Science Coordination Office for Astrophysical Research in Antarctica

该奖项支持南极天体物理研究科学协调办公室（SCOARA），以促进美国国家科学基金会和科学界之间的智力伙伴关系，目标是实现最高质量和效率，以支持美国阿蒙森-斯科特南极站的天体物理研究。提供的资金仅用于促进下面概述的协调，维护共享的科学设备，以及操作机械车间以满足科学项目和站的需要。不为个人研究者补助金所涵盖的活动提供资金。SCOARA由参与该站宇宙学和天体物理学项目的主要研究人员组成，将使科学家能够共同努力：(a)为已批准的南极暗区科学项目提供社区组织、协调和专家共享的科学支持，(b)为共享的暗区机械车间提供装备和人员配备，(c)保持南极共享的科学设备处于良好的工作状态，(d)提供项目之间共享的专家科学越冬支持，(e)为首席研究员或其指定人员举办每周一次的电话会议，以解决与南极科学项目有关的正在进行的和新出现的问题；(f)教育、组织和协调社区对南极有限的支持资源的讨论作出反应。就更广泛的影响而言，拟议中的科学协调办公室将侧重于在社区中培养保持美国南极天文学和天体物理学项目在现代科学前沿的全球领导地位的目标。SCOARA将对了解全球天文学界如何将观测扩展到南极的地点产生影响，那里的观测条件可能比南极更好。此外，SCOARA将使新的天体物理学项目（例如，从美国国家科学基金会获得新的资助的项目）更容易在南极开始运作。这对于经常与年轻研究者联系在一起的小型项目尤其有用。最后，SCOARA在解决教育和公共推广问题方面也有明显的优势，它更适合于围绕一个共同的主题组织推广，而不是单个项目可以单独进行的努力。

This award supports a Science Coordination Office for Astrophysical Research in Antarctica (SCOARA) to facilitate an intellectual partnership between the NSF and scientific community with the goal of achieving maximum quality and efficiency for the support of astrophysical research at the U.S. Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station. Funds are provided only to facilitate the coordination outlined below, maintain shared scientific equipment, and operate the machine shop to meet the needs of the science projects and the station. No funds are provided for activities that are covered by the individual investigator grants. The SCOARA, comprised of principal investigators involved in cosmology and astrophysics projects at the station, will enable the scientists to work together for: (a) providing community organization, coordination, and expert sharing of scientific support for approved South Pole Dark Sector science projects, (b) outfitting and staffing the shared Dark Sector machine shop, (c) keeping the shared scientific equipment at the Pole in good working order, (d) providing expert science winterover support shared among the projects, (e) conducting weekly teleconferences for Principal Investigators or their designees to address on-going and emerging issues related to the science projects at the Pole, and (f) educating, organizing, and coordinating the community in response to discussions about the limited support resources at the South Pole. With respect to the broader impacts, the proposed Science Coordination Office will focus on fostering, amongst the community, the goal of maintaining worldwide leadership, at the cutting edge of modern science, of the U.S. Antarctic astronomy and astrophysics programs. SCOARA will have an impact on understanding how the worldwide astronomical community might expand observations to sites in Antarctica where observing conditions might be even better than at South Pole. In addition, SCOARA would make it easier for new astrophysics projects (e.g., projects that receive new funding from NSF) to begin their operations at South Pole. This will be especially useful for smaller projects that are often associated with younger investigators. Finally, SCOARA also has obvious advantages for addressing education and public outreach issues, being better suited to organize outreach around a common theme relative to the efforts that individual projects could make separately.