proposal submission form reseach training networks marie ... · development and...

Proposal Submission Form

A1EUROPEAN COMMISSION6th Framework Programme onResearch, Technological Development and Demonstration

Reseach Training NetworksMarie Curie Mobility Actions

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General Information on the Proposal

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000000000000Proposal NumberProposal Number ELSAELSAProposal AcronymProposal Acronym

European Leadership in Space AstrometryEuropean Leadership in Space AstrometryProposal TitleProposal Title

RTNRTNAction CodeAction Code PHYPHYScientific PanelScientific Panel

4848Total duration in monthsTotal duration in months FP6-2005-Mobility-1FP6-2005-Mobility-1Call identifierCall identifier

AstrophysicsAstrophysicsKeyword 1Keyword 1

Software developmentSoftware developmentKeyword 2Keyword 2

Numerical analysisNumerical analysisKeyword 3Keyword 3

Free KeywordsFree Keywords

Abstract (up to 2000 characters)Abstract (up to 2000 characters)

This RTN brings together world-leading expertise in space astrometry – the use of space platforms for mapping the three-dimensional structure of our Galaxy – with specialists on numerical algorithms and software engineering for the doublepurpose of (1) preparing for the scientific exploitation of data from the European Space Agency’s astrometric mission Gaia,scheduled for launch in 2011, and (2) training the next generation of researchers in this uniquely European specialty tomaintain and extend European leadership in space astrometry.

Gaia will determine distances, motions and astrophysical data for about a billion stars. The results will have a huge impact innearly all areas of astrophysical research. The scientific management of the mission, including the complex data analysis task,requires a combination of specialist skills in space astrometry, software engineering, numerical methods and instrumentmodelling. This combination is rarely found at a single institute and never in current PhD training programmes. It existshowever on the European level thanks to the ongoing preparation effort for Gaia and past experience from Hipparcos(launched by ESA 1989). The RTN will reinforce collaboration between key institutes in the field and transmit the expertiseacquired to the next generation of researchers.

The research programme has challenging but tangible objectives whose outcome will be an essential contribution to the Gaiapreparations. The data analysis problem is penetrated by means of numerical simulations and GRID computing, leading tonew and improved methods for its solution. The appointment of ESRs and ERs is used to achieve a balanced mix ofcompetence, e.g. between astronomy and software engineering, and to ensure a lively exchange of results through meetingsand secondments. The network will attract promising young researchers to an innovative field of activities and provideexcellent training in the context of a high-ranking scientific project

This RTN brings together world-leading expertise in space astrometry – the use of space platforms for mapping the three-dimensional structure of our Galaxy – with specialists on numerical algorithms and software engineering for the doublepurpose of (1) preparing for the scientific exploitation of data from the European Space Agency’s astrometric mission Gaia,scheduled for launch in 2011, and (2) training the next generation of researchers in this uniquely European specialty tomaintain and extend European leadership in space astrometry.

Gaia will determine distances, motions and astrophysical data for about a billion stars. The results will have a huge impact innearly all areas of astrophysical research. The scientific management of the mission, including the complex data analysis task,requires a combination of specialist skills in space astrometry, software engineering, numerical methods and instrumentmodelling. This combination is rarely found at a single institute and never in current PhD training programmes. It existshowever on the European level thanks to the ongoing preparation effort for Gaia and past experience from Hipparcos(launched by ESA 1989). The RTN will reinforce collaboration between key institutes in the field and transmit the expertiseacquired to the next generation of researchers.

The research programme has challenging but tangible objectives whose outcome will be an essential contribution to the Gaiapreparations. The data analysis problem is penetrated by means of numerical simulations and GRID computing, leading tonew and improved methods for its solution. The appointment of ESRs and ERs is used to achieve a balanced mix ofcompetence, e.g. between astronomy and software engineering, and to ensure a lively exchange of results through meetingsand secondments. The network will attract promising young researchers to an innovative field of activities and provideexcellent training in the context of a high-ranking scientific project

Proposal Submission FormEUROPEAN COMMISSION6th Framework Programme onResearch, Technological Development and Demonstration A2Reseach Training Networks

Marie Curie Mobility Actions

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Information on Participants or Partner Institution

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000000000000Proposal NrProposal Nr ELSAELSAProposal AcronymProposal Acronym 11Participant NrParticipant Nr

Lunds universitetLunds universitetParticipant organisationParticipant organisation

Org. legal nameOrg. legal name

LUNDLUNDOrg. short nameOrg. short name

117117POPO BoxPO Box 2210022100Postal CodePostal Code CedexCedexLegal addr.Legal addr.

--Street Name and NrStreet Name and Nr

LundLundTownTown SwedenSwedenCountryCountry

www.lu.sewww.lu.seInternetInternethomehomepagepage

Higher EducationHigher EducationActivity TypeActivity Type GOVGOVLegal StatusLegal Status If "PRC",specifyIf "PRC",specify

Are you an SME according to the new definition as described in the Recommend. 2003/361/EC?Are you an SME according to the new definition as described in the Recommend. 2003/361/EC?

NoNo Is the organisation situated in a Less-Favoured Region within the EU?Is the organisation situated in a Less-Favoured Region within the EU?

Name of Less-Favoured Region if applicableName of Less-Favoured Region if applicable

NoNoAny dependencies between the organisation and (an)other participant(s)?Any dependencies between the organisation and (an)other participant(s)?

If yes,part.nmIf yes,part.nm short nameshort name Character of dependenceCharacter of dependence



Prof.Prof.TitleTitle MaleMaleSexSexScientist in chargeScientist in charge

LindegrenLindegrenNameName

LennartLennartFirst name(s)First name(s)

Department/Faculty/Institute/Laboratory nameDepartment/Faculty/Institute/Laboratory name

Lund ObservatoryLund Observatory

4343POPO BoxPO Box 2210022100Postal CodePostal Code CedexCedex Address Address(if different)(if different)Street Name and NrStreet Name and Nr

LundLundTownTown SwedenSwedenCountryCountry

+46 46 222 7309+46 46 222 7309Phone1Phone1 Phone2Phone2 +46 46 222 4614+46 46 222 4614FaxFax

[email protected]@astro.lu.see-maile-mail

www.astro.lu.sewww.astro.lu.seInternetInternethomehomepagepage

NoNoPreviously submitted similar proposals or signed contracts?Previously submitted similar proposals or signed contracts?

If yes,programIf yes,programand yearand year

If yes, proposal or contract number(s)If yes, proposal or contract number(s)



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National and Kapodistrian University of AthensNational and Kapodistrian University of AthensParticipant organisationParticipant organisation


ATHEATHEOrg. short nameOrg. short name

POPO BoxPO Box 105 61105 61Postal CodePostal Code CedexCedexLegal addr.Legal addr.

