Ground-based Facilities Review Panel

During 2007/08, the STFC Programmatic Review prioritised the STFC support for operational optical-IR and radio astronomy facilities, examining the current status of each, and assessing their outputs against STFC science and strategic goals. Building on the output of that process, it was recognised that a longer term ‘cross-facility’ review was required, with the aims of:

1. establishing the key UK science aims of STFC’s ground-based facility portfolio
   
   
2. setting a strategic framework for future investment decisions (for example in new instrumentation projects) for our facilities based on those science aims
   
   
3. guiding STFC strategy with regard to membership of international organisations and telescope facilities, and major projects

The establishment of this panel comes at a time when STFC has also recently established new Advisory Panels, who have the task of developing detailed science Road Maps in their respective areas.

The Ground-Based Review panel will work with the Near-Universe Advisory Panel and the Far-Universe Advisory Panel (link opens in a new window) to establish a common view of the core science goals, and using those as a starting point, develop a strategy for STFC’s investment in ground-based astronomical facilities. It will continue to work with them as the review progresses.

This webpage will be the base for all documentation related to the review process.

01/10/09 Draft report now available

The draft report from the Ground-based Facilities Review Panel (GBFR) is now available. We invite the community to provide comment on this draft document and its recommendations by 14^th October.

Comments on the draft report are invited via the Panel’s email address.

- GBFR draft report (PDF-761 KB) (open in a new window)

Membership and terms of reference

View the membership and terms of reference of the Ground-based Facilities Review Panel.

Approach

The Panel will work from the basis of existing available information (see below for useful links) and in close conjunction with the STFC Advisory Panels. It will produce an initial document setting out a view of what are considered (by this panel and the Advisory Panels) to be the key science goals relevant to the ground-based programme, and initiate a consultation exercise at the start of June 2009. In this, the Panel will seek views from the community at large, in addition to targeted requests for information from facilities and key stakeholders. Using these inputs, the Panel will publish, in early October, an initial draft of its conclusions for further public comment. The review will conclude with presentation of the report to STFC’s PPAN and Science Board at the end of October 2009.

Schedule

• April 23rd: Announcement of formation of Panel at JENAM;
  
  
• April 28th: First meeting of Panel at the Royal Astronomical Society (RAS), London;
  
  
• May 1st: Details of Panel announced;
  
  
• May 20th: 2nd meeting of Panel at the Medical Research Council (MRC), London;
  
  
• June 1st: Launch of Ground-Based Facilities Review (GBFR) consultation document, website and questionnaire;
  
  
• July 9th: GBFR town meeting at the RAS, London;
  
  
• July 31st: Deadline for consultation responses and submissions;
  
  
• October 2nd: Publication of draft final report;
  
  
• October 30th: Publication of GBFR final report;

GBFR consultation document

• Ad-hoc Advisory Panel Report to PPAN (PDF - 120kB) ( link opens in a new window)
• Final Report of the Committee on ALTAIR (PDF - 967kB) (link opens in a new window)
• Astronet Report (pdf-3.7MB) (link opens in a new window)
• STFC Programmatic Review
• US Decadal Survey (link opens in a new window)
• ReSTAR page in the US (pdf-external link) (link opens in a new window)

Contact us

Email the Ground-based Astronomy Panel.