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The world’s biggest telescope is ready. The problem: staffing it
- athenot 8y ago> Astronomers interested in joining the team should speak fluent English and expect to work in the remote location on a long-term basis, according to the job postings. The compensation package totals around $14,400 per year. > “It’s not surprising they have had difficulties hiring people, given the low pay compared with similar international institutes,” said a chemical physics researcher with the Chinese Academy of Sciences, who asked not to be identified. > They added that an additional problem was that they were looking for contract workers, not permanent staff. Seems like the issue is not that they can't staff it but rather aren't competitive with other institutes who attract the same talent.
- goodcanadian 8y agoThere is no shortage of unemployed academics (including radio astronomers). At that salary, located in rural China, they're not competitive with the local Walmart.
- lozaning 8y agoBased on the ads I see when traveling in asia it's not even that competitive with jobs teaching English to kids in a medium size Chinese city.
- JauntTrooper 8y agoCrazy. It’s not like they’re hurting for a budget either. > The project has also been searching for a chief scientist, with a pay package of $1.2 million, since late 2017. The post is open to qualified astronomers from any country
- sulam 8y agoWhy would people need to actually be on site? Isn't a lot of astronomy done remotely these days?
- sidkshatriya 8y agoThat’s true for the astronomers who will use the results of the telescopes. But there have to be engineers, technicians and physicists on-site to ensure that the telescope is working well and producing the data that can be used by astronomers downstream.
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- autocorr 8y agoThere's an interesting parallel to the start of radio astronomy in the United States. Immediately after World War II, the US largely ignored radio astronomy in the 40's and early 50's while the British, Dutch, and Australians turned their experience with radar to astronomy. The US in the early 50's now turned to make up lost time, and through the recently established National Science Foundation (NSF, est. 1950) created the National Radio Astronomy Observatory. The parallel is, that there were no people with the appropriate skills to create an observatory within the US, and they specifically hired one of the world's leading radio astronomers, the Australian Joseph Pawsey, to be the NRAO's first director. Tragically, he died of cancer shortly after beginning the job, but the NRAO went on to pioneer some of the most sensitive radio telescopes ever built, like the Very Large Array.
- rawoke083600 8y agodamnnn that pay is low !
- chrisbennet 8y ago”The project has also been searching for a chief scientist, with a pay package of $1.2 million, since late 2017. The post is open to qualified astronomers from any country but so far no results of the search have been announced.”
- swarnie_ 8y agoWhat's the motivation behind building a $180 million telescope then offering poverty wages to the researchers using it?