support such a facility in the Australian Antarctic Territory, wit h the viability of this strategy having been enhanced recently with the c onstruction of airport facilities. Involvement through NCRI S in the GMT design phase will provide opportunities to showcas e existing R&D infrastructure within Australian industry, in high-technology areas where there is increasing international activity and contract opportunities. In this context, Australian astronomy is most useful tool for the nation, due to the discipline's strong international links in the areas of interest. International exposure through the GMT DDP proc ess will create enhanced opportunities for Australian industry to win c ontracts in ELT design and construction, bot h through the GMT itself, and, in addition, other ELT projects under consideration. . The GMT offers opportunities for Australian business both in niche high tec hnology areas, and also in high-level technology int egration, project management and systems engineering; winning c ontracts in these areas, which are Australian strengths, will ex pand capability through involv ement in a challenging int ernational project. Thus the initial modest invest ment proposed through NCRI S has the pot ential to return substantially enhanc ed benefit to Australian R&D c apability and the economy. In this Invest ment Plan, we propose inv est ment in the first year of the GM T DDP as a priority item for expenditure. This will provide Australian industry and ac ademia with the res ourc es required to coordinate and demonstrat e Australian R&D capability in the area of ELT des ign and development. Such inv est ment is also necess ary to inform future decisions about further GMT engagement, both in the .current design phase and hence in the ensuing construction phas e, for whic h funding will have to be sought beyond the NCRIS proc ess.

o

o

o

The strategy will deliv er the collectiv e capability to continue to compete and contribut e at the leading edges of international astronomy, while ensuring that the full range of capabilities Australia offers in relation to future astronomy ­ from sites f or telesc opes, through main instrument design and other instrumentation through to the planning and execution of great scienc e using the instruments ­ is able to compete on merit. Under these circ umstanc es, we fully ex pect Australia to continue to `punch well above its weight class' in astronomy for many years to come. The strategy as developed does offer very substantial opportunities for leverage. NCRIS invest ment will mak e significant contribution to building Australia's case as a loc ation for, and designer and builder of, future very large astronomy facilities that will draw on international funding. Australian scientists will gain access to int ernationally leading-edge facilities that are only made possible by the lev el of contribution of funds from other c ountries, and by the ability of Australian


18 institutions to bring considerable additional resources to both the planning and the us e of the facilities 3. There are now very large size economies in both optical and radio astronomy. The strategy is designed to exploit thes e economies and the c ommit ment of other countries and other institutions to this major area of research to deliv er a dramatic inc reas e in the capability of the facilities to whic h Australian astronomy has acces s. The pros pects for NCRIS invest ment in radio astronomy are already attracting substantial state and international interest in co-inv est ment in the MI RA facility. The budgeting describes the extent to whic h other funding sources are sought even for the specific infrastructure it ems within the NCRIS funding program. Just as importantly, thes e facilities will add greatly to the strength of the case for even wider leverage in relation to future inv est ments in the SKA, in the Giant Magellan Telescope and in a much larger Antarctic telesc ope. In two of these three c ases, the chanc es of an Australian location being chos en by the int ernational consortia is substantial ­ which is lik ely to increas e the effectiv e level of leverage in relation to tot al Australian benefits. In the third (GMT), an Australian consortium of industry and ac ademia has already formed to coordinate bids that could bring substantial return to the Australian ec onomy, both in overs eas inv est ment, intellectual property and international exposure. Nati onal Requirements ­ Likely Demand and Encour agi ng Collabor ati on The benefits that accrue from the international link ages that are an ess ential component of modern astronomy are substantial, and include access to cutting-edge international instruments, data and technologies, lev eraging the scientific funding of larger nations, and increas ed international collaboration. Australian astronomy has a strongly developed culture of international link age ­ astronomy leads the nation in the fraction of public ations it produces with international collaborators, Australian astronomers us e international facilities, its on-shore facilities are in high demand from int ernational users, and almost all it s next-generation facilities will be built with international partners. The main national optical/infrared facilities for Aus tralian astronomers - Gemini and AAT - have typically been over-subscribed by factors of between 2 and 3 over the past few years; thes e are considered healthy factors for competitiv e facilities by international standards. In the case of the AAT, this demand level under-predicts future Australian requirements because it does not take into account the demand for large-s cale observ ing programs that until rec ently had been not been fully explored. The AAO's announcement of opportunity for Large Observ ing Programs starting in 2006 res ulted in requests for 1500 nights ov er the next 3 years ­ i.e. thes e programs alone over-subsc ribe the telescope by a factor of 1.5. Together with the current level of demand for s maller programs, these large programs will maintain the future over-subscription on the AAT remain at around its current level even as the Australian share of AAT time increases from 50% to 100% over the next 4 years. Demand would be furt her stimulated by the new AAT instrument funded by NCRIS, which will provide new capabilities that address the needs of Australian astronomers in a broad range of fields. The unique capabilities of the full AAT instrument complement, particularly in the area of wide-field survey spectrosc opy, will also encourage international collaborations and provide Australian astronomers wit h leverage for collaborative access to other countries' facilities. In the case of Gemini, the current over-subscription rate is clos e to the point of being self-limiting ­ i.e. astronomers would lik e more access but do not find it worthwhile to submit additional, or larger, observing proposals when the ov er-subscription exceeds a fact or approac hing 4. This has been demonstrated by the increas ed level of demand on the occas ions that there hav e been one-off opportunities for Australian astronomers to access additional time on Gemini or other 8m telescopes ­ the amount of available time has increased, but the over-subscription factor has remained roughly constant. Demand for Gemini time is only lik ely to become stronger as Gemini
3

