*** IAU Division D Bulletin N. 7: October 1st, 2015 ***

INDEX:

* IAU Division D President inaugural address
* New call for membership of the Athena working groups
* CTA North and South sites selection
* Institute for Universe Studies in Assam, India
* Living Reviews move to Springer
* Reports on recent meetings
* Upcoming Meetings


* IAU Division D President inaugural address


Dear Division D Members,

it is my pleasure to serve you as the next Division D President. I would like to thank our outgoing President Diana Worrall for her stewardship and friendship, and I promise to continue on her steps leading the Division. I am looking forward to the next three years. The election results brought together an excellent team to steer the Division - I will draw on their expertise and support, in particular on our Vice President, Elena Pian, and Secretary, Anna Watts. Please feel free to contact us with ideas, suggestions, or any issues you feel should be dealt with from the Division.

This newsletter is also an opportunity to introduce the Steering Committee in full:
The newly elected members and those serving their second term are:

o President: Chryssa Kouveliotou (GWU; ckouveliotou@gwu.edu)

o Vice-President: Elena Pian (INAF & SNS; elena.pian@sns.it)

o Secretary Anna Watts (UVA; A.L.Watts@uva.nl)

o 1st Term Members: Tadayasu Dotani (ISAS, dotani@astro.isas.jaxa.jp), Isabelle Grenier (CEA;isabelle.grenier@cea.fr), Anna Watts (UVA; A.L.Watts@uva.nl)

o 2nd Term Members: Xavier Barcons (IFCA; barcons@ifca.unican.es), John Kirk
(MPI; John.Kirk@mpi-hd.mpg.de), Anna Wolter (INAF; anna.wolter@brera.inaf.it)

o Ex-Officio Member: Neil Gehrels (NASA; Neil.Gehrels@nasa.gov)

o Advisor: Diana Worrall (U. Bristol; D.Worrall@bristol.ac.uk)

We are all committed to serve our members and welcome your opinions and input on how to improve the impact and effectiveness of our Division, in your research and within the IAU.

Chryssa Kouveliotou

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New call for membership of the Athena working groups

by Xavier Barcons

Approximately 1 year ago the Athena Science Study Team (ASST) issued a call for membership of the Athena Working Groups.
To ensure that all interested scientists have an opportunity to participate in the mission, we have recently re-opened the application process at the following web site:

http://fs6.formsite.com/ATHENA2028/form4/index.html

The Working Groups are divided into a number of sub-panels (Topical Panels) covering specific subject areas. Usually, we would expect applicants to choose membership of one such Topical Panel. In exceptional circumstances, you may request membership of two panels, but in this case we would ask that you provide a justification.

The deadline for applications is 31 December 2015. Applications will be assessed soon after this with the aim to appoint new members in February 2016.
Thanks for your support.
The Athena Science Study Team

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* CTA North and South sites selection

by Patrizia Caraveo

Paranal and La Palma Sites Chosen for Final Negotiations to Host World’s Largest Array of Gamma-Ray Telescopes. See relevant document at:

https://portal.cta-observatory.org/SiteAssets/Pages/News

[click on Paranal and La Palma Sites_07162015.pdf]

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* Institute for Universe Studies in Assam, India

by Hira Duorah

In June and July this year, the state government of North-East India Assam
has agreed to initiate a project for the creation of an Institute of the Universe Studies aimed at pursuing research in all branches of astronomy. I am delighted to have taken responsibility for leading this project, that is still largely ongoing.
Development of astronomical education in the whole of North-East India will bring the scope of the Institute beyond that of a regional coordinating center for astronomy.
Active support of this project from the IAU is highly desired and is expected
to make it shine brightly.

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* Living Reviews move to Springer

by Ramon Khanna

Springer has acquired the three pioneering ‘living’ open access journals: Living Reviews in Relativity, Living Reviews in Solar Physics, and the recently launched journal Living Reviews in Computational Astrophysics from the Max Planck Society: (http://www.livingreviews.org).

Press release at http://www.springer.com/us/about-springer/media/press-releases/corporate/springer-acquires-three-pioneering-open-access-journals-from-the-max-planck-society/677828.

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* Reports on recent meetings

Alpbach Summer School 2015 on Quantum Physics and Fundamental Physics in Space

by Martin Huber

I had the opportunity to attend this year's summer school both as a lecturer and as a jury member. I was impressed, first of all by the very high interest shown by potential participants: while in other years with more traditional themes, there were normally ca. 120 applications for the 60 places available, this year's theme elicited 159 applications, so that invitations could be sent to only about one out of three original applicants. This bodes well for the interest by young people in topics related to Division D.

I was impressed by the enthusiasm shown by the students in the workshops where, after a few introductory talks on the scientific background and basics of space engineering, the students selected mission topics and designed missions to investigate their chosen topics in four groups of 15 participants. Given the ten-day duration of the school, the participants were, of course, receiving guidance by experienced scientists and engineers, i.e. by an appropriate number of tutors.


Ecole Internationale d'Astrophysique Daniel Chalonge

by Norma Sanchez

A full report and highlights of the 19th PARIS COSMOLOGY COLLOQUIUM 2015 in honor of HECTOR DE VEGA held in Paris Observatory, historic Perrault building, 21-25 July 2015 can be found at the links:

http://chalonge.obspm.fr/
http://chalonge.obspm.fr/Medal_Chalonge2015.pdf

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* Upcoming Meetings

Cargese School 2016: Astrophysical Jets
May 23 – June 1, 2016
http://www.issibern.ch/cargese2016
Contact: cargese2016@gmail.com

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Ecole Internationale d'Astrophysique Daniel Chalonge
26-27 November 2015: Open Session: Conclusions of the Programme 2015,
Last News and Pre-view of the Programme of the Year 2016:
14-18 June 2016: The Chalonge de Vega Warm Dark Matter Meudon Workshop 2016 at the historical Meudon Castle of Observatoire de Paris at Meudon, France.
19-23 July 2016: The Chalonge de Vega 20th Paris Cosmology Colloquium 2016, at the historical Perrault building of Observatoire de Paris HQ, at Paris.

A URL for the 2016 program will be provided in the next Div D Bulletin (Jan
1st, 2016).

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Please consult the link:

http://www.cadc-ccda.hia-iha.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/

for a comprehensive list of future meetings, some of which are particularly relevant to Div D.

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As of January 1st, 2016, Anna Watts, who is the new Secretary of Div D Steering Committee, will take over from me as Bulletin Editor. She will issue a Call for Inputs for the next Bulletin in early November 2015. Please stay tuned and be prepared to send Anna those pieces of news that you would like to share with Div D.
With my best regards

Elena Pian
Vice-President of IAU Div D Steering Committee
Associate Astronomer - INAF-IASF Bologna & SNS, Pisa, Italy
elena.pian@sns.it
pian@iasfbo.inaf.it
www.iasfbo.inaf.it/~pian