6 Christou Lada str.6 Christou Lada str.Street Name and NrStreet Name and Nr

AthensAthensTownTown GreeceGreeceCountryCountry

www.uoa.grwww.uoa.grInternetInternethomehomepagepage









ProfProfTitleTitle FemaleFemaleSexSexScientist in chargeScientist in charge

KontizasKontizasNameName

MaryMaryFirst name(s)First name(s)


Astrophysics-Astronomy and Mechanics/PhysicsAstrophysics-Astronomy and Mechanics/Physics

POPO BoxPO Box 157 83157 83Postal CodePostal Code CedexCedex Address Address(if different)(if different)

Panepistimiopolis, ZografosPanepistimiopolis, ZografosStreet Name and NrStreet Name and Nr

AthensAthensTownTown GreeceGreeceCountryCountry

+30210 7276770+30210 7276770Phone1Phone1 Phone2Phone2 +302107276770+302107276770FaxFax

[email protected]@cc.uoa.gre-maile-mail

http://www.uoa.gr/~mkontizahttp://www.uoa.gr/~mkontizaInternetInternethomehomepagepage






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Universitat de BarcelonaUniversitat de BarcelonaParticipant organisationParticipant organisation


BARCBARCOrg. short nameOrg. short name

POPO BoxPO Box 0800708007Postal CodePostal Code CedexCedexLegal addr.Legal addr.

Gran Via, 585Gran Via, 585Street Name and NrStreet Name and Nr

BarcelonaBarcelonaTownTown SpainSpainCountryCountry

http://www.ub.edu/http://www.ub.edu/InternetInternethomehomepagepage




not applicablenot applicableName of Less-Favoured Region if applicableName of Less-Favoured Region if applicable





Dr.Dr.TitleTitle MaleMaleSexSexScientist in chargeScientist in charge

TorraTorraNameName

JordiJordiFirst name(s)First name(s)


Departament d'Astronomia i Meteorologia. Facultat de FísicaDepartament d'Astronomia i Meteorologia. Facultat de Física

POPO BoxPO Box 0803208032Postal CodePostal Code CedexCedex Address Address(if different)(if different)

Martí i Franqués, 1Martí i Franqués, 1Street Name and NrStreet Name and Nr

BarcelonaBarcelonaTownTown SpainSpainCountryCountry

+34 93 4021128+34 93 4021128Phone1Phone1 Phone2Phone2 +34 93 4021133+34 93 4021133FaxFax

[email protected]@am.ub.ese-maile-mail

http://www.am.ub.es/http://www.am.ub.es/InternetInternethomehomepagepage






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Universite Libre de BruxellesUniversite Libre de BruxellesParticipant organisationParticipant organisation


BRUXBRUXOrg. short nameOrg. short name


Avenue F.D. Roosevelt 50Avenue F.D. Roosevelt 50Street Name and NrStreet Name and Nr

BruxellesBruxellesTownTown BelgiumBelgiumCountryCountry

http://www.ulb.ac.behttp://www.ulb.ac.beInternetInternethomehomepagepage










PourbaixPourbaixNameName

DimitriDimitriFirst name(s)First name(s)


Institute of Astronomy and AstrophysicsInstitute of Astronomy and Astrophysics


Boulevard du Triomphe CP 226Boulevard du Triomphe CP 226Street Name and NrStreet Name and Nr

BrusselsBrusselsTownTown BelgiumBelgiumCountryCountry

+32 2 650 35 71+32 2 650 35 71Phone1Phone1 Phone2Phone2 +32 2 650 42 26+32 2 650 42 26FaxFax

[email protected]@astro.ulb.ac.bee-maile-mail

http://sb9.astro.ulb.ac.be/~pourbaix/http://sb9.astro.ulb.ac.be/~pourbaix/InternetInternethomehomepagepage






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Chancellor, Masters and Scholars of the University of CambridgeChancellor, Masters and Scholars of the University of CambridgeParticipant organisationParticipant organisation


UCAM-IoAUCAM-IoAOrg. short nameOrg. short name

POPO BoxPO Box CB2 1TNCB2 1TNPostal CodePostal Code CedexCedexLegal addr.Legal addr.

The Old Schools, Trinity LaneThe Old Schools, Trinity LaneStreet Name and NrStreet Name and Nr

CambridgeCambridgeTownTown United KingdomUnited KingdomCountryCountry

http://www.cam.ac.ukhttp://www.cam.ac.ukInternetInternethomehomepagepage

Higher EducationHigher EducationActivity TypeActivity Type PNPPNPLegal StatusLegal Status If "PRC",specifyIf "PRC",specify








DrDrTitleTitle MaleMaleSexSexScientist in chargeScientist in charge

van Leeuwenvan LeeuwenNameName

FloorFloorFirst name(s)First name(s)


Institute of AstronomyInstitute of Astronomy

POPO BoxPO Box CB3 0HACB3 0HAPostal CodePostal Code CedexCedex Address Address(if different)(if different)

Madingley RoadMadingley RoadStreet Name and NrStreet Name and Nr

CambridgeCambridgeTownTown United KingdomUnited KingdomCountryCountry

(44) 1223 766654(44) 1223 766654Phone1Phone1 (44) 1223 337548(44) 1223 337548Phone2Phone2 (44) 1223 337523(44) 1223 337523FaxFax

[email protected]@ast.cam.ac.uke-maile-mail

http://www.ast.cam.ac.ukhttp://www.ast.cam.ac.ukInternetInternethomehomepagepage






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Dutch Space B.V.Dutch Space B.V.Participant organisationParticipant organisation


DSDSOrg. short nameOrg. short name

3207032070POPO BoxPO Box 2303 DB2303 DBPostal CodePostal Code CedexCedexLegal addr.Legal addr.

Newtonweg 1Newtonweg 1Street Name and NrStreet Name and Nr

LeidenLeidenTownTown NetherlandsNetherlandsCountryCountry

http://www.dutchspace.nlhttp://www.dutchspace.nlInternetInternethomehomepagepage

IndustryIndustryActivity TypeActivity Type PRCPRCLegal StatusLegal Status B.V.B.V.If "PRC",specifyIf "PRC",specify









BoomBoomNameName

EricEricFirst name(s)First name(s)


Advanced Systems & Engineering (ASE)Advanced Systems & Engineering (ASE)

POPO BoxPO Box Postal CodePostal Code CedexCedex Address Address(if different)(if different)Street Name and NrStreet Name and Nr

TownTown CountryCountry

+31 71 5245820+31 71 5245820Phone1Phone1 Phone2Phone2 FaxFax

[email protected]@dutchspace.nle-maile-mail

InternetInternethomehomepagepage






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Université de GenèveUniversité de GenèveParticipant organisationParticipant organisation


GENEGENEOrg. short nameOrg. short name


24, rue du Général-Dufour24, rue du Général-DufourStreet Name and NrStreet Name and Nr

Genève 4Genève 4TownTown SwitzerlandSwitzerlandCountryCountry

http://www.unige.ch/http://www.unige.ch/InternetInternethomehomepagepage










EyerEyerNameName

LaurentLaurentFirst name(s)First name(s)


Observatoire de GenèveObservatoire de Genève


chemin des Maillettes 51chemin des Maillettes 51Street Name and NrStreet Name and Nr

SauvernySauvernyTownTown SwitzerlandSwitzerlandCountryCountry

+41 22 379 23 61+41 22 379 23 61Phone1Phone1 +41 22 379 22 00+41 22 379 22 00Phone2Phone2 +41 22 379 22 05+41 22 379 22 05FaxFax

[email protected]@obs.unige.che-maile-mail

http://obswww.unige.ch/~eyer/http://obswww.unige.ch/~eyer/InternetInternethomehomepagepage






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Ruprecht-Karls-Universitaet HeidelbergRuprecht-Karls-Universitaet HeidelbergParticipant organisationParticipant organisation


HEIDHEIDOrg. short nameOrg. short name

105 760105 760POPO BoxPO Box 6911769117Postal CodePostal Code CedexCedexLegal addr.Legal addr.