33% of A ustra lian astronomy citations ar ise from internationa l astronom y facilities to which Australia makes no d irect financia l contr ibution (ibid.)


19 introduc es new and more capable instrumentation; the next generation of "As pen" instruments is expect ed to offer powerful new capabilities (very high resolution imaging and massiv ely multiplex spectrosc opy) that are not otherwis e available to Australian astronomers. These instruments will address fundamental science questions (specifically, the formation of planets, the origin of the Galaxy, and the nature of dark energy ) that will be tackled by int ernational c ollaborations in which Australia will play a significant, and in some cas es leading, role. For MIRA, the unique combination of fast mapping speed with high angular res olution ensures that the mid-frequency component of MI RA will provide a surv eying capability at least ten-fold greater than any existing radio telesc ope. National and international demand for this telesc ope is likely to signific antly exceed recent over-subscription rates on the Australia Telescope Compact Array (approx imately 2:1). Within its first year of operation MI RA will produce a cat alogue of HI emission in more than 500,000 galaxies to unprecedented redshifts, while simultaneously cataloguing 10 million continuum sources in the deepest all-sky continuum s urvey to date. Previous catalogues, such as the HIPASS HI galaxy catalogue and particularly the Nort hern VLA Sky Surv ey (NVSS) continuum c atalogue, are among the most highly cited astronomy papers of the past decade (from Astrophysical Data Servic e citations). All indic ations are that with the increasing concentration of large telescopes (including ALMA) in the southern hemisphere, catalogues wit h at least an order of magnitude more sources will carry similar weight. The low-frequency component of MI RA will be opening up an unexplored frequency range and the new science that will be possible with the instrument should ens ure that it is in high demand. There are many Australian institutions already participating to develop the initial stages of this ins trument, which will ensure a trained community able to exploit the instrument when it becomes av ailable through NCRI S funding. The GMT and PILOT components of the astronomy plan are aimed at meeting the ex pected demand for vastly more capable facilities in the next decade, addressing many of the nine Big Questions of the Decadal Plan. GMT offers Australia an appropriat e level of participation in the next generation of `Extremely Large Telesc opes', capable of sensitivities 7 times thos e of existing 8m telesc opes with 3 times the resolving power. When complete, GMT will be one of only two or three Extremely Large Telescopes in the world, capable of imaging extra-s olar planets in their own and reflected light, detecting many of the large black holes in the Univ ers e, and mapping the web of diffuse mat erial that accounts for the lion's share of the normal baryonic material in the Univers e. PILOT offers a parallel path that seeks to ex ploit t he potential of Antarctica as the world's best observing site. The development of Antarctica as a site for future generations of ELTs (or equivalent facilities) is a strategic driver for invest ment in pathfinder facilities such as PILOT. Both GMT and PI LOT will be international collaborations: GMT with leading US institutions, such as Harvard, MIT, Tex as and Arizona and PI LOT wit h major European instit utions. Differing fractional contributions by Australia are being cont emplated for PILOT and GMT. These projects are quite different in scope, and share will not be the only factor that informs the desired lev el of participation. Nati onal Requirements - I ndustr y and Educati on Links Education Astronomy provides a popular and us eful training ground for students of all levels, and Australia's national astronomy facilities provide a valuable educational role within Australia. As Australia's major national optical facilities, the AAO and Gemini support the training of a large fraction of Australian astronomy graduate students: over the past five years, AAO facilities and staff have contributed to the training of 56 res earc h students: 31 PhD students, 8 Honours undergraduates and 17 Summer Sc holars; over the past three years, Gemini has contributed to the training of 18 research students: 16 PhD students and 2 Honours undergraduates. As Gemini matures, the number of Australian students using its facilities is increasing rapidly. Ov er calendar years 20012005, the CSIRO Australia Telescope National Facility supported the training of 51 PhD students, 3 Masters students and 38 ATNF Summer Scholars. A study of the subsequent careers of these students carried out as part of the Australian Astronomy Dec adal Plan, found that for the period 2000­04, some 70% of PhD graduat es in


