Four new staff members joined IDIA in December 2018. They bring a wealth of skills, knowledge and experience to the institute. Mike Currin Mike has joined IDIA as Senior Technical Specialist supporting the Information Technology team and is based at the University of Cape Town. Mike describes his recent venture into IDIA as follows: “I’m super excited to be part … Read More
South African MIGHTEE Early Science Workshop 5th Floor, SANBI Seminar Rooms, Life Sciences Building University of the Western Cape Cape Town, South Africa 20 – 22 February, 2019 Early observation of several MIGHTEE pointings have been completed, and the MIGHTEE-DATA team are working to create preliminary images data sets to support early science projects. Initial images and cubes including multi-frequency … Read More
The Inter-University Institute for Data Intensive Astronomy hosted a “first users” workshop on 23 November 2018 at the University of the Western Cape. The purpose of the workshop was to providing information to users and potential users on developments, policies, systems, resources, access; and receive information from users on how the facility is meeting their needs (or not), what is … Read More
The Director of the Inter-University Institute for Data Intensive Astronomy, Prof. Russ Taylor, launched the new IDIA offices at the University of the Western Cape (UWC). The launch of the office was welcomed by Physics and Astronomy Head of Department, Prof. Christopher Arendse, along with members of the UWC Astrophysics Group and South Africa’s Astronomy community. The launch of the office follows a … Read More
IDIA is a co-proposer of the DARA Big Data programme. Part of the initiative is the DARA Big Data Africa School held earlier this year. Another element is the DARA Big Data Science Policy Fellows who will take part in a dedicated session at the Science Forum South Africa in Pretoria in December 2018. More information about the special session: … Read More
International Data Week (IDW) 2018 is taking place 5-8 Novembre 2018. A global movement mobilizing data scientists and researchers, representatives from industry and policy makers, IDW stimulates the adoption of data-driven research in every field. Part of IDW2018, the international SciDataCon conference is taking place in Botswana this year. The theme for this year’s conference is “The Digital Frontiers of Global … Read More
Both Italy and South Africa have a strong interest in radio astronomy, and invest into the field accordingly. IDIA is a co-organiser of a special workshop on Italy-South Africa Radio Astronomy held on 24-25 October 2018 at the South African National Research Foundation (NRF). This workshop will cover both scientific topics and broader areas related to the investment into a … Read More
We are building a new website for the Institute. While we are doing so, information on this website will be incomplete. Is there something you cannot find? Get in touch! Email us at communications@idia.ac.za. You can also reach us on our twitter account @Big_IDIA. Thank you for your patience. In the meantime, here are existing websites on the IDIA domain: MIGHTEE: … Read More
IDIA was privileged to have Associate Professor Ishwara Chandra from the National Centre for Radio Astrophysics (NCRA) in Pune, India as a sabbatical visitor for one year. In a warm send-off the the UCT Astronomy department on September 20, Prof. Russ Taylor mentioned how Prof. Chandra’s research contributed to the group’s deep imaging efforts, and thanked Prof. Chandra for his many … Read More
Last week saw the DARA Big Data Africa School 2018 take place in a scenic mountainside resort near Cape Town, South Africa. 27 young scientists, most of them master’s students in fields as diverse as mechanical engineering or physics attended the school, part of the Development in Africa with Radio Astronomy (DARA) Big Data programme, a joint initiative between the … Read More