Seminarstr. 2Seminarstr. 2Street Name and NrStreet Name and Nr

HeidelbergHeidelbergTownTown GermanyGermanyCountryCountry

www.uni-heidelberg.dewww.uni-heidelberg.deInternetInternethomehomepagepage










BastianBastianNameName

UlrichUlrichFirst name(s)First name(s)


Astronomisches Rechen-Institut ARI/ZAHAstronomisches Rechen-Institut ARI/ZAH

POPO BoxPO Box 691 20691 20Postal CodePostal Code CedexCedex Address Address(if different)(if different)

Moenchhofstr. 14Moenchhofstr. 14Street Name and NrStreet Name and Nr

HeidelbergHeidelbergTownTown GermanyGermanyCountryCountry

+49 6221 541852+49 6221 541852Phone1Phone1 +49 6221 541850+49 6221 541850Phone2Phone2 +49 6221 541888+49 6221 541888FaxFax

[email protected]@ari.uni-heidelberg.dee-maile-mail

www.ari.uni-heidelberg.dewww.ari.uni-heidelberg.deInternetInternethomehomepagepage

YesYesPreviously submitted similar proposals or signed contracts?Previously submitted similar proposals or signed contracts?

If yes,programIf yes,program RTN 'ANGLES', 2004RTN 'ANGLES', 2004and yearand year

MRTN-CT-2003-505183MRTN-CT-2003-505183If yes, proposal or contract number(s)If yes, proposal or contract number(s)



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University of HelsinkiUniversity of HelsinkiParticipant organisationParticipant organisation


HELSHELSOrg. short nameOrg. short name

6868POPO BoxPO Box 0001400014Postal CodePostal Code CedexCedexLegal addr.Legal addr.

Gustaf Hallstromin katu 2bGustaf Hallstromin katu 2bStreet Name and NrStreet Name and Nr

HelsinkiHelsinkiTownTown FinlandFinlandCountryCountry

www.helsinki.fiwww.helsinki.fiInternetInternethomehomepagepage

ResearchResearchActivity TypeActivity Type GOVGOVLegal StatusLegal Status If "PRC",specifyIf "PRC",specify








Dr.Dr.TitleTitle FemaleFemaleSexSexScientist in chargeScientist in charge

KaasalainenKaasalainenNameName

Mikko Kaarlo JuhaniMikko Kaarlo JuhaniFirst name(s)First name(s)


Department of Mathematics and StatisticsDepartment of Mathematics and Statistics

6868POPO BoxPO Box 0001400014Postal CodePostal Code CedexCedex Address Address(if different)(if different)

Gustaf Hallstromin katu 2bGustaf Hallstromin katu 2bStreet Name and NrStreet Name and Nr

HelsinkiHelsinkiTownTown FinlandFinlandCountryCountry

+358 9 19151441+358 9 19151441Phone1Phone1 Phone2Phone2 +358 9 191 51400+358 9 191 51400FaxFax

[email protected]@rni.helsinki.fie-maile-mail

www.rni.helsinki.fi/~mjkwww.rni.helsinki.fi/~mjkInternetInternethomehomepagepage






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Istituto Nazionale di AstrofisicaIstituto Nazionale di AstrofisicaParticipant organisationParticipant organisation


INAFINAFOrg. short nameOrg. short name


Viale del Parco Mellini, 84Viale del Parco Mellini, 84Street Name and NrStreet Name and Nr

RomaRomaTownTown ItalyItalyCountryCountry

[email protected]@inaf.itInternetInternethomehomepagepage










DrimmelDrimmelNameName

RonaldRonaldFirst name(s)First name(s)


INAF - Osservatorio Astronomico di TorinoINAF - Osservatorio Astronomico di Torino


Via Osservatorio, 20Via Osservatorio, 20Street Name and NrStreet Name and Nr

Pino TorinesePino TorineseTownTown CountryCountry

+39 011 8101926+39 011 8101926Phone1Phone1 Phone2Phone2 +39 011 8101930+39 011 8101930FaxFax

[email protected]@to.astro.ite-maile-mail







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Leiden UniversityLeiden UniversityParticipant organisationParticipant organisation


LEIDLEIDOrg. short nameOrg. short name

95009500POPO BoxPO Box 2300 RA2300 RAPostal CodePostal Code CedexCedexLegal addr.Legal addr.

Rapenburg 70Rapenburg 70Street Name and NrStreet Name and Nr


http://www.leidenuniv.nlhttp://www.leidenuniv.nlInternetInternethomehomepagepage









DrDrTitleTitle MaleMaleSexSexScientist in chargeScientist in charge

BrownBrownNameName

Anthony George AlexanderAnthony George AlexanderFirst name(s)First name(s)


Leiden ObservatoryLeiden Observatory

95139513POPO BoxPO Box 2300 RA2300 RAPostal CodePostal Code CedexCedex Address Address(if different)(if different)

Niels Bohrweg 2Niels Bohrweg 2Street Name and NrStreet Name and Nr


+31 71 5275884+31 71 5275884Phone1Phone1 +31 71 5275737+31 71 5275737Phone2Phone2 +31 71 5275819+31 71 5275819FaxFax

[email protected]@strw.leidenuniv.nle-maile-mail

http://www.strw.leidenuniv.nlhttp://www.strw.leidenuniv.nlInternetInternethomehomepagepage






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Univerza v Ljubljani, Fakulteta za matematiko in fiziko(University of Ljubljana, Faculty for Mathematics and Physics)Univerza v Ljubljani, Fakulteta za matematiko in fiziko(University of Ljubljana, Faculty for Mathematics and Physics)

Participant organisationParticipant organisation


LJUBLJUBOrg. short nameOrg. short name


Jadranska 19Jadranska 19Street Name and NrStreet Name and Nr

LjubljanaLjubljanaTownTown SloveniaSloveniaCountryCountry

www.fmf.uni-lj.siwww.fmf.uni-lj.siInternetInternethomehomepagepage




Slovenia: SlovenijaSlovenia: SlovenijaName of Less-Favoured Region if applicableName of Less-Favoured Region if applicable





Prof.Prof.TitleTitle MaleMaleSexSexScientist in chargeScientist in charge

ZWITTERZWITTERNameName

TomazTomazFirst name(s)First name(s)


University of Ljubljana, Faculty of mathematics and PhysicsUniversity of Ljubljana, Faculty of mathematics and Physics


Jadranska 19Jadranska 19Street Name and NrStreet Name and Nr

LjubljanaLjubljanaTownTown SloveniaSloveniaCountryCountry

+386 1 4766544+386 1 4766544Phone1Phone1 Phone2Phone2 +386 1 2517 281+386 1 2517 281FaxFax

[email protected]@fmf.uni-lj.sie-maile-mail

www.fiz.uni-lj.si/astrowww.fiz.uni-lj.si/astroInternetInternethomehomepagepage






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Observatoire de la Côte d'AzurObservatoire de la Côte d'AzurParticipant organisationParticipant organisation


NICENICEOrg. short nameOrg. short name

42294229POPO BoxPO Box 0630406304Postal CodePostal Code 44CedexCedexLegal addr.Legal addr.

