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-主要的下一代射电望远镜和非洲大陆的第一个大型科学项目。一个多达2000个碟形天线的网络最终将遍布非洲南部，使望远镜具有强大的分辨率，可以看到天空中的小结构。为此，南非正在与非洲其他八个国家合作，这些国家将作为这些分站的东道国。然而，目前在这些国家几乎没有天文学活动，因此SKA-SA正在建立非洲VLBI网络（AVN），作为一个先驱仪器，并以其本身的权利对世界射电天文学网络进行非常有用的补充。AVN将在每个伙伴国家由30米级的无线电天线组成，这些天线可以是由已报废的电信天线改造而成的，也可以是新建的。英国团队，与SA同事一起，将提供先进的培训，在一些硕士奖学金的形式，以AVN伙伴国家的公民。学生们将利用干涉射电望远镜进行研究培训。作为培训的一部分，学习到的高级STEM技能可以应用于电信，空间科学，土地管理和计算等一系列行业。培训方案的一个组成部分将是与具有利用有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控制系统专家担任天线顾问，协助非洲的项目。对于谁收到射电天文学培训的学生，现在想用他们的新技能，开始自己的业务，我们将提供业务咨询，从企业家在该领域的经验。我们的商业顾问之前曾在康沃尔郡的Goonhilly地球站有限公司工作，该公司与几所英国大学合作的项目也旨在将大型旧碟转换为射电望远镜。因此，他在射电天文学和新兴空间部门的界面处的协同作用和商业机会方面具有独特的经验。我们的最新学员群体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合会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.