Date: Wed, 27 Sep 2000 10:29:03 -0500 (EST)
Subject: CSWA Newsletter of 9/27/2000
To: AASMAIL: ;
AAS Committee on the Status of Women
weekly issues of 9/27/2000, ed. by Priscilla Benson
*** send submissions and subscription info to
aaswomen
wellesley.edu ***
This week's issues:
1. Women Theorists
2. Leave Policies
3. Funding Opportunities for Student Research
4. Grant Source?
5. Workshop on Young Stars
6. Jobs
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1. Women Theorists
From: psackettastro.rug.nl
Recently it has come to my attention that there is a general
perception --- at least among some of the most prominent
and influential theorists in our field --- that there are
very few women working in astronomical theory. Or more
precisely, that the fraction of excellent female theorists
is much smaller than the fraction of excellent women in
other areas of astronomy. This is bemoaned, and listed as a
reason for the paucity of appointments to women at some
institutions that are heavily theoretical.
Now either this is true, in which case it would be an
interesting topic of discussion for this forum, or it is not
true, in which case it would be important to document the
facts and educate our community. I note that on the
(excellent) CSWA Women in Astronomy Web Page, "Theory" is
not listed as a choice of scientific interest. Perhaps this
simply reflects how women categorize their interests?
I'd be interested in hearing the thoughts and suggestions of
this readership. I might note that many astronomers come to
the field via physics; this is certainly true of theorists.
So it would be good to widen the discussion to physicists
who study the sort of theory useful to astronomy --- which
covers quite a bit of ground! Young people so trained can
and do find positions in astronomy after a first postdoc,
for example.
Respectfully,
Penny Sackett
p.s. When I was still a physicist, the common lore was that
there were very few excellent female experimentalists, they
supposedly went into theory instead!
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2. Leave Policies
From: meixnerastro.uiuc.edu
This message is for Lauren Jones,
At the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign,
the Dept. of Astronomy is in the Liberal Arts College.
There are several aspects to the leave policy here:
1) The university follows the Federal law on the
Family/Medical Leave act which states that you can have up
to 12 weeks of unpaid leave to handle family issues without
losing your job. UIUC goes further in allowing you to use
any accumulated sick leave to get paid for that leave. They
also allow two weeks of parental leave paid that can be used
for paid leave during these 12 weeks. For both my children,
I took 6-9 weeks of leave all of it was paid because I had
enough accumulated sick leave.
2) You can also get a whole semester off if you file for a
leave of absence for the additional 4 weeks. Something I
did not do.
3) UIUC is not sexist in its policies so if you and your
husband work here (as I and my husband do), then you can
both take advantage of their leave policies. We did this.
4) Bottom line though comes in your department. You have to
discuss/negotiate the details of your leave with your
department chair. Mine was very supportive.
5) If you are on the tenure track, you can apply for a
tenure roll back of 1 year. This allows you an extra year
to prove yourself. Both husband and wife can take tenure
rollbacks. We did this.
Good luck with your efforts,
Margaret Meixner
---------
From: rwebsterisis.ph.unimelb.edu.au
Dear Lauren,
I am sure that the policies at the University of Melbourne
in Australia will not effect others in the USA. However you
might be interested in what we offer as a comparison:
Maternity leave: 12 weeks on full pay; up to one years leave
of absence (remainder unpaid); part-time positions for as
many years as requested (paid pro-rata). These rules apply
for both academic and administrative staff; for adoption the
female parent has 2 days special paid leave, plus 6 weeks on
half pay, plus up to a total of 52 weeks of unpaid leave.
Paternity leave: 1 week on full pay; applies to both
adoption and also to same sex partners; up to an additional
51 weeks unpaid leave where the parent is the primary carer
Family leave: up to 5 days per year on full pay (non-
cumulative) to care for a sick family member, or attend to
another emergency
Cheers
Rachel Webster
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3. Funding Opportunities for Student Research
From: johnsonaas.org
FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES FOR STUDENT RESEARCH:
Small grants for undergraduate and graduate student research
in all branches of science and engineering, up to $1,000.
Funds awarded in early December. Additional funds, up to
$2,500 available for Astronomy in general, and research
specifically involving meteors, meteorites and space. Fall
deadline is October 16, 2000. Membership with Sigma Xi is
required for some, but not all funds. Send applications
electronically to Grants-in-Aid of Research Program:
http://www.sigmaxi.org/giar/guidelines.htm
For more information about Sigma Xi: www.sigmaxi.org
Julia Reed
Programs Coordinator
Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society
giarsigmaxi.org
800-243-6534 ext. 206
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4. Grant Source?
From: Kristy_Dyerncsu.edu
I'm looking for a small source of funding ($2500 or fraction
thereof) to buy a laptop to transition me from graduate
school to a 3-month visiting researcher position in India to
a (as yet unknown) postdoc. Having it would make a huge
difference in my productivity in the next year but the catch
is that it cannot be bought with funds from my university,
since then the computer belongs to them, and it cannot be
taken from the university (defeats the purpose of a laptop,
yes?). Does anyone know 1) a source of a small amount of
equipment money and 2) how to prevent it from being "owned"
by a university?
-- Kristy Dyer
Kristy_Dyerncsu.edu
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5. Workshop on Young Stars
From: rayjayastron.Berkeley.EDU
Young Stars Near Earth: Progress and Prospects
NASA Ames Research Center, Mountain View, CA
March 21-23, 2001
The recent discovery of several groups of young stars within
100 parsecs of the Sun has generated a lot of interest.