Le Mont GrosLe Mont GrosStreet Name and NrStreet Name and Nr

NICENICETownTown FranceFranceCountryCountry

www.obs-nice.frwww.obs-nice.frInternetInternethomehomepagepage










MIGNARDMIGNARDNameName

FrancoisFrancoisFirst name(s)First name(s)


Observatoire de la Côte d'AzurObservatoire de la Côte d'Azur

42294229POPO BoxPO Box 0630406304Postal CodePostal Code 44CedexCedex Address Address(if different)(if different)

Le Mont GrosLe Mont GrosStreet Name and NrStreet Name and Nr

NICENICETownTown FranceFranceCountryCountry

+33 492 003 147+33 492 003 147Phone1Phone1 Phone2Phone2 +33 492 003 333+33 492 003 333FaxFax

[email protected]@obs-nice.fre-maile-mail

http://www.obs-nice.fr/mignardhttp://www.obs-nice.fr/mignardInternetInternethomehomepagepage






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Observatoire de ParisObservatoire de ParisParticipant organisationParticipant organisation


PARIPARIOrg. short nameOrg. short name

POPO BoxPO Box 75 01475 014Postal CodePostal Code CedexCedexLegal addr.Legal addr.

61, avenue de l'Observatoire61, avenue de l'ObservatoireStreet Name and NrStreet Name and Nr

PARISPARISTownTown FranceFranceCountryCountry

http://www.obspm.frhttp://www.obspm.frInternetInternethomehomepagepage









DrDrTitleTitle FemaleFemaleSexSexScientist in chargeScientist in charge

TuronTuronNameName

CatherineCatherineFirst name(s)First name(s)


Département Galaxies-Etoiles-Physique-Instrumentation (GEPI)Département Galaxies-Etoiles-Physique-Instrumentation (GEPI)

POPO BoxPO Box 9219592195Postal CodePostal Code cedexcedexCedexCedex Address Address(if different)(if different)

Observatoire de Paris, Section de Meudon5, Place Jules JanssenObservatoire de Paris, Section de Meudon5, Place Jules Janssen

Street Name and NrStreet Name and Nr

MEUDONMEUDONTownTown FranceFranceCountryCountry

+33-1 45 07 78 37+33-1 45 07 78 37Phone1Phone1 Phone2Phone2 +33-1 45 07 78 78+33-1 45 07 78 78FaxFax

[email protected]@obspm.fre-maile-mail







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Requested Fellows

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IMPORTANT NOTE: For OUTLINE proposals of the RTN call "FP6-2005-Mobility-1", onlyIMPORTANT NOTE: For OUTLINE proposals of the RTN call "FP6-2005-Mobility-1", only

the overall annual person-months for each category of researcher (ESR and ER) and for thethe overall annual person-months for each category of researcher (ESR and ER) and for the

whole network must be indicated. This must be done by using the first row of this Form (A4) forwhole network must be indicated. This must be done by using the first row of this Form (A4) for

Participant No 1 (i.e., the Coordinator). All the data fields of the rows for the other ParticipantsParticipant No 1 (i.e., the Coordinator). All the data fields of the rows for the other Participants

should be filled with the value: O (zero)should be filled with the value: O (zero)

Please ensure these overall numbers correspond to the overall numbers in Part B.Please ensure these overall numbers correspond to the overall numbers in Part B.

000000000000Proposal NumberProposal Number ELSAELSAProposal AcronymProposal Acronym

Early-Stage Researcher TrainingEarly-Stage Researcher Training Experienced Researcher TrainingExperienced Researcher Training(Person Months)(Person Months) (Person Months)(Person Months)

Part NoPart No Year 1Year 1 Year 2Year 2 Year 3Year 3 Year 4Year 4 TotalTotal Year 1Year 1 Year 2Year 2 Year 3Year 3 Year 4Year 4 TotalTotal

11 5454 108108 108108 5454 324324 00 3030 6060 3030 120120

22 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00

33 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00

44 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00

55 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00

66 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00

77 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00

88 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00

99 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00

1010 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00

1111 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00

1212 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00

1313 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00

1414 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00

5454 108108 108108 5454 324324 00 3030 6060 3030 120120TotalTotal

ELSA

Page 1 of 13

STARTPAGE

HUMAN RESOURCES AND MOBILITY (HRM) ACTIVITY

MARIE CURIE ACTIONS Marie Curie Research Training Networks

(RTN)

Call: FP6-2005-Mobility-1

PART B

STAGE 1 – OUTLINE PROPOSAL

ELSA

ELSA

Page 2 of 13

Table of Contents for the Outline Proposal

European Leadership in Space Astrometry – ELSA 1. Scientific Quality of the Project................................................................................................3

1.1 Research topic: Deciphering the Galaxy by space astrometry.............................................3 1.2 Project objectives .................................................................................................................4 1.3 Research method..................................................................................................................6 1.4 Originality of the project......................................................................................................7

2. Quality of the Training and Transfer of Knowledge (ToK) Activities .................................8

2.1 Content of the Training and ToK programme .....................................................................8 2.2 Quality of the Training and ToK programme ......................................................................9 2.3 Specification of Training and ToK provided .....................................................................10 2.4 Impact of programme at the European level......................................................................11

List of Partners No. Organization (short name, legal name) Country Scientist in Charge

1 LUND Lund University SE Lennart Lindegren

2 ATHE National and Kapodistrian University of Athens GR Mary Kontizas

3 BARC University of Barcelona ES Jordi Torra

4 BRUX Université Libre de Bruxelles BE Dimitri Pourbaix

5 CAMB University of Cambridge UK Floor van Leeuwen

6 DS Dutch Space BV NL Ruud Grim

7 GENE University of Geneva CH Laurent Eyer

8 HEID University of Heidelberg DE Ulrich Bastian

9 HELS University of Helsinki FI Mikko Kaasalainen

10 INAF Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica (the observatories at Torino and Asiago) IT Ronald Drimmel

11 LEID Leiden University (associate: Delft University of Technology) NL Anthony Brown

12 LJUB University of Ljubljana SI Tomaz Zwitter

13 NICE Observatoire de la Côte d'Azur, Nice FR François Mignard

14 PARI Observatoire de Paris FR Catherine Turon

ELSA

Page 3 of 13

European Leadership in Space Astrometry – ELSA This Research Training Network brings together world-leading expertise in space astrometry – the use of space platforms for mapping the three-dimensional structure of our Galaxy – with specialists on numerical algorithms and software engineering for the double purpose of (1) preparing for the scientific exploitation of data from the European Space Agency’s astrometric mission Gaia, scheduled for launch in 2011, and (2) training the next generation of researchers in this uniquely European specialty to maintain and extend European leadership in space astrometry.

1. Scientific Quality of the Project

1.1 Research topic: Deciphering the Galaxy by space astrometry The primary goal of this research training project is to develop new theoretical understanding and practical analysis tools for realizing the full scientific potential of the Gaia space astrometry mission, while fostering the development of a new generation of young European researchers in this exciting Science and Technology (S&T) area. Understanding the formation and evolution of galaxies is a central topic in modern astrophysics. Observation of very distant galaxies allows us to probe the times when these systems were formed, but it is only our own Galaxy that provides a fossil record detailed enough to unravel its complete formation history. Current cosmological models envisage the formation of large galaxies through the merging of smaller structures. Deciphering the assembly history of our Galaxy requires a detailed mapping of the structure, dynamics, chemical composition, and age distribution of its stellar populations. Ideally one would like to “tag” individual stars to each of the progenitor building blocks. The Gaia mission, fully funded by the European Space Agency (ESA) and scheduled for launch in 2011, will provide the required data in the form of distances (parallaxes), space velocities (proper motions and radial velocities) and astrophysical characterization (through multi-band photometry) for more than one billion stars throughout most of the Galaxy.

