2020 TMT Early-Career Workshop

A workshop for graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and early-career professionals from partners in the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) International Observatory, including Caltech, Canada, China, India, Japan, and University of California.

 

The 2020 TECI workshop scheduled for May 26 – June 1, 2020 in Victoria, Canada has been cancelled due to COVID-19.

More information on our cancellation of the workshop is available here. 

 

Preliminary List of Workshop Instructors and Participating Organizations (2020)

Workshop agenda: Our agenda for the next TECI Workshop is still being developed.  A coarse preliminary agenda for 2020 is here.  For a more detailed sense of what the workshop could include, you can review the agenda from the TECI Workshop in December 2018 

 

The TECI 2020 Workshop application is closed.
Priority application deadline: Friday, January 17, 2020 at 23:00 GMT (4:00 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time)
If you have a question about applying, you may contact us at teci@ucsc.edu.

Applicants and accepted participants can find additional information on our Workshop FAQ.  There is also a travel awards page with info for applicants seeking support from their respective TMT partner for attending the workshop.

 

  • Workshop Aims

    This workshop is a centerpiece of the TMT Early-Career Initiative. The workshop is designed to support international collaboration among the TMT partners by engaging those in the early stages of their career in TMT and providing a workshop experience that:

    Develops professional skills needed to be successful in TMT and similar projects, including international collaboration, and project management

    Provides an experience with the instrument design process

    Enables participants to see how they can contribute to TMT and engage in current TMT projects

    Builds community among TMT future users and leaders, and connects them to current TMT leaders

  • Workshop Details

    This workshop is scientific and technical, and is much like a “summer school” style event, with more emphasis on professional skills that are highly valued by TMT and large projects in general. Sessions give participants an opportunity to learn and practice skills such as working effectively on interdisciplinary, international teams; defining technical requirements based on science goals; and managing projects.

    Participants will visit facilities in Victoria at the National Research Council of Canada: Herzberg Astronomy and Astrophysics.  This institute supports several aspects of the TMT project, including leading the development of the TMT first-light adaptive optics system, NFIRAOS.

    Throughout the workshop, TMT leaders give presentations and interactive sessions on topics such as TMT instruments, project management, systems engineering, software, and the role of scientists in TMT now and into the future. The workshop includes two sessions that give participants an extended period of time to work in small teams, and spanning multiple days:

    Instrument design: Participants will work in small international teams to work through the process of designing an instrument, including conceptual design, defining science cases and requirements, and down-selecting. Some participants act as a science advisory committee (SAC), gaining experience in how SACs work.

    TMT Mini-Projects: Participants collaborate on small projects informing specific case studies or problems of interest to the TMT Project Office, the TMT community, and the ISEE/TMT International Program. Some examples of mini-projects are here.

    TECI Poster Session:

  • Participants are invited to present their work at a poster session on the opening day of the 2020 workshop

  • Maximum poster size 120 cm (48 in) vertical x 120 cm (48 in) horizontal.

  • Event Participants

    We invite workshop applications from early-career scientists and engineers (graduate students, postdocs, professionals) affiliated with any of the Thirty Meter Telescope partners:

    Caltech

    Canada

    China

    India

    Japan

    University of California

  • Cost of Participation

    TECI is funded by Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) International Observatory, which significantly reduces costs of attending the workshop. In addition, TECI works with TMT partners to identify funding sources that will cover travel expenses.  The TECI Workshop Travel Awards page includes an itemized list of approximate costs, and whether they are covered by TECI or must be covered by workshop participants.  Please review the information there.

    Applicants with questions about how they can cover the costs of items above also can visit the TECI Workshop Travel Awards page to look up an appropriate contact for their TMT partner (scroll down to the lower section of the page). TECI works hard to find travel funding for as many participants as possible, so encourages people to apply for travel awards.

  • Important Dates

    Application opens: December 4, 2019

    Application priority deadline: January 17, 2020

    Notification of acceptance sent: January 31, 2020

    TECI 2020 Workshop: May 26 – June 1, 2020