Development in Africa with Radio Astronomy Phase 2 - Extension

我们将在非洲开展一个射电天文学方案，这将有助于推动经济增长。南非正在主持平方公里阵列(SKA)的一部分，这是非洲大陆的第一个大科学项目，也是下一代主要射电望远镜。一个由多达2000个碟子组成的网络最终将分布在南部非洲，使望远镜具有强大的分辨率，可以看到天空中的微小结构。为实现这一目标，南非正在与非洲其他八个国家合作，这些国家将接待这些分站。然而，这些国家目前几乎没有天文活动，因此南非射电天文研究所正在建设非洲甚高比目表网络(AVN)，将其作为一种前身仪器，本身就是世界射电天文网络的非常有用的补充。AVN将在每个伙伴国包括3000万个级别的广播节目，要么由废弃的电信节目改装，要么由新建的节目改装。英国团队将与SA的同事一起，以多项硕士奖学金的形式向AVN合作伙伴国家的公民提供高级培训。学生们将使用干涉射电望远镜进行研究培训。作为培训的一部分，所学到的STEM高级技能可应用于电信、空间科学、土地管理和计算机等一系列行业。培训方案的一个组成部分将是与有利用相关技术创办企业经验的企业家进行互动。我们将资助一名天线顾问，他是天线控制系统方面的专家，以协助非洲的项目。对于那些接受过射电天文培训，现在想要用他们的新技能来创业的学生，我们将提供一位在该领域经验丰富的企业家的商业建议。我们的商业顾问之前曾在康沃尔的Goonhilly地球站有限公司工作，那里与几所英国大学合作的一个项目也旨在将大的旧碟子改装成射电望远镜。因此，他在射电天文学与新兴空间部门之间的协同作用和商业机会方面有着独特的经验。我们最新的受训人员小组将能够利用他们的天文学知识开展小型开发项目。这将由国际天文学联盟天文学促进发展办公室的专家监督。

We will conduct a programme in radio astronomy in Africa that will help to drive economic growth. South Africa is hosting part of the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) - the major next generation radio telescope and the first big science project on the African continent. A network of up to 2000 dishes will eventually spread out across southern Africa to give the telescope its powerful resolution to see small structures in the sky. To this aim South Africa is partnering with eight other countries in Africa that will host these outstations. However, there is virtually no astronomy activity in these countries at present and so SKA-SA are building the African VLBI Network (AVN) as a precursor instrument and very useful addition to the world's radio astronomy networks in its own right. The AVN will consist of 30 m class radio dishes in each partner country, either converted from defunct telecommunications dishes or newly built ones. The UK team, together with SA colleagues, will provide advanced training in the form of a number of MSc bursaries to citizens of AVN partner countries. The students will undertake research training using interferometric radio telescopes. The advanced STEM skills learnt as part of this training can be applied to a range of industries such as telecommunications, space science, land management and computing. An integral part of the training programme will be interaction with entrepreneurs who have experience of setting up businesses using related technologies. We will fund an antenna consultant who is an expert in antenna control systems to assist with projects in Africa. For the students who have received radio astronomy training and now want to use their new skills to start up their own business we will provide business advice from an entrepreneur experienced in the field. Our business consultant previously worked for Goonhilly Earth Station Ltd in Cornwall where a project in collaboration with several UK universities is also aiming to convert large old dishes in to radio telescopes. He is therefore uniquely experienced in the synergies and business opportunities that lie at the interface of radio astronomy and the burgeoning space sector. Groups of our newest trainees will be able to carry out small development projects that utilize their astronomy knowledge. This will be overseen by experts from the International Astronomical Union's Office of Astronomy for Development.