http://chrislintott.net/2007/11/16/uk-to-pull-out-of-gemini/ The Universe as seen from the perspective of an astronomical researcher, presenter and writer. Wed, 03 Dec 2008 07:52:38 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.2 http://chrislintott.net/2007/11/16/uk-to-pull-out-of-gemini/#comment-27008 Chris Lintott’s Universe » Death by a thousand cuts Tue, 11 Dec 2007 00:39:11 +0000 http://chrislintott.net/2007/11/16/uk-to-pull-out-of-gemini/#comment-27008 [...] Today, Tuesday, is not going to be a good day for astronomers in the UK unless I’m very much mistaken. Particularly for post-docs whose contracts run out in the near future (like me). We already know that we’re going to lose access to the Gemini Observatory. But the real picture is almost certainly much worse than that. Andy is reporting informal discussions of cuts at the 25-40% level. As the Royal Astronomical Society point out, what’s worse is that these cuts are being made ‘with no briefing or consultation of the community during the decision making process’. [...] [...] Today, Tuesday, is not going to be a good day for astronomers in the UK unless I’m very much mistaken. Particularly for post-docs whose contracts run out in the near future (like me). We already know that we’re going to lose access to the Gemini Observatory. But the real picture is almost certainly much worse than that. Andy is reporting informal discussions of cuts at the 25-40% level. As the Royal Astronomical Society point out, what’s worse is that these cuts are being made ‘with no briefing or consultation of the community during the decision making process’. [...]

]]> http://chrislintott.net/2007/11/16/uk-to-pull-out-of-gemini/#comment-23939 Chris Lintott’s Universe » More on Gemini Sun, 18 Nov 2007 21:37:15 +0000 http://chrislintott.net/2007/11/16/uk-to-pull-out-of-gemini/#comment-23939 [...] Andy has an interesting take on the Gemini crisis. It’s essentially a salient reminder that it’s the government and not the STFC that’s responsible for the loss of funding. That’s true, but the thing that scares me about the Gemini decision is that the apparent lack of consultation. Instead of asking the astronomical community to save £4 million, they’re just planning to shut of access to one of our major facilities. That isn’t how these decisions are supposed to be made. [...] [...] Andy has an interesting take on the Gemini crisis. It’s essentially a salient reminder that it’s the government and not the STFC that’s responsible for the loss of funding. That’s true, but the thing that scares me about the Gemini decision is that the apparent lack of consultation. Instead of asking the astronomical community to save £4 million, they’re just planning to shut of access to one of our major facilities. That isn’t how these decisions are supposed to be made. [...]

]]> http://chrislintott.net/2007/11/16/uk-to-pull-out-of-gemini/#comment-23934 Gemini withdrawal : worse to come ? « The e-Astronomer Sun, 18 Nov 2007 20:38:53 +0000 http://chrislintott.net/2007/11/16/uk-to-pull-out-of-gemini/#comment-23934 [...] You can read the reaction of the Royal Astronomical Society here, a couple of UK Astronomy blog reactions here and here, and a letter to the Guardian. [...] [...] You can read the reaction of the Royal Astronomical Society here, a couple of UK Astronomy blog reactions here and here, and a letter to the Guardian. [...]

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