UK Participation in the Pre-production Phase of the Cherenkov Telescope Array 2015-2017
Lead Research Organisation:
Durham University
Department Name: Physics
Abstract
Abstracts are not currently available in GtR for all funded research. This is normally because the abstract was not required at the time of proposal submission, but may be because it included sensitive information such as personal details.
Planned Impact
CTA will have an impact on a wide range of scientific questions, from the nature of gravity to how supernovae accelerate particles and how active galaxies work. In doing so, it will use new and innovative methodologies, combining techniques from both astronomy and particle physics. In the process, many highly-skilled researchers will be trained.
UK industry stands to gain both from knowledge transfer and by way of contracts for producing electronics, camera housings, mirrors and structural elements. Much of this work will be undertaken in areas of economic deprivation (e.g. North East England, North Wales) thereby contributing to regeneration and economic development. Initial development work will take place over the next 2 years, with contracts likely being placed in the following 2-3 years.
The atmosphere is an important element of our detectors, and our Monte Carlo simulations already use data from the British Atmospheric Data Centre. Wherever the telescopes are sited, it is likely to be in an area short of detailed weather data for input to climate models. CTA's weather data are therefore likely to be useful to atmospheric modellers.
The public awareness and understanding of science will be enhanced by CTA. Our scientific research covers topics of considerable interest to the public, including black holes, supernova explosions and dark matter. We have already had considerable engagement with the public through events such as Stargazing Live and the Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition, as well as giving many talks to local interest groups (Women's Institute, astronomical societies etc.) and schools. These activities will be continued and enhanced during the next few years as CTA matures as an observatory.
Early stage researchers will gain a wide range of skills from working on CTA, in areas such as programming, electronics, modelling of complex systems, image analysis etc. In addition, they will gain the 'soft skills' which come from working with people from a wide range of cultural backgrounds in the international CTA Consortium. These skills will fit them for non-academic professions. For example, recent Ph.D. graduates who have worked in CTA have already gone on to careers in teaching and software engineering and we expect many more skilled people to move into non-academic careers over the 30 year lifetime of CTA.
UK industry stands to gain both from knowledge transfer and by way of contracts for producing electronics, camera housings, mirrors and structural elements. Much of this work will be undertaken in areas of economic deprivation (e.g. North East England, North Wales) thereby contributing to regeneration and economic development. Initial development work will take place over the next 2 years, with contracts likely being placed in the following 2-3 years.
The atmosphere is an important element of our detectors, and our Monte Carlo simulations already use data from the British Atmospheric Data Centre. Wherever the telescopes are sited, it is likely to be in an area short of detailed weather data for input to climate models. CTA's weather data are therefore likely to be useful to atmospheric modellers.
The public awareness and understanding of science will be enhanced by CTA. Our scientific research covers topics of considerable interest to the public, including black holes, supernova explosions and dark matter. We have already had considerable engagement with the public through events such as Stargazing Live and the Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition, as well as giving many talks to local interest groups (Women's Institute, astronomical societies etc.) and schools. These activities will be continued and enhanced during the next few years as CTA matures as an observatory.
Early stage researchers will gain a wide range of skills from working on CTA, in areas such as programming, electronics, modelling of complex systems, image analysis etc. In addition, they will gain the 'soft skills' which come from working with people from a wide range of cultural backgrounds in the international CTA Consortium. These skills will fit them for non-academic professions. For example, recent Ph.D. graduates who have worked in CTA have already gone on to careers in teaching and software engineering and we expect many more skilled people to move into non-academic careers over the 30 year lifetime of CTA.
Publications
Abdalla H
(2021)
Sensitivity of the Cherenkov Telescope Array for probing cosmology and fundamental physics with gamma-ray propagation
in Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics
Acharya B
(2015)
The Cherenkov Telescope Array potential for the study of young supernova remnants
in Astroparticle Physics
Acharyya A
(2021)
Sensitivity of the Cherenkov Telescope Array to a dark matter signal from the Galactic centre
in Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics
Acharyya A
(2019)
Monte Carlo studies for the optimisation of the Cherenkov Telescope Array layout
in Astroparticle Physics
Albert A.
