Description of the TMT Early-Career Initiative (TECI) Program

Components of TECI

TECI Workshop

The annual TECI Workshop is the key event where the early career TMT community comes together, learns new skills, gains initial engagement in TMT projects, and interacts with the broader TMT community. Participants in TECI may elect to participate in only the annual workshop, but the workshop will also stimulate further engagement between small teams or individuals and TMT projects.  Scroll to the bottom of this page for info on TECI Workshops from 2016-2018.

Remote Collaboration on TECI Projects

TECI program staff work with the TMT partnership to identify projects that will benefit from engaging early-career people and increased international collaboration. Projects can be in the areas of science, instruments, or operations. These projects are a centerpiece of the annual workshop, which matches participants with projects in order to stimulate new collaborations.  A select subset of workshop participants will continue to collaborate remotely after the workshop in small international teams, with advising from a TMT project member.

Visit or Internship

Teams that are remotely collaborating on a TECI project after the workshop may apply for a visit or internship at a TMT site, supporting the advancement of the project. The duration of stay can be a short visit of a few weeks, or longer and more like an internship, and will depend upon the project, availability of project consultants and participants, and costs.

Program Aims

The TMT Early-Career Initiative (TECI) is designed to support the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) International Observatory by engaging graduate students, postdocs, and other junior-level professionals, from across the TMT partnership, in TMT projects. Outcomes include:

Participants in TECI gain skills and direct engagement in TMT that will initiate further involvement in TMT, as well as build career qualifications for other projects similar to TMT.

TMT projects benefit from involving international partners through TECI, a significant challenge for a partnership that includes Canada, China, India, Japan, and the U.S.

TMT partners will develop their own workforce for TMT and related projects.

By investing now, TMT will have the people and collaborations needed to maximize the scientific output of the telescope at first light. Supporting international collaboration among early-career engineers and scientists will strengthen TMT projects over the full lifetime of the telescope.

Who Can Participate in TECI

Graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and other junior-level professionals from TMT partner sites are invited to apply. In general, priority is given to people involved in TMT projects at their home institution, or who would likely use the TECI experience to get involved in TMT. Each TMT partner works with TECI to establish selection priorities.

Cost

TECI provides fee waivers to all participants accepted into the program (with funding provided by the TMT Project Office). TECI is able to pay for the cost of accommodations (and some meals) for participants who are able to pay for their own airfare to the workshop, through their advisor or TMT partner office. In some cases, TECI will also pay for airfare. The TECI application includes a travel support question, in which applicants indicate what they are requesting from TECI. See the travel award page to learn about costs and travel awards.

Instructors

TECI has a set of core instructors from ISEE, who has nearly 20 years of experience conducting professional development for early-career students and professionals. The core instructors put together the overall curriculum and utilize the expertise of the TMT community by bringing in many additional instructors, presenters, and project mentors.

Contact Us

Individuals with questions about TECI should email us at teci@ucsc.edu