The use of space platforms to measure extremely accurate stellar positions, parallaxes and proper motions is called space astrometry. It was pioneered by the ESA mission Hipparcos, carried out in 1989–1993. Its resounding success inspired national efforts in USA, Russia, Germany, and Japan to expand even further the reach of astrometric surveys from space, but through its very leadership in this extremely difficult S&T area, only the European programme has survived in the form of the Gaia mission. Gaia’s unique capability is to make astrometric measurements for millions of stars at accuracies down to 7 microarcseconds: this cannot be achieved by any other existing or planned instrument on ground or in space. The scientific data from Gaia represent a unique opportunity to address fundamental issues in current astrophysics and it is vital for our leadership in space astrometry that Europe is well prepared to undertake the exciting challenges involved. A stereoscopic census of the sky: Gaia will survey the stellar content of the Galaxy by pinpointing the three-dimensional locations of stars to 20th magnitude, using direct (trigonometric) distance measurement. Compared with Hipparcos, Gaia improves parallax and proper-motion accuracy almost a 100 times, the number of stars observed 10,000 times, and adds the measurement of radial velocities and multi-colour photometry. It will survey a vast population of asteroids (including several thousand near-Earth objects) and extragalactic objects (half a million quasars and thousands of supernovae). The resulting database will be indispensable for astrophysical research 15–20 years hence. We outline the impact on a few key research areas. It is very likely that Gaia will unlock entirely new topics for research and answer questions that have not yet been thought of.

Exoplanets: Currently more than 160 exoplanets have been detected, nearly all of them from the radial-velocity variations induced in their parent stars. The spectroscopic method is however limited by the number and types of stars that can be surveyed and its bias to short orbital period

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companions. Gaia will survey literally millions of nearby stars for planetary companions, using the astrometric variation of stellar position. The astrometric method is applicable to all spectral types, allows unambiguous determination of orbital inclinations and planetary masses, and is more sensitive to longer periods (up to 5–10 years). Gaia’s singular contribution to exoplanet research is its capability to find thousands of new planets thereby increasing the statistical knowledge in a way that no other space mission or ground based programme can achieve. It will provide invaluable input for missions such as Darwin/TPF that will look for life on nearby planets in the next decade.

Stellar astrophysics: The study of stellar structure and evolution provides fundamental information on the properties of matter under extreme physical conditions as well as on the evolution of galaxies and on cosmology. Gaia will provide accurate distances to massive numbers of stars (e.g., 8 million better than 1%, 60 million better than 5%), which combined with photometric and other data give luminosities, surface temperatures, abundances, masses and ages for very many stars. Effects that will be probed include the size and properties of convective stellar interiors (in combination with astroseismic data) and the diffusion of chemical elements in radiative zones. The availability of high-precision fundamental data for large stellar samples, also for rare objects and rapid evolutionary phases, will greatly advance the theoretical modelling of stellar interiors. Multi-epoch, multi-colour photometry of all stars brighter than 20 mag, will provide a description of stellar stability and variability across the HR diagram. Gaia will have a major impact on our knowledge of the distance scale in the Universe by providing accurate distances and physical parameters for primary distance indicators in the Milky Way and nearby Local Group galaxies.

Galactic structure and evolution: Stellar distributions in position and velocity are constrained by gravitational forces and the time- and position-dependent star formation rate, and therefore provide information about these variables. The initial distributions are modified by small- and large-scale dynamical processes, including instabilities that transport angular momentum (e.g., bars and warps) and mergers with other galaxies. At present these distributions are very incompletely known and detailed data are only available for the immediate vicinity of the Sun. Understanding the Galaxy as a whole requires the observation of large, unbiased stellar samples over a substantial fraction of its volume. Gaia’s comprehensive astrometric, photometric and spectroscopic survey is the ideal approach to achieve this. It will quantify the distributions and motions of stars in the bulge, the spiral arms, the disc, and the halo, and thereby revolutionize dynamical studies of our Galaxy.

General Relativity: At an accuracy level of a few microarcseconds, relativistic effects can no longer be considered as small corrections to a Newtonian model and General Relativity becomes a fundamental part of the mathematical framework for the data processing. Conversely, it is one of the exciting goals of the mission to be able to test General Relativity by means of the light deflection caused by bodies in the Solar System. For example, the deflection at right angles from the Sun is about 4000 microarcsec while for a ray grazing Jupiter it is 16000 microarcsec. Combining millions of measurements will map these effects to unprecedented accuracy. For the first time it will also be possible to measure more subtle effects such as the quadrupole moment of Jupiter, which according to General Relativity gives an amplitude of 240 microarcseconds.

1.2 Project objectives The launch of Gaia by the ESA in 2011 creates a unique opportunity for the scientific community to advance our understanding of the local Universe through analysis of its data. While ESA assumes full technical and financial responsibility for building, launching and operating the Gaia satellite, all scientific preparations for the project, including the development and execution of the data analysis, will be the responsibility of the scientific community supported by other funding entities.

The full data analysis problem for Gaia is extraordinarily complex, and cannot be solved within the scope of a Research Training Network. Indeed, this will be the task of a dedicated Gaia Data Analysis Consortium to be set up in 2006, in which the present participants are expected to play key

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roles. On the other hand, this development does not have to start from scratch, since all participants already have considerable experience in the area. To be consistent with the size and lifetime of an RTN, the following specific S&T and training objectives are thus defined for the present project:

1. To elucidate the principles of absolute astrometry and ancillary measurements (photometric and spectroscopic) from a continuously rotating space platform like Gaia. Experience with the scientific exploitation of Hipparcos data and prototype studies of the Gaia data processing show that a deeper theoretical understanding of these principles may allow to characterize and eliminate possible systematic errors in the final Gaia catalogue. This is very important for the scientific success of the mission. The challenge is to quantify the limitations due to instrument calibrations and satellite attitude determination, and hence their effects on the science data.

2. To obtain a detailed understanding of the physical output signal from Gaia, in view of the many different astronomical, instrumental and environmental factors influencing the data. The photons from light sources on the sky seen by Gaia will be detected by CCDs operated in time-delayed integration (TDI) mode, i.e., the photo-electrons are carried along with the motions of the star images on the focal plane. It is important to understand precisely what the astrometric content of this signal is in relation to various instrumental effects. A particular complication is the charge transfer inefficiency (CTI) of the CCDs: Gaia is exposed to the damaging effects of charged solar wind particles causing detector characteristics to change over time. The accumulated CTI will become stronger during the mission, and must be modelled to high accuracy for correct processing of the data. The challenge is to develop a sufficiently complete understanding of the TDI signal, its astrometric meaning, and the evolving CTI effects, through a combination of experimental results and physical modelling.