(2019)
Science Case for a Wide Field-of-View Very-High-Energy Gamma-Ray Observatory in the Southern Hemisphere
in arXiv e-prints
Armstrong T
(2017)
Fermi-LAT high-z active galactic nuclei and the extragalactic background light
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Armstrong T
(2017)
DBSCAN re-applied to Pass 8 Fermi-LAT data above 100 GeV
Brown A
(2018)
On the prospects of cross-calibrating the Cherenkov Telescope Array with an airborne calibration platform
in Astroparticle Physics
Brown A
(2017)
Discovery of a new extragalactic population of energetic particles
in Physical Review D
Brown A
(2018)
Understanding the ? -ray emission from the globular cluster 47 Tuc: Evidence for dark matter?
in Physical Review D
Dournaux J
(2017)
Operating performance of the gamma-ray Cherenkov telescope: An end-to-end Schwarzschild-Couder telescope prototype for the Cherenkov Telescope Array
in Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment
Rulten C
(2016)
Simulating the optical performance of a small-sized telescope with secondary optics for the Cherenkov Telescope Array
in Astroparticle Physics
Zorn J
(2018)
Characterisation and testing of CHEC-M-A camera prototype for the small-sized telescopes of the Cherenkov telescope array
in Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment
| Description | Calibration system devised for Cherenkov telescope cameras; science plan defined for CTA |
| Exploitation Route | High-speed LED flashers may be useful for other telescope systems. |
| Sectors | Other |
| Description | Work which we have embarked on to look at calibrating the entire CTA with our LED flashers (designed for the camera) is providing possibilities for applications in other areas, both within astronomy and outside (e.g. meteorology, agriculture). |
| First Year Of Impact | 2017 |
| Sector | Aerospace, Defence and Marine,Agriculture, Food and Drink,Environment |
| Impact Types | Societal |
| Description | UK participation in the pre-production phase of CTA - extension 2018-2019 |
| Amount | £242,685 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | ST/S00257X/1 |
| Organisation | Science and Technologies Facilities Council (STFC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 07/2018 |
| End | 12/2019 |
| Description | Hot-slumped Mirrors for CTA |
| Organisation | OpTIC Glyndwr Ltd |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | Expertise in Cherenkov telescope mirror requirements, simulations and testing. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Expertise in optical design & engineering and mirror coatings |
| Impact | Exploratory designs and coatings for Cherenkov telescope mirrors. Although in the end the telescope we designed with colleagues in Paris was not chosen for CTA, the partnership with TMF has resulted in a successful window for telescope cameras, around 30 of which will be purchased by overseas collaborators at a cost of £10k each. |
| Start Year | 2015 |
| Description | Hot-slumped Mirrors for CTA |
| Organisation | Thin Metal Fims Ltd |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | Expertise in Cherenkov telescope mirror requirements, simulations and testing. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Expertise in optical design & engineering and mirror coatings |
| Impact | Exploratory designs and coatings for Cherenkov telescope mirrors. Although in the end the telescope we designed with colleagues in Paris was not chosen for CTA, the partnership with TMF has resulted in a successful window for telescope cameras, around 30 of which will be purchased by overseas collaborators at a cost of £10k each. |
| Start Year | 2015 |
| Description | Southern Wide-field Gamma-ray Observatory |
| Organisation | University of Leicester |
| Department | Department of Physics & Astronomy |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Contributions at present to the science case |
| Collaborator Contribution | Contributions to the science case and preliminary design studies |
| Impact | Science case. The collaboration is not multi-disciplinary. It consists of 42 institutes from 11 countries, plus supporting scientists from 6 more countries. Many of the institutes do not appear in the list of institutes from the drop down list. Given the large number of institutes involved, I asked if there was a more appropriate way of adding them to this submission, but have not received a response from UKRI, to whom Researchfish passed my query. The full list may be found at:https://www.swgo.org/SWGOWiki/doku.php?id=collaboration; I have included only UK collaborators on this form. |
| Start Year | 2019 |
| Description | Southern Wide-field Gamma-ray Observatory |
| Organisation | University of Liverpool |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Contributions at present to the science case |
| Collaborator Contribution | Contributions to the science case and preliminary design studies |
| Impact | Science case. The collaboration is not multi-disciplinary. It consists of 42 institutes from 11 countries, plus supporting scientists from 6 more countries. Many of the institutes do not appear in the list of institutes from the drop down list. Given the large number of institutes involved, I asked if there was a more appropriate way of adding them to this submission, but have not received a response from UKRI, to whom Researchfish passed my query. The full list may be found at:https://www.swgo.org/SWGOWiki/doku.php?id=collaboration; I have included only UK collaborators on this form. |
| Start Year | 2019 |
| Description | Southern Wide-field Gamma-ray Observatory |
| Organisation | University of Oxford |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Contributions at present to the science case |
| Collaborator Contribution | Contributions to the science case and preliminary design studies |
| Impact | Science case. The collaboration is not multi-disciplinary. It consists of 42 institutes from 11 countries, plus supporting scientists from 6 more countries. Many of the institutes do not appear in the list of institutes from the drop down list. Given the large number of institutes involved, I asked if there was a more appropriate way of adding them to this submission, but have not received a response from UKRI, to whom Researchfish passed my query. The full list may be found at:https://www.swgo.org/SWGOWiki/doku.php?id=collaboration; I have included only UK collaborators on this form. |
| Start Year | 2019 |
