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The TMT Early-Career Initiative: preparing a global network of early-career scientists and engineers to advance the TMT partnership.

The Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) International Observatory (TIO) is hosting an 8-day workshop in Pasadena, California, USA, starting the morning of Sunday, December 2 and continuing through Sunday, December 9. This workshop is the central component of the 2018 TMT Early-Career Initiative (TECI), sponsored by TIO and run by the Institute for Scientist & Engineer Educators (ISEE). It will include talks by TMT leaders, hands-on activities to engage in authentic engineering practices and instrument design strategies, and multiple activities to gain experience with project management, teamwork, and collaboration. Pasadena is the location of the TMT Project Office and the Caltech campus (one of TMT's U.S.-based partners). The workshop will include tours to nearby facilities supporting TMT construction and other astronomy instrumentation projects, and a poster session for participants to showcase their research or engineering work.

Additional information on the TMT Early-Career Initiative is available here.

We are looking for graduate students, post-doctoral researchers, and early-career professionals in astronomy or engineering who: are able to come to Pasadena for the entirety of the workshop and are interested in potential future involvement with projects supporting TMT.

First consideration will be made for applications submitted by 23:00 UT (16:00 Pacific Time) on FRIDAY, JULY 6, 2018

The 2018 TECI Workshop is the starting point for the full 2018-2019 TECI Program.

Workshop

Program

The full TECI program will involve a greater commitment from participants. Additional expectations might include:

1. Additional pre-workshop preparation
2. Writing up TMT-related project work completed at the TECI Workshop
3. Writing a proposal for TMT-related project work that would continue after the workshop
4. Giving a presentation at your home institution after the TECI Workshop, about the Workshop and ongoing TMT project work you are involved with.

We expect a fraction of the TECI Workshop participants to be full TECI Program participants and continue with remote collaboration and possibly even an extended site visit. These Program participants will be selected based on their proposals for continuing work, and on matching proposals to projects we can support. Further proposal guidelines will be provided at the TECI Workshop. The timing and duration of collaborative work after the TECI Workshop will be project- and participant-dependent, and may include input from participants' supervisors or advisors. We imagine some remote work being done over several months with a low fractional time commitment, and possible site visits lasting at least a couple of weeks.

Indicating your interest here to participate in the full TECI Program is not a commitment, but it will help us determine which projects to feature at the TECI Workshop.

After we receive your application, we will contact the advisor or supervisor you name below for a very brief statement of approval and some supplemental information to help us in the selection process. Please list your research advisor if you are a graduate student. Otherwise, please name someone currently serving as a supervisor (boss) or mentor for your career.

The costs of developing and organizing the workshop are covered by TECI, and there is no registration fee to attend. TECI is able to fund lodging and ground transportation in Pasadena, California for a limited number of participants. TECI will provide lunches for all participants during active workshop days (7 lunches between Dec. 2-9), while participants will be expected to cover the costs of all other meals.

Funds for airfare are greatly limited and applicants able to support their own airfare costs will be given a higher priority if necessary. The closest airports to Pasadena are Hollywood Burbank Airport (BUR) and Los Angeles International Airport (LAX).

Please indicate what level of travel support you would require from TECI in order to attend the workshop.

STANDARD TRAVEL AWARD: covers lodging and ground transportation within the Pasadena/Los Angeles area

MAXIMUM TRAVEL AWARD: covers lodging, ground transportation within the Pasadena/Los Angeles area, and airfare or ground transportation from outside the Pasadena/Los Angeles area

NO TRAVEL AWARD: you are able to cover the costs of your lodging, ground transportation, and airfare

Further information on approximate costs is available here

Information on contacting individual TMT partners for travel support is here.

The workshop will be conducted entirely in English, and we will encourage international collaboration in English. While fluency in every aspect of English is not required, we want to make sure that participants are able to fully participate in the workshop and be able to gain as much as possible from speakers and peers.