3. To obtain a detailed understanding of the numerical behaviour of the very large systems of unknowns (model parameter), that characterize the Gaia data analysis problem, in terms of stability, convergence, error propagation and computational efficiency. The core of the Gaia data processing problem will consist of iteratively estimating the astrometric, photometric and spectroscopic parameters for a subset of approximately 100 million stars out of the billion sources observed by Gaia. Simultaneously, the spacecraft attitude and numerous calibration parameters for the instrument and detectors will be accurately estimated. This implies the numerical solution of a system of several hundreds of millions of equations, considered feasible only by iterative solution methods (the “Global Iterative Solution”, GIS). It is of paramount importance that the solution is very robust and computationally efficient, as it must be run in quasi-real time during the mission, and since it must cope with a significant fraction of observations that do not fit the standard models because of stellar duplicity, variability, and other perturbations. The behaviour of such a large, weakly non-linear system in the present context is largely unknown. The challenge is to clearly identify the factors that determine the stability and convergence of the solution on one hand, and those that limit computational efficiency on the other, and hence to find the best compromise for the full-scale problem.

4. To bring together space astrometry with advanced methods in data processing, data manage-ment, and system architecture in a viable concept for the Gaia data processing system. The data collected by Gaia will comprise a few thousand raw observations (CCD images) for each of the 1 billion detected sources, leading to a total of a few 1012 observations. These are highly intertwined in both space and time, making the problem of data management very complex. The data volumes are high (approaching a petabyte) and data need to be accessed in different ways (spatial, temporal, sequential, etc) depending on the task at hand. From the raw data a large number of derived products are extracted (image centroids, fluxes, variability indicators, etc) that have to be stored and efficiently made accessible throughout the mission. Ultimately all data are combined into a single astrometric, photometric and spectroscopic database. The challenge is to develop the most appropriate data storage, data management and data processing concepts and identify the hardware platforms on which these are best implemented.

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5. To contribute to the Gaia data processing system. The synthesis of the results of objectives 1 through 4 represents fundamentally new knowledge that will be contributed to the efforts of the Gaia Data Analysis Consortium, which is expected to be in place by mid-2006 and which will focus on the actual implementation of the Gaia data processing system. The efforts of the proposed RTN will be highly complementary in that the network can spend much more time on exploring new concepts for the data processing.

6. To train the next generation of researchers in this area. Presently the expertise in Europe to design, plan and run a space astrometry mission lies almost entirely with the generation of astronomers and engineers that were involved in the Hipparcos mission during the 1980s and 1990s. A number of them have retired and most of the others will do so in the next 10–15 years. The required expertise is not routinely taught at astronomical and technical institutes in Europe and our goal is thus to fill this gap. The challenge will be to transfer a detailed understanding of the principles of space astrometry, the corresponding data reduction methods, and the correct use of astrometric information in astrophysical research.

Each of the S&T objectives corresponds to a work package that requires the collaboration of several participants and which will result in published scientific papers. Objectives 1 through 4 focus on the conceptual, physical, numerical and software engineering aspects of space astrometry, respectively, and their successful completion will constitute a breakthrough in our understanding of fundamental issues of space astrometry techniques. The fifth implies a synthesis of all these aspects, forming an essential contribution towards the Gaia data processing system. The overall training objective (item 6) is targeted by the collective training and transfer of knowledge activities described in Section 2.

The S&T objectives are challenging due to a combination of several factors: the extreme demands of Gaia in terms of modelling accuracy, data volumes, and processing power; the complex intertwining of observations and self-calibrating aspects of the mission; and the need to adapt and apply state-of-the-art methods e.g. from numerical analysis and software engineering in a new and rapidly developing field of science. All of the objectives include an element of risk due to factors that are initially unknown or beyond our control. For example, the amount and level of complexity of the software to be developed for objectives 1, 3 and 4 cannot at present be reliably estimated. Similarly, objective 2 requires very precise modelling of the macroscopic effects of physical processes in the CCDs that are not yet fully understood, and the details of which may remain obscure at the end of this project. The contribution of IT experts, physical scientists and engineers from both industry and academia will be crucial. In the end, the past experience of the teams, the complementarity of their expertise, and the strong motivation generated by their firm commitment to the Gaia project as a whole provide the best guarantee for a successful outcome.

1.3 Research method The S&T objectives of the project can only be achieved on a European level, since no single institute has a sufficiently broad range of expertise. Through several of the network nodes we have ready access to methodological expertise in non-astronomical fields that are vital for this project, such as system engineering and large systems of equations (Delft TU), inverse problems (HELS), and parallel/distributed computing (see below). Some key methodologies are outlined below.

Adapting existing methods to the Gaia problem: One important methodology is to identify, for different elements of the Gaia data modelling and analysis problem, the appropriate tools from classical astronomy, statistics, numerical analysis, physical modelling, and software engineering. The next step is to adapt the tools to the present problem, and in many cases provide further original development of them. For example, stochastic modelling can describe both the raw CCD signal, the dynamical behaviour of the satellite, and the light curves of variable stars. What are the appropriate models in each case, which common toolboxes are available, how can they be adapted to the present problems, and how can the relevant methods be integrated into the data analysis system?

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Use of parallel and distributed processing, including the GRID: Certain core Gaia data processing tasks require efficient access to very large data volumes and are therefore best suited for centralized processing. These tasks may benefit from the massive parallel computing power accessible e.g. at the Barcelona Supercomputer Centre (BSC, recently ranked number 1 in Europe on the TOP500 list). “Grid computing” is another approach to high-performance computing, employing large-scale integration of geographically distributed computing resources through a network of server nodes. This approach is suitable for computational problems that can be broken down into tasks that can be executed in parallel with minimal data input and output. Many (but not all) tasks within the Gaia data analysis problem are of this kind. Learning and employing the Grid will be essential for efficient application of several computing tools used in the research project and a strongly integrating factor in the network. The DutchSpace (DS) company has a key role through its development of the novel Grid framework GREASE (Grid Aware End-to-end Analysis and Simulation Environment). The network's association with the GRID and BSC will allow these processing paradigms to be tested on a realistic, large and complex data analysis problem. This experience can be transferred to other projects within the Community.

Making and using simulations: The problems addressed in the research project are nearly always too complex to be handled by analytical methods. The use of computer simulations is therefore a primary tool for studying the behaviour of Gaia at component, subsystem and system level, as well as its response to the space environment and the Universe it will observe. Simulations also provide input for testing and optimizing algorithms and software units. Designing and implementing simulation packages is, moreover, an excellent way to develop a deeper understanding of the physical processes that have to be modelled and to integrate expert knowledge from different fields.

Learning from real data: Since Gaia will be launched in 2011, the actual data to be analyzed will not be available during the present research project. Raw and processed data from many other instruments are however freely available, and can be used to compare with simulations and validate software elements on real data. These include the data archives from Hipparcos and Hubble Space Telescope as well as ground-based facilities, and test runs from laboratory set-ups of CCD devices. The analysis of real data, with all their complexities and imperfections, helps to construct more realistic simulation models, robust processing algorithms and generalized application software.

1.4 Originality of the project The proposed network is closely linked to Gaia, which is an approved major mission within the Science Programme of the European Space Agency. The network’s activities cover a period of intense scientific preparations for the mission, in particular the starting up of a Gaia Data Analysis Consortium and the subsequent design and development of a Gaia data processing system. While some of the network activities will directly be part of this effort, the overall aim is to prepare young scientists for their roles as researchers within this and other front-rank programmes, as well as to be the leaders and initiators of future projects. The research programme set up in close association with the Gaia preparations provides a unique framework for such training. The originality and timeliness of the proposed research and training programme derive in large part from the singular qualities of Gaia as a mission, and of the concerted effort of European scientists towards its realization.