20 astronomy and astrophysics took their first job in astronomy; of these, a further 70% (i.e. 50% of the total) took their first job ov erseas. The remaining 30% are distributed bet ween teaching, industry and commerce in Australia and non-astronomy jobs ov erseas (the latter being approximately 10% of the total). Only a very s mall proportion are unemployed for any significant period. The 30% of students who leave astronomy for other employ ment, toget her wit h the low unemploy ment rate, reflects the inherent saleability of an astronomy PhD, whose skills in areas such as complex data analysis, information technology and innov ation are highly applic able in business and financ e. A number of the technology - and engineering-oriented students hav e gone on to apply their skills in high-tec h industrial companies. Industry The optical astronomy facilities that are proposed for support by NCRI S hav e a div erse set of links with industry. The astronomical instrumentation programs that form part of the AAO, Gemini and PILOT c omponents inv olve links to a number of high-tec hnology firms, including Auspace (Mitchell, ACT), Prime Optics (Eumundi, QLD), Electro-Optical Systems (Queanbeyan, NSW), BAE Systems Australia Ltd (Adelaide, SA), Broens Engineering (Sydney, NSW), Laserdyne (Brisbane, QLD), Connell Wagner and Sinclair Knight Merz. An import ant opportunity for expanding links with industry, and for prov iding Australian companies with international opportunities for developing their technological ex pertise and showcasing their skills, lies with the Des ign Development Phase of the GMT project. A GMT Industry Working Group has been formed, including EOS, Aus pac e, Sinclair Knight Merz and VIPAC (Adelaide, SA), to map the capabilities of Australian industry to the requirements of the GMT project and identify companies with suitable expertise in areas of the project that Australia is seeking to contribute. Working on the GMT project is likely to involv e Australian companies in c utting-edge tec hnologies in areas suc h as complex technology integration, systems engineering, s mart optics and control systems and provide them with new connections t o leading US tec hnology firms and customers. The GMT project will also provide strong educ ational and research links to some of the best US univ ersities. An example of less conventional transfer of knowledge is that commerc ializ ation of a hydrody namic al code, originally dev eloped in Aust ralia for the study of double stars, for use in motion picture animation ­ including in scenes from The Lord of the Rings. In addition to PILOT's role in astronomy, it could also hav e an important application in extending searc hes for sat ellite debris in low-earth orbit. Dome C's geographic loc ation is close to optimum for detection of polar orbiting and high-inclination satellites and debris, and the long duration of twilight at high latitudes greatly increases the obs ervability of such objects. This is a "space environment" iss ue of growing importanc e, with some 100,000 objects bet ween 1 c m and 10 c m in diameter posing an ever-increasing risk to the space industry. Successful trial observations by PILOT in this mode could lead to the rapid deploy ment of a PI LOT clone dedicated to debris tracking, or a potential long-term role for PILOT once astronomers have mov ed on to larger telescopes. Suc h an application is vitally important to the space insuranc e industry and creates important opportunities for privat e sector co-inv estment. The technological and engineering effort and capability needed to support radio astronomy is driving: o close links bet ween radio astronomy and ICT dev elopments in signal proc essing o developments in remote operations, and o national and international bandwidth upgrades to communications infrastruct ure. Due to its extreme demands for s ensitivity and data proc essing power, future radio astronomy technology repres ents transformational tec hnology for ICT. Involvement in fut ure radio astronomy R&D will link Australia's technologists to the most innov ative in the world in thes e areas, and provide a unique training ground for tomorrow's technicians. 80% of work cited in patents as inspiration for the patents is basic ac ademic res earch.


