This workshop is scientific & technical, much like a summer school event, with more emphasis on international collaboration, project management, and other professional skills with the intention of training TMT’s future scientific and technical leaders.

Please contact Austin Barnes for questions or more information about the workshop.

The agenda will be updated as more information becomes available.

The workshop agenda includes presentations on TMT science, instrumentation and engineering, as well as sessions focused on skills that are highly valued by TMT and large science projects in general. Sessions will give participants an opportunity to learn about and practice skills such as working effectively on interdisciplinary, international teams, defining technical requirements based on science goals, systems engineering, and managing projects. Participants will also learn about telescopes in Hawaii and will visit the summit of Maunakea and tour two telescopes.

Designing a program that promotes participation across the TMT partnership

            In addition to learning more about TMT and gaining new skills, workshop participants will also be helping TMT to design a program that will serve the needs of the project and future participants. The Thirty Meter Telescope is interested in building an international training program for its partnership. One of the primary goals of such a training program, other than passing on valuable skills from which all partners can benefit, will be to draw in graduate students and postdoctoral researchers who want to get involved with TMT in a variety of ways including engaging in real TMT projects. We are considering how to stimulate this international collaboration between current TMT leaders and program participants from across the partnership.

            We are piloting sessions during the 4-day December 2016 TMT Future Leaders Workshop that we hope will stimulate future participation. While these pilot sessions may not dive as deep into possible TMT project ideas or other avenues for graduate student and postdoc involvement in TMT, they will help to form the final format of such sessions in future program years. Because this workshop is a pilot, and time constrained, the breadth of future options presented in sessions will be limited, so participants may not find a project or other avenue for future participation that is the ideal fit for their backgrounds and/or interests. However, we believe that the sessions will be interesting and engaging for participants, while enabling us to learn about how sessions like this could work in the future program.

            As you participate in this workshop, please keep any ideas in mind that you may have for improving the format, sessions, or content of the workshop and future training program. On the final day of the workshop, participants will have working time for groups to collaboratively aid in developing aspects the future training program, and we welcome any and all ideas. Thank you for being a part of this process and helping to shape the future of TMT’s international training program!

Please click for full agenda (subject to change)