| Description | CTA & Ireland Workshop - CTA calibration talk |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Talk to introduce colleagues in Northern Ireland to CTA in the UK. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | CTA Calibration Workshop, Barcelona - GCT Calibration talk |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Talk at CTA Calibration workshop designed to swap ideas & experience about telescope calibration. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| Description | CTA Consortium meeting - talk about mirror test facilities |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Update talk at collaboration meeting relating to mirrors tests and plans. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | CTA Lugano Talk (Brown) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | A research talk which wa presenting the preliminary results of a new concept for using UAVs in astronomy, with the aim of engaging with the audience on the topic and to spark conversations and collaborations |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | CTA talk at University of Newcastle, Australia |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Talk about prospects for CTA and spin-off activities |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | CTA talk in Sydney |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Talk about prospects for CTA and spin-off activities |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | CTA-UK Science Meeting |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | A 2-day workshop on science with and for the Cherenkov Telescope Array. Attended by around 100 UK-based scientists plus some colleagues from Europe, India and Australia. Plenty of discussion and new connections made with interested researchers. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | http://cta2021.iopconfs.org/committee |
| Description | Community Science Fair |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Exhibit about the Cherenkov Telescope Array. Many families attended, lots of questions, good feedback from visitors. The exhibit also enabled a final year student to complete project work towards her degree. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| URL | http://www.thehermitageacademy.net/site/stemFair/stemFair.html |
| Description | Dark Matter UK Workshop talk |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Talk about CTA to DM-UK |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | Dark Matter talk at Lumley Castle |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Talk about prospects for dark matter detection with CTA |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| URL | https://conference.ippp.dur.ac.uk/event/555/overview |
| Description | Discussion meeting at Royal Astronomical Society |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Discussion about uses of CTA in wider astronomical community. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| Description | European Particle Strategy Meeting |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Talk on indirect dark matter detection, including prospects for CTA. Purpose was to frame UK input to the European Particle Physics Strategy. A report was produced. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | GCT Calibration Campaign |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Talk outlining calibration for telescope test campaign in Paris |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | GCT Inauguration |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Web-based news article & PR, intended to update people about the progress of the Cherenkov Telescope Array |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| URL | http://www.stfc.ac.uk/news/uk-contributes-super-fast-camera-to-international-astronomy-project/ |
| Description | Interview with Symmetry magazine |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Interview about CTA with Fermilab/SLAC science magazine, Symmetry. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| URL | http://www.symmetrymagazine.org/article/viewing-our-turbulent-universe |
| Description | Introduction to CTA-UK Science Activities |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Talk and discussion with new CTA members from Armagh Planetarium |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| Description | Invited Seminar at LJMU |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Seminar about CTA and its science reach. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| Description | Invited Talk (Brown) - UK DM meeting |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Around 60 scientists attended the talk at the UK Dark Matter meeting. Questions and discussion afterwards. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | Invited Talk, Columbia University, USA (Brown) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | A seminar, with a particular focus of using UAVs in astronomy, was given to group of people across the higher education sector, with the aim of engaging with them on the topic and to spark conversations and collaborations |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | IoP Lecture |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Evening talk to the local branch of the Institute of Physics. Questions and discussion afterwards. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | Irish gamma ray meeting (Brown) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Talk given at a meeting in Ireland on the future of gamma-ray astronomy. Questions and discussion. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | Keynote address for teachers |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Talk about the history of telescopes and telescope currently under construction, including CTA. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| Description | Mirror talk at CTA meeting, Japan |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Presentation about suitable tests for CTA mirrors. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| Description | Mirror testing presentation at Project Committee meeting |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Purpose was to review progress on mirror testing for the Cherenkov Telescope Array. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | Open University Seminar |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Talk given to the Open University astronomy research group - attended by 40-50 people. Questions and discussion afterwards. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | Pint of SCience |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Online talk given to the local 'Pint of Science' organisation. Most of the audience was local to Durham, but several were from the surrounding region or further afield. Questions and discussions afterwards. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | Royal Astronomical Society Podcast |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Podacst for the RAS about gamma-ray astronomy. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| Description | SPIE Talk (Brown) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | 'The first cross-calibration of a gamma-ray telescope array with a UAV-based system' - a talk at one of the World's biggest telescope conferences (SPIE 2020). This international conference that was run virtually due to the pandemic. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| URL | https://spie.org/conferences-and-exhibitions/astronomical-telescopes-and-instrumentation?SSO=1 |