Parallax and proper motion data from Hipparcos, at an accuracy level around 1 milliarcsec, have revolutionized the study of the solar neighbourhood out to a distance of a few 100 pc. The expected accuracy of Gaia is 7 microarcsec for bright stars (< 10 mag), 20 microarcsec at 15th magnitude and 250 microarcsec at 20th magnitude. This gain in accuracy will expand enormously the volume of space as well as the numbers and types of objects and phenomena that can be probed. The only other approved space mission aiming at similar astrometric accuracies is NASA’s SIM PlanetQuest, also scheduled for launch in 2011. SIM will observe several thousand carefully chosen targets to very high accuracy. With its sharp focus on detecting Earth-size exoplanets around nearby stars, SIM may outperform Gaia on these pre-selected targets. By contrast, Gaia will have no pre-defined

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target list at all, but will observe all 109 point-like sources down to 20th magnitude. This massive survey, including multi-band photometry and radial velocities obtained with auxiliary instruments, makes Gaia exceptional in terms of its accuracy and the amount and diversity of data obtained.

The management, processing and interpretation of the data generated by Gaia are extremely challenging aspects of the mission. The success of this, the largest single computational task undertaken in all astronomy, will depend on a highly proactive collaboration between specialists in a variety of areas including astrometry, software engineering, numerical analysis and physical instrument modelling. The proposed research and training project is aimed exactly at developing European capacities in this key intersection of specialities.

2. Quality of the Training and Transfer of Knowledge (ToK) Activities The objectives of the training and ToK activities are: (1) to train 14 young researchers (ESR and ER) in the specific areas needed to carry out research within current and future space astrometry projects; (2) to provide transfer of knowledge between different areas of S&T expertise represented by the participating teams, in particular between astronomy and software engineering; and (3) to enhance the career opportunities of young researchers by promoting their personal development, motivation and skills. The young researchers will be working in interdisciplinary and stimulating research environments including some of the best and most rapidly developing groups in Europe.

2.1 Content of the Training and ToK programme Astronomers have at all times been pioneers in developing and using new technologies and sophisticated techniques of data handling and processing. Moreover, this discipline, relatively free of ethical constraints and commercial restrictions, has had the opportunity to develop a culture of fast dissemination and interaction among the various institutes and researchers. In the European domain, coordinated actions among such institutes have therefore proved very fruitful.

The new era of observational astronomy, employing large and extremely productive observatories on ground and in space, requires some new key elements for the basic and specialist training of young researchers. These include the use of tools from numerical analysis and statistics, simula-tions, and software engineering. Their application in a front-line astronomical research project provides training useful in many disciplines other than astronomy, as well as outside academia.

The training of the young researchers is centred around PhD projects, which will be carefully chosen to complement each other within the scientific goals of the network. Joint courses, network schools and workshops organized at network level will provide an excellent education in specialized areas and will complement the local training. The most important part of the training comes from the sustained and detailed work within the specific work packages. This work will be done in close collaboration with the personal supervisor of the ESR, who is always a senior member of the team where the ESR is appointed, and with ESRs and ERs from at least one other participating institute providing complementary expertise. A programme of well planned secondments is foreseen to achieve the appropriate interaction and to offer the young people a more-rounded research training. Every ESR and ER is expected to spend some significant time at an institute in a different country. The leader of the primary appointment place is responsible for the progress of each ESR at all stages and, in collaboration with the local leader, during secondments. Short time stays of the ERs in other nodes than their appointment place provide additional contact building and dissemination of expertise. The ERs will also have individualized training programmes matched to their personal experience and career objectives.

Table 1 shows the proposed allocation of ESR and ER appointments, the approximate distribution of long-term (≥ 3 months) secondments of ESRs, and an indication of the involvement and previous training experience of each team. “Other researchers” do not include PhD students. The appointment of ERs at some institutes gives the project additional impetus through the added

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expertise (e.g., a software engineering expert complementing an existing team of astronomers) and through the ToK between senior researchers and the ERs. The ESRs and ERs are normally on different teams, which encourages networking and dissemination of results and practices. Table 1. Summary of the proposed distribution of ESRs and ERs, secondments (ESRs only), likely involvement of participating teams (over the 4 years), and their past training experience.

Team

ESRs financed by RTN (person months)

ERs financed by RTN (person months)

Long-term second-ments

(number of stays)

Other researchers contributing (number of individuals)

Other researchers contributing

(person months)

Number of PhDs

produced by the team

2000-2005 1 LUND 36 2 4 80 5 2 ATHE 36 8 90 3 3 BARC 36 2 7 130 4 4 BRUX 36 4 40 – 5 CAMB 6 4 50 20 6 DS 4 3 30 – 7 GENE 36 8 140 8 8 HEID 24 2 6 280 3 9 HELS 36 2 4 50 5

10 INAF 36 24 19 500 9 11 LEID 36 24 4 50 4 12 LJUB 24 2 5 60 4 13 NICE 36 8 140 3 14 PARI 24 2 12 140 7

Total 324 120 22 96 1780 75

2.2 Quality of the Training and ToK programme The combined experience of network participants in research and graduate education provides an excellent and well-balanced background for the training of ESRs and ERs and for the transfer of knowledge between individuals, disciplines and countries.

Experience in graduate education: All network participants except DutchSpace (DS) are university departments or research organisations strongly associated with graduate education. Thus each ESR will participate in the PhD programme at their host institute, in addition to the special training provided by the network. Each team responsible for an ESR has sufficient resources in terms of infrastructure and manpower to provide a stable research and training environment, and includes senior researchers with considerable tutoring experience and records of past PhD degrees (Table 1). In cases where the stipulated length of full-time graduate education exceeds three years (as for example in Sweden), appropriate funding for the remaining tenure will be secured locally.

Existing specialist training programmes: The participating institutes offer high-level training in specialist areas, which will be made available on a network basis. For example, 2-year post-master training courses at Paris Observatory include one-week sessions on data analysis processing and numerical simulations, as well as in various fields of astrophysics. Other subjects are covered, for example, at Heidelberg in the framework of the International Max Planck Research School.

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Training of complementary skills: Training of language skills locally and during secondments, and of scientific writing and presentation techniques as part of the normal graduate curriculum, will be supplemented by courses organized on a network basis. These may include project management (a specialty of DS), science communication, poster production, and the effective use of PowerPoint and LaTeX. Some programs that already exist at participating organizations are given in English and will be offered by the network in connection with workshops and schools.

Recruitment, supervision and career development plan: Recruitment of ESRs and ERs will be widely advertised on an international basis and with an emphasis on equal opportunity. Women researchers will be involved in the selection panels. Each ESR will be assigned a personal supervisor (professor or associate professor) from their host team. This supervisor will accompany the young researcher throughout the duration of the appointment, agree to a personal career development plan and, in consultation with the Network Steering Committee, the topic for the PhD thesis. Each ESR will have a co-supervisor from another participating institute. A high level of interaction with the co-supervisor will be ensured through the use of electronic communication, dedicated meetings and the network level activities, including secondments to the co-supervisor’s institute. All participants have adquate technical capabilities to host ESRs and ERs (office space, computer facilities, etc). Each ER will have a senior member of their research team as a local mentor, who will advise on and oversee their career development plan. The planning will ensure that the ESRs and ERs have ample opportunity to publish appropriately during their contracts.