21 The Australian Electronics Industry Action Agenda has been establis hed in recognition of the need to assist and update the Australian electronics industry. In June 2005 the Electronics Industry Action Agenda I mplementation Group endors ed the SKA as a signature project. With support from AEEMA (t he Australian Electrical and Electronic Manuf acturers' Ass ociation), an "SKA cluster mapping project" has been dev eloped to identify the potential benefits for Australian industry from the SKA-related projects and SKA-related R&D. The radio astronomy projects in Australia are identified as a more stable rev enue stream than v ariable Defence contracts, and so the radio astronomy work can provide a relatively more stable business environment ­ a pre-requisite to successful innov ation. Fiv e SKA cluster events hav e already been held; in Sydney, Perth, Geraldton (to a large loc al audience) and more rec ently Brisbane and Adelaide Ov er 200 company representatives have attended these meetings. Awareness and interest of Australian industry has been raised, with more organisations (eg HP, GHD, SA Government, CMD) seek ing to join the SKA cluster. The Western Australian Government has signalled its intention to be part of the Cluster. Public Understanding of Science Astronomy is a vital part of the scienc e culture of all mankind. It tells us what we know of where we, and our planet, fit into the physical environment of the Univ erse. A pers on deprived of the broad outlines of astronomical k nowledge is as culturally handic apped as one nev er ex pos ed to history, literature, music or art. Astronomy enriches the intellectual liv es of millions. The recent high level of public int erest in the International Ast ronomical Union's definition of a planet provides a prime example of this strong cultural impact. In today's world market plac e, a competitive nation needs its entire population to hav e a basic lev el of scientific literacy. As a visual science, easily ac cessible to amat eur observers, astronomy is a partic ularly effective educ ational tool and stirs scientific curiosity in thous ands of young people every year. Some of thes e go into astronomy res earc h, but many more take their int erest in science into other areas of endeavour, enriching whatev er field they work in. The access ibility of astronomy giv es it a high public profile. This awareness and int erest by the community makes it particularly valuable in demonstrating scienc e in action. Astronomy's appeal makes it a valuable way in whic h to engage and educat e students and the public about science and tec hnology. As a recent ex ample Dr Fred Watson (AAO), was the 2006 winner of the Eurek a Prize for Promoting Understanding of Scienc e By exciting young people's interest in the Univers e and how we study it the astronomic al community and educat ors can tak e an important role in strengthening scientific education and skills in Australia. NCRI S funding for new astronomical f acilities will lead to many new exciting technologies and discov eries. Experienced, well-s upported educ ators can use these to produce stimulating educ ational cas e studies. Relev ant, engaging examples support the effective teac hing of science and technology and will help promote careers in these fields. As an example, the Australia Telescope National Facility is running in 2006-7 a high-school astronomy education program c alled `Wildflowers in the Sky' in Mid West schools in Western Australia. The regional impact of the radio astronomy NCRIS infrastructure prov ides a mechanis m to take relev ant science educ ation to regional areas. Nati onal Requirements ­ Li nks to other sciences. Astronomy has always had applic ation over a wide range of science areas. For ex ample, our calendar, timekeeping and much of our mathematics came from astronomy. Radio astronomers led the dev elopment of low-noise radio rec eivers t hat made possible the s atellit e communic ations industry. Image-processing techniques developed by astronomers are now part of the medical imaging systems that allow non-invasiv e examination of patients' internal organs.


