Date: Thu, 15 Apr 1999 09:19:01 -0500 (EST)
Subject: CSWA Newsletter 4/14/99
To: AASMAIL:;;
wellesley.edu
AAS Committee on the Status of Women
weekly issues of 4/14/99, ed. by Priscilla Benson
*** send email and addresses to aaswomenwellesley.edu ***
This week's issues:
1. Request for Funding Ideas
2. Jobs Outside Academia
3. NSF program Deadlines
4. Small Radio Telescope from Haystack Observatory
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1. Request for Funding Ideas
From: Luisa Rebull rebullboron.uchicago.edu
Hello -
I'm a broke graduate student nearing the end of my poverty
as a grad student (and looking forward to poverty as a post
doc), but in the meantime, I'm trying to get to Germany to
work with a colleague at ESO in August and Cool Stars 11 in
the Canaries in October.
What pots of money, if any, are out there to support
scientific travel for grad students? Being female and in
the physical sciences should help, but my web searches so
far have turned up empty.
Any tips would be greatly appreciated.
thanks!
Luisa Rebull
Editors Note: The deadline for Sigma Xi has already past.
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2. Jobs Outside Academia
From: Eric Schulman fornaxradix.net
Greetings,
Rachel's post about jobs outside academia led me to realize
that CSWA readers might be interested in the non-academic
job I started last year. I work at the Institute for Defense
Analyses, which is a non-profit organization that does
independent scientific studies and analysis, primarily for
the department of defense. It's located in Alexandria,
Virginia (just outside of Washington, D.C.) and the
atmosphere is very academic, although the dress in my
division is somewhat more formal than the T-shirts and blue
jeans that I wore as a grad student. Part of the reason that
there's an academic atmosphere is that most of the staff
come from academia. In my group of five people there are
three physics PhDs and two astronomy PhDs. The pay is very
good ( >50% better than the most generous astronomy job that
I applied for last year) and the pace is much less hectic
than in academia. You really can work a 40-hour week and
have a life outside of work!
IDA's web site is http://www.ida.org/ and current IDA job
openings can be found at http://careers.ida.org/ (In
particular, the "Analyst, Test and Evaluation of Defense
Systems" and "Science and Technology Division" jobs would
be particularly suited to people with PhDs in astronomy).
You can apply for these jobs via a World-Wide Web form on
the IDA jobs site.
Feel free to e-mail me if you would like to know more about
IDA or even just to chat about what it's like to apply for
non-astronomy jobs.
Eric Schulman
fornaxradix.net or eschulmaida.org
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3. NSF program Deadlines
From: "Eileen D. Friel" efrielnsf.gov
Following is a list of this year's NSF program deadlines for
the Astronomy Division or NSF-wide programs that may be of
interest to the readers of AASWomen.
Dr. Eileen D. Friel
NSF Division of Astronomical Sciences, Suite 1045
4201 Wilson Blvd
Arlington VA 22230 fax : (703)
306-0525
efrielnsf.gov phone : (703)
306-1826
--------------------------------
NSF Division of Astronomical Sciences
Program Deadlines for FY 2000
CAREER - Faculty Early Career Development Program - 22 July
1999 [FastLane submission of cover sheet and project summary
required.]
Advanced Technology and Instrumentation Program (ATI) - 31
August 1999
Stellar Astronomy and Astrophysics Program (SAA) - 1
September 1999
Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) - 15 September
1999
Galactic Astronomy Program (GAL) - 21 September 1999
Extragalactic Astronomy and Cosmology (EXC) - 15 October
1999
Research in Undergraduate Institutions (RUI) - 15 October
1999
Planetary Astronomy Program (PLA) - 1 December 1999
Professional Opportunities for Women in Research and
Education (POWRE) - 9 December 1999 [Tentative]
Minority Research Planning Grants (RPG) - 15 January 2000
Minority Career Advancement Awards (CAA) - 15 January 2000
All of the AST research programs require the use of FastLane
for full electronic proposal submission. Please see the AST
Web page (http://www.nsf.gov/mps/ast) for information about
Astronomy programs and for important considerations for
FastLane submissions. Instructions on FastLane proposal
preparation and submission can be found on the FastLane home
page at : http://www.fastlane.nsf.gov
------------------------------------------------------------
4. Small Radio Telescope from Haystack Observatory
From: Preethi Pratap preethihaystack.mit.edu
Subject: Haystack survey
X-Envelope-to: pbenson2
MIT Haystack Observatory has developed a small radio
telescope for use in undergraduate education, under a grant
from NSF. The goal is to provide the telescope as a low cost
kit for faculty to use in astronomy courses as an
introduction to radio astronomy and for some basic
laboratory-type experiments. Of course, the kit can also be
assembled by students as a learning experience.
Since the design of the telescope is nearly complete, we are
considering whether to transfer the kit design to a small
commercial firm for replication and sale. Potentially
interested firms have asked about the demand for the kit,
and this survey is being transmitted to you as part of a
survey to assess this demand. There is no obligation on
your part to purchase or commit to this purchase.
If the demand is high, a firm would be found to replicate
the kit and sell it. If the demand is small, Haystack will
develop a plan to provide the kit to those interested. In
either case, the kit design will be available for students
as a construction project.
We need to make this assessment in the next month, so we can
lay out our plans for the next year and determine the
engineering support that is needed for this project. The
price for the kit is estimated at $2500, and installation is
the responsibility of the purchaser. A commercial price may
be somewhat higher and will depend on demand. Design
details, complete circuit diagrams and parts lists are
available on our web site at http://www.haystack.mit.edu/.
The Web site also describes projects that can be carried out
with the telescope, as well as information about our overall
undergraduate educational research program.
If you are interested in this telescope kit over the next 1-
3 years, and may consider purchasing it, would you please
respond to our survey? The survey may be filled out below
and returned via email to the given address. Respondents
will also be added to our mailing list and kept up to date
on our progress.
-------------------------------------
COMMUNITY SURVEY ON SMALL RADIO TELESCOPE
(No commitments implied)
1. Would you be interested in buying this kit?
For $2500? Yes_____ No ______
For $4000? Yes_____ No ______
2. I may consider such a purchase in
Year 2000 ____
Year 2001 ____
Year 2002 ____
3. I an interested in the kit for students to construct
themselves:
Yes _____ No_____
4. Your name, institution and email address:
__________________________
__________________________
__________________________
5. What will the kit be used for?
undergraduate instruction _________
high school instruction _________
other (please explain) _________
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Please email responses to pprataphaystack.mit.edu
THANK YOU.
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End of CSWA Newsletter for 4/14/99