Research record of participants: All participating teams have extensive research experience and are led by senior scientists with excellent research records, most of them full or associate professors, with publication lists that average well over 100 scientific publications, numerous invited reviews, monographs, etc. In nearly all cases, the research activities of the teams are at least partly financed through grants obtained from national research councils and space agencies. Several teams have experience in organizing large international colloquia and symposia, e.g. The Three-Dimensional Universe with Gaia (Paris-Meudon, 4–7 Oct. 2004, ca 210 participants), Gaia spectroscopy, science and technology (Gressoney St. Jean, 9–12 Sept. 2002, ca 70 participants), Wide Field Spectroscopy (Athens, 20–25 May 1997, ca 100 participants).

Involvement in Hipparcos and Gaia: Several participants were very actively involved in the ESA Hipparcos space astrometry project. C. Turon led the Hipparcos Input Catalogue Consortium 1982–94, L. Lindegren the Northern Data Analysis Consortium 1990–97. U. Bastian, L. Eyer, F. van Leeuwen, H. van der Marel (Delft Univ. of Technology) and F. Mignard occupied central positions for various data analysis tasks for Hipparcos and other team members have had a similar long association with this project. The Gaia project benefits from this experience: Four of the present team leaders are members of the ESA-appointed Gaia Science Team and nearly all are active members of various Gaia Working Groups. Several participants, lead by the Barcelona team, were strongly involved in the development of a Gaia data analysis prototype demonstrating the GIS concept. The DutchSpace company (DS) has a special status in the network through its expertise on Grid technology (see Section 1.4), software engineering, project management, and CCD calibration.

2.3 Specification of Training and ToK provided The training will consist of an individualized blend of local, intermediate and network-wide activities aiming both at basic, specialist and complementary skills, and including elements targeted to the transfer of knowledge between ERs and ESRs, and between ERs and senior researchers. The training provided by the network falls into the five topical areas shown in Table 2. It consists both of individual, one-to-one training at the host institutes and during secondments, and of a series of joint courses, workshops, and schools taking advantage of the broad range of expertise available within the network and promoting mobility and interaction among the researchers.

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Training on the network level is organized around a series of annual meetings that aim to gather all members of the participating teams around a few specific activities. Some of the meetings will be open to participants from outside the network. In addition to the (general) annual meetings, task meetings with more restricted attendance will be scheduled as required by the collaborative research projects; where appropriate these may however be held in connection with the annual meetings. A tentative plan for the annual meetings is given hereafter.

Beginning of Year 1: ELSA Kick-Off Meeting, to be held in Lund (Sweden). Since few or no recruitments have been made at this time, the meeting will be devoted to the introduction of teams and team members, discussion of objectives and deliverables, and detailed planning of activities.

End of Year 1: ELSA School on the Science of Gaia, to be held in Leiden (The Netherlands). At this time all ESRs and some ERs have been recruited. This school, which will be open for PhD students from outside the network, will review the research topics and research methods relevant for the network. Internationally high-ranking lecturers from outside the network will be invited. A special session will be organized on GRID computing.

End of Year 2: ELSA Workshop on Software Engineering and Numerics, to be held in Barcelona (Spain). The purpose of this workshop is to disseminate the accumulated knowledge of methods, conventions and practices gathered by the participants during the first two years. A course for ESRs on presentation techniques will be organized in connection with the workshop, and in parallel with this an administrative meeting including a mid-term review of the network progress.

End of Year 3: ELSA School on the Techniques of Gaia, to be held in Heidelberg (Germany). This school will be strongly focused on Gaia specific issues such as the Global Iterative Solution, instrument calibration, the properties of CCD detectors, and data management solutions for Gaia. A special session on Inverse Problems in Astronomy will be organized as part of the meeting.

End of Year 4: ELSA Conference on the Simulation and Analysis of Space Astrometry Data, to be held in Paris (France). This conference will present the results of the network to the community and review the state of the art in an international context. Contributions from related international projects (SIM PlanetQuest, etc) will be invited. The closing conference will also be the time to review the success of the network in relation to its objectives, assess the career opportunities of the ESRs and ERs, and identify the roles of the participants in possible future collaborations.

2.4 Impact of programme at the European level Space astrometry offers a brilliant illustration of what Europe can achieve when the cooperation between countries is effective and productive. In 1980, ESA took the initiative to include the first-ever conceived astrometric satellite, Hipparcos, in its Science Programme. The impact of that mission was so immediate and impressive – as of July 2005, more than 3300 papers using Hipparcos data have been published – that the vastly more ambitious Gaia mission, proposed as early as 1993 (by Lindegren, Perryman, et al.), was selected in October 2000 as one of the future Cornerstone Missions of the ESA Science Programme.

This RTN aims at reinforcing the cooperation between European scientists and engineers and transmit the expertise acquired in the specialist field of space astrometry to the young generation. This is particularly important in the present demographic context when many of the scientists and engineers who made Hipparcos a success will be retiring. This RTN will provide the impetus to instigate new exchanges of expertise between institutes involved in Gaia, provide a unique framework to exploit the particular and complementary expertise of each participating institute, attract promising young students to an innovative field of activities, and provide excellent training in the context of a high-ranking scientific project. The network would have a long-term impact on a wider scientific community through its specialist training and the lasting contribution to the Gaia data processing system, thus further strengthening the European leadership in this area.

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Table 2. Summary of training activities within the network. “Local training” applies to all sites. “Courses” are network-wide but do not require all participants to meet (in contrast to “Schools”). Topical area

Content (examples) LU

ND

A

THE

BA

RC

B

RU

X

CA

MB

D

S G

ENE

HEI

D

HEL

S IN

AF

LEID

LJ

UB

N

ICE

PAR

I

Targeted trainees

Method of training

Basic astronomy

+ + Non- astronomers Courses

Astrometry, general rela-tivity, celestial mechanics

+ + + + + + + All Courses, School

Science with Gaia

Gaia science topics

+ + + + + + ESR, ER School

Programming + + + + Astronomers Local training, Workshop Software

engineering Data management

+ + + + All Workshop

Probability, statistics, signal & noise

+ + + + + + ESR, ER Courses, Workshop

Classification, variability, accuracy analysis

+ + + + + + + + All Workshop Numerical analysis and statistics Large systems

of equations, inverse problems

+ + + + + + + ESR School

Satellite dynamics

+ + All Workshop

CCD detectors, instrument calibration, RV technique

+ + + + + + + ESR School Gaia specific topics

Simulations + + + + + + + + All Workshop

Project management

+ + All Courses

Language training + + + + + + + + + + + + + + All Local

training Comple- mentary skills

Presentation technique, scientific writing, proposal preparation

+ + + + ESR Local training, Workshop

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ENDPAGE

HUMAN RESOURCES AND MOBILITY (HRM) ACTIVITY

MARIE CURIE ACTIONS Marie Curie Research Training Networks

(RTN)

Call: FP6-2005-Mobility-1

PART B

STAGE 1 – OUTLINE PROPOSAL

ELSA

proposal submission form reseach training networks marie ... · development and...

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