22 Working with the proposed NCRI S infrastructure will stretch and develop the skills of the most capable young scientists and engineers at the PhD and post-doc lev el. There is an outstanding prec edent for this: the Fleurs radio telescope of the University of Sydney, whic h was a new kind of telescope in its time. For two dec ades this was a f ocus for the PhD programs for engineers and scientists, numbers of whom went on to work in areas of technology suc h as chip des ign and wireless net works. David Skellern and John O'Sullivan, two of the moving forces behind the Radiata company sold to Cisc o Systems for $600 million in 2001, bot h completed PhDs using Fleurs, and spent many more years work ing on radio telescopes and their ass ociated technology. Astronomic al tools and techniques are regularly transferred to medicine, industry, defence and environment al science. For ex ample, a medic al tool that arose from X-ray astronomy, the portable Low Intensity X-ray Imaging Scope (Lixiscope), is now one of NASA's largest sources of royalties. It is widely used in neonatology, out-patient surgery, diagnosis of sports injuries, and clinics in developing countries. [Sourc e: US Astronomy dec adal review.] In the area of soft ware alone, astronomical techniques for reconstructing 3-D images from oneand t wo-dimensional images have been applied to imaging for CT scans, magnetic resonanc e imaging, and positron emission tomography.i Other image processing soft ware (I RAF and AIPS), developed by the US National Radio Astronomy Observ atory, NASA and others, has been applied to cardiac angiograms, monitoring neutron activity in the brain, studying aut omobile crashes and testing aircraft hardware. Adaptive optics, a technology fundamental to the GMT and already being implemented at Gemini, is in us e in laser machining, defence, and medicine, through, for ex ample, enhanc ed retinal imaging and diagnostic techniques. ICT, for whic h Australia is recognised as having particular strength, is currently the critical enabling technology and is a major contributor to national productivity and growt h. Powerful next-generation telescopes will generate databases containing terabytes (1012 bytes) or even pet abytes (1015 bytes) of dat a. Finding patterns in this data will require new soft ware tools. But other fields of science and business will need the same tools to let thous ands of distributed users put complex queries to multiple catalogues and image databas es. Because astronomy does not hav e the problems associated wit h protection of individual privacy, it has been able to solve the same kind of problems in database querying that will be us eful to the medic al profession in, for ex ample, searc hing epidemiological data. The rec ent Def ence Electronic Systems Sector Strategic Plan (Department of Def enc e, 2004) incorporates an industry analysis that concludes that, over coming years, an av erage of about AUD1,000m per annum in loc ally sourced military electronics system work will be required, along with a substantial demand, at around AUD700m, for on-going loc al support (possibly declining slowly with inc reasing system reliability). This constitutes a substantial slic e of local demand for electronics sector expertise. The local acquisition is heavily weighted towards electronic systems integration ­ where the analogy wit h the integration requirements of the SKA project is strong. The report identifies industrial capabilities that will be needed to support the Defence programs as including: "photonics, monolithic microwave integrated circ uits, artificial intelligence, electro-optics, radio frequency (RF) engineering, radar technologies, data fusion, safety critical software systems, and s pace-based communic ations." The ov erlap with the skill base needed for the astronomy NCRI S infrastructure is considerable. Astronomy can be a valuable and steady training ground for technicians for important industry R&D sectors. The MI RA project will be working directly with approac hes to handling very high speed net working, interpret ation of large volumes of data and management of geographically diverse radio communications facilities. Historical prec edent suggests high pros pects for ac hieving s ome signific ant breakthroughs. Examples such as Radiata and the eart h station antennas 4 point to a

4

Anderssen, Harvey, a nd Matthew Hampton (1991), Analysis of CSIRO Industrial Research: Earth Station An tennas. R esearch Paper 6, Bur eau of Ind ustry Econom ics. Study inferred a benefit-cost ratio for Australia of 2 at a 10% discount rate.