Given their proximity and possible age spread, these systems
are ideally suited for detailed studies of star and planet
formation. Groups such as the TW Hydrae Association (~50
pc), MBM12 high-latitude cloud (~65 pc) and Eta
Chamaeleontis cluster (~97 pc) have been the focus of
intense investigations over the past few years, and are
likely to be prime targets for future ground-based and
space-borne observatories. Meanwhile, the search is on for
other young stars in the solar neighborhood. Unlike
T Tauri stars in well-known star-forming regions, these
stars are often not associated with obvious parent molecular
clouds, so their nature, origin, and age are still matters
of controversy. This workshop will be a forum to present the
latest findings, debate unresolved issues, consider
implications for local star formation, and discuss prospects
for the future including brown dwarf and planet searches.
Topics to be covered include:
* Star formation in the solar neighborhood
* Identifying ``isolated'' young stars
* Kinematics, astrometry, distances and age estimates
* Origins and parent clouds
* Stellar properties and X-ray emission
* Disk evolution and planet formation
* Brown dwarfs and giant planets
* Prospects for the future (FAME, SIRTF, SOFIA, ALMA, SIM,
NGST)
Please send expressions of interest to:
Ray Jayawardhana (rayjayastro.berkeley.edu)
Workshop Web site:
http://www-space.arc.nasa.gov/ystars
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6. Jobs
Editor's Note: There is an unusally long list of jobs,
including postdocs, this week, so I am only listing them. If
you are interested, you should check out the web listing
and/or contact the name given with the ad or the submitter
of the ad.
---
From: jschmelzpostoffice.memphis.edu
Dear AASWOMEN,
There are two positions coming available for Fall 2001, I
thought it might be especially interesting for applicants
with another astronomer/physicist in the family.
Thank-you,
Joan Schmelz
Faculty Positions--Department of Physics
The University of Memphis
Two anticipated tenure track positions at the Assistant
Professor level, to begin in fall 2001.
Review will begin on November 1, 2000
------------
From: gkastro.princeton.edu
Postdoctoral Fellowships in Astrophysics at Princeton
University
Lyman Spitzer, Jr. Postdoctoral Fellowship
Lyman Spitzer, Jr. Postdoctoral Fellowship In Theoretical
Astrophysics
Sloan Digital Sky Survey Postdoctoral Fellowships
Postdoctoral Prize Fellowship in Astronomy - PRINCETON
UNIVERSITY AND PONTIFICIA UNIVERSIDAD CATOLICA DE CHILE
The expected starting date for all fellowships is 1
September 2001. The appointments are for one year, renewable
annually based on satisfactory performance, for a total of
up to three years.
Prof. S. Tremaine, Chair, Dept. of Astrophysical Sciences,
Peyton Hall, Princeton NJ 08544-1001, USA. Applicants will
automatically be considered for all postdoctoral positions
in the department. EEO/AAE.
Position in Astrophysics - Princeton University
The Department of Astrophysical Sciences, Princeton
University, invites applications for a professional
technical staff position, beginning on June 1, 2001,
contingent upon availability of funding. The position is
expected to be up to five years, renewed annually,
based upon satisfactory performance. The successful
applicant will work with Drs. Renyue Cen and Jeremiah
Ostriker in fields closely related to cosmological N-body
and hydrodynamic galaxy formation simulations.
Apply by December 1, 2000 to Dr. Renyue Cen, Department of
Astrophysical Sciences, Peyton Hall, Princeton University,
Princeton, NJ 08544.
------------------
From: turnerpkenyon.edu
The Department of Physics at Kenyon College
(http://topaz.kenyon.edu/depts/physics) invites applications
for a tenure-track assistant professor position beginning in
the fall semester of 2001. Applications received by January
1, 2001 are guaranteed full consideration.
Director of Laboratories for Physics and Mathematics
Kenyon College
This is a full-time professional position in the Departments
of Physics (80%) and Mathematics (20%) with a salary
comparable to that of a beginning Assistant Professor.
Applications received by October 31, 2000 are guaranteed
full consideration.
For information on either Kenyon job, contact: John Idoine,
Department of Physics, Kenyon College, Gambier, OH 43022.
(Idoinekenyon.edu) More information about Kenyon College
and the Departments of Math and Physics may be found on our
Web site (www.kenyon.edu).
------
From: edevoreseti.org
POSITION ANNOUNCEMENT
SOFIA Manager of Education Programs
Minimum Qualifications:
MA or MS degree in astronomy or science education, Ph.D. or
Ed.D. desirable. Knowledge of astronomy and astronomy
education required.
Location: USRA SOFIA Offices, NASA Ames Research Center,
Moffett Field, California
For more information, contact:
Human Resources
SETI Institute
2035 Landings Dr.
Mountain View, CA 94043
Attention: Edna DeVore
-------
From: lwillsoniastate.edu
Note: The following position is one of two or three in the
area this year/next year, and may represent a special
opportunity for an astronomical couple. The search
committee chair has a history of helping with issues of
opportunities for significant others, as she is well aware
that this may otherwise discourage people from applying
to jobs outside of big cities. If you have questions about
the situation, please contact Lee Anne Willson
(lwillsoniastate.edu).
Faculty Position
Observational Astronomy
Details of the program may be found at
http://www.public.iastate.edu/~astro.
Deadline: January 15 or until the position is filled.
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End of CSWA Newsletter of 9/27/2000