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The SKAO has signed a memorandum of understanding with STFC with the goal of establishing an SKAO Africa programme in the next 12 months.

Simon Berry, SKAO Deputy Director-General, and George Madden, Head of SKAO Programme at STFC, sign a memoranda of understanding. Credit: SKAO

The Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) coordinates the UK’s interests in the Square Kilometre Array Observatory (SKAO), working with the academic and industrial community and the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT).

The SKAO and STFC have now agreed to lay the foundation of the SKAO Africa programme. The programme is aimed at developing human capital across the African continent in radio astronomy and related fields such as computer science.

International endeavour

Professor Mark Thomson, Executive Chair of STFC, said:

I am delighted that STFC is working with SKAO to support the ongoing development of the next generation of world leading astronomers, computational scientists, physicists and engineers who will be the trail blazers in the future of radio astronomy.

This support builds on STFC’s existing partnerships with colleagues in South Africa in astronomy and reinforces the point that physics in the 21st Century is a necessarily international endeavour.

Partnerships such as these are essential to ensure that leading minds in the UK, Africa and beyond can collaborate effectively on ambitious global projects such as the Square Kilometre Array.

Collaborating with partner countries

The programme would build on the substantial work done by:

• the South African Radio Astronomy Observatory (SARAO), a national facility of the National Research Foundation
• the South African Department of Science, Technology and Innovation

The work started during South Africa’s bid to be an SKAO host country in 2010, and has involved collaborating with a network of eight African partner countries:

• Ghana
• Kenya
• Botswana
• Namibia
• Zambia
• Madagascar
• Mozambique
• Mauritius

The network collaborated on human capital development, while exploring the possibilities of locating radio dishes on the African continent.

Growing the field of radio astronomy

SKAO Head of International Relations, Thijs Geurts, said:

The work by our partners at SARAO, the NRF and DSI has been pivotal in growing the field of radio astronomy on the African continent, and the SKAO Africa programme will complement that work, bringing together and helping to expand existing initiatives.

The SKAO Africa programme supports our long-term desire to see a broader involvement in the Observatory across Africa.

Our aim is to help develop the astronomy communities in countries across the continent; something that will add to the SKAO, but also enhance capability in STEM areas in those countries.

The DARA programme

The Development in Africa with Radio Astronomy (DARA) programme is a joint UK-South African development project that has been developing academic collaboration and training programmes in African countries since 2015.

The project grew out of the understanding that astronomy encompasses scientific and technological skills that are also required for the emergence of a strong economy.

The project has already trained 326 students, and several DARA PhD graduates are now faculty at African universities where they can develop their own training programmes for the next generation of astronomers.

From the beginning, STFC has been a valued partner in the DARA programme by enabling connections and collaborative research between African and UK institutes and by providing scholarships for African students.

Earlier this year, STFC announced a funding boost of £6.5 million (€7.6 million) to the project that will help train another 225 students on the African continent during the next three years.

Opportunities for development

The SKAO Africa programme will bring more opportunities for students to develop technical skills and help the development of radio astronomy capacity in Africa.

This will be essential for when the two Square Kilometre Array telescopes start observing the Universe and produce data in need of scientific analysis.

In August, the SKAO set in motion the expansion of its human capital development programme through signing memoranda of understanding with SARAO and the African Astronomical Society.

The new agreement with STFC now lays the path for an intercontinental collaboration to benefit radio astronomy worldwide.

Further information

The SKAO and STFC

The £20 million expansion of the Jodrell Bank site to create the SKAO global headquarters was co-funded by the UK government through:

• STFC
• The University of Manchester
• Cheshire East Council

STFC has already awarded more than £15 million to UK institutions to deliver key elements during the construction phase of the project.

In addition, SKAO has awarded several contracts to UK industry worth £15.5 million.

Multiple UK research institutions, industry partners and national laboratories have been involved in the SKAO design and construction phases. They have lead the design of key elements of the project, including:

• the design of the three data transport networks that will be the backbone of the SKA telescope
• the high-performance computing element of the SKAO

Find out more about the SKAO in the UK.