23 track record in capturing enough of the benefits of at least some of these developments to more than justify their costs. Companies are already expressing interest in thes e technologies through the industry-led Australian SKA Cluster Mapping Project. The fields of Earth Scienc e and Physics also will benefit from these NCRI S invest ments, partic ularly in the Gemini and GMT capabilities that will enable our own Solar System to be placed into the larger, div erse, context of planet ary systems throughout the Galaxy. Space weather is another vital area where the astronomy infrastructure has the pot ential to benefit other scienc es. Coronal mass ejections and the flares with which they are associated c an play havoc wit h satellit es, communication links and power grids, can endanger astronauts, and are responsible for the polar light shows known as auroras. Thes e "space weather" effects can be predicted, but not well. Sometimes, the ejected material is deflected by the Earth's magnetic field and Earth is shielded. Other times, the shield fails and wides pread damage can ensue ­ the difference is due to the magnetic properties of the ejected material. If we are to improve the predictions and provide reliable advance warning of adverse space weather, we must measure the magnetic field whic h permeates the material when it is ejected by the sun and travels in the heliosphere. Until now, we hav e had no way to make that measurement until it is near Earth. The low-frequency component of MIRA will enable scientists to deduce the all-import ant magnetic field properties. This is a crucial measurement of enormous scientific and commercial value for all sciences that use space technology, as it would provide adv anc e notic e about the s pace weather effects on Earth well ahead of the time of impact of the plas ma burst. PILOT, and telescopes at Dome C that ev olve from PI LOT, are well situated to perform "dual us e" observations of the upper at mosphere. For ex ample, hydroxyl (OH) measurements from Dome C would be a byproduct of PILOT's routine near-I R observ ations and would giv e valuable data on stratospheric temperatures at polar latitudes, whic h in turn are a key ingredient of climat e models. In addition to incident al measurements of at mos pheric paramet ers, a s mall fraction of PILOT time could be dedicated to specific observations, for ex ample, studies of stratospheric ozone and trace gases that are crucial for climat e change modeling. In addition, the orbital decay rates of low-earth-orbit space debris discov ered by PI LOT are a good meas ure of the density of the upper at mosphere. This in turn is a function of solar activity, providing vital clues links about "space weather" t hat are of considerable environment al signific ance. Regional/State Benefits Infrastructure longevity is an import ant factor in considering the long-term nat ure of the benefits to the country of NCRIS-funded infrastructure. Next-generation telesc opes are planned to have a 50+ year lifetime, returning benefits to the part ner countries until at least 2070. MI RA The MI RA project has potential for boosting employment and wider ec onomic activity in a remote region in Western Australia. Were the SKA to be sited in Australia, it is highly likely significant economic benefit would be delivered into the regions where the stations are to sited. Thus, by increasing the chanc es of Australia being selected as the SKA site, MI RA brings substantial additional benefit to regional Australia in general and WA in particular. The effects of MIRA itself are likely to be both positive and substantial in regional terms, bas ed on: · the scale of the project; · the infrastructure requirements of the facility and the likely need for on-s ite assembly of antenna arrays; · post commissioning demands for significant on-going support and operation of the facilities; · on-going regional scope for joint us e of infrastruct ure suc h as broadband;


24 · · opportunities for planning other regional activities t o exploit the synergies, including touris m (although not at the core site to main radio quietness); the sensitivity of s mall regional economies to quite modest changes in activity levels.

Of cours e, small, remote regional communities are likely als o to be limited in their scope for responding to some of these opportunities. CSI RO, in partnership with other groups, has initiat ed industry briefing sessions and high-sc hool education activities to raise awareness and capability. Furthermore, the need to accommodat e and support an influx of work ers would creat e its own demands on the regional fac ilities and businesses . The ongoing needs to operat e and maintain the facilities should imply long-term demands for goods and services that could sustain some economic growth. Specific opport unities, where there should be local supplier advantage, hav e been identified in relation to: · site construction, especially buildings and footings but possibly extending to some role in t