| Description | STEM Fair, Chester-le-Street |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Display and activities related to the Cherenkov Telescope Array, including posters and an I-pad app. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| Description | Saturday Physics Talk |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | A talk about gamma ray astronomy and astroparticle physics generally plus workshop to build a gold-leaf electroscope. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| Description | Seminar at University of Hertfordshire |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Prestige seminar to Centre for Astrophysics at the University of Hertfordshire. Discussions afterwards led to possible collaboration on aerosol measurments |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | Seminar, Oxford University (Brown) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | A seminar, with a particular focus of using UAVs in astronomy, was given to group of people across the higher education sector, with the aim of engaging with them on the topic and to spark conversations and collaborations |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | Talk about CHEC window design |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Talk about camera window design to GCT project members |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | Talk about GCT mirrors |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Talk about new mirror designs to GCT working group. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | Talk at Astronomy Lunch |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | General talk to colleagues outside my field. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | Talk at CTA Ireland Meeting |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Talk about UK CTA science interests to British/Irish audience |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| URL | https://www.dias.ie/2017/07/25/28th-august-2017-workshop-on-cherenkov-telescope-array-ireland/ |
| Description | Talk at Cleveland & Darlington Astronomical Society |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Talk about gamma-ray astronomy to local astronomical society |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| Description | Talk at GCT Mirror Meeting |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Talk about progress with glass mirrors (and other optical tests) for GCT telescope. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | Talk at HESS Collaboration Meeting (Brown) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Talk about use of UAVs for telescope calibration. Many questions afterwards, and an agreement to use the HESS telescopes for proof-of-concept tests. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | Talk at IoP APP/HEPP Conference (Brown) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Talk about the status of gamma-ray astronomy and prospects for CTA |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| URL | http://appandhepp2018.iopconfs.org/home |
| Description | Talk at NASA Fermi Symposium, Baltimore |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Talk about gamma-ray emission from globular clusters |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| URL | https://fermi.gsfc.nasa.gov/science/mtgs/symposia/2018/ |
| Description | Talk at NE satellite applications centre of excellence |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Talk about UAV instrumentation for the local satellite catapult drones section. Lots of questions and discussion, with possibilities for future industrial involvement. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| URL | http://www.sacatapultcoe.org/centre/north-east/events/drone-cluster-northeast |
| Description | Talk at National Rail Museum, Shildon |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | A talk about gamma-ray astronomy associated with the 'Tim Peake's Spaceship' event, given to a small evening audience of about 15 people. Some of the young people asked about entry to university to study physics. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | Talk at SWGO detector meeting |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Talk about calibrating SWGO using systems originally designed for CTA. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | Talk at Supernova Neutrinos in the Multimessenger Era |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Talk about CTA and supernova/neutrino measurements. Questions afterwards. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://indico.kcl.ac.uk/event/271/ |
| Description | Talk at UK HEP Forum |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Talk about CTA at high-energy physics annual meeting. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| URL | https://hepwww.pp.rl.ac.uk/groups/accel/forum/2019/about.html |
| Description | Talk at UK/EU space agencies workshop (Brown) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Talk about drone technologies. Lots of questions, future collaboration with industry discussed. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | Talk at University of Namibia (Brown) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | A seminar, with a particular focus of using UAVs in astronomy, was given to group of people across the higher education sector, with the aim of engaging with them on the topic and to spark conversations and collaborations |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | Talk at Wolfendale Memorial Meeting |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Talk given about gamma-ray astronomy, questions afterwards. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Talk for STFC at UAV Expo |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Talk about the uses of UAVs in astronomy and other areas |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| URL | https://www.terrapinn.com/exhibition/the-commercial-uav-show/index.stm |
| Description | Talk to Astrosoc |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Undergraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Talk about the history of telescopes and new telescopes under construction, particularly CTA. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| Description | Talk to Astrosoc |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Undergraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Talk to Durham University Astronomical Society. Lots of questions, and a number of requests afterwards from students wanting to work with my group over summer. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| Description | Talk to Newcastle Astronomical Society |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Talk to local astronomical society, discussions and questions afterwards. Members expressed a wish to keep in touch with CTA activities. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Talk to Royal Meteorological Society |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Talk about cosmic rays and gamma ray astronomy, linking to the work of J A Chalmers |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| URL | https://www.rmets.org/events/atmospheric-electricity-durham-ja-chalmers-anniversary-meeting |
| Description | Talk to TMF, Basingstoke |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Talk to TMF to introduce CTA to industrial partners |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | Talk to school children at Ustinov College |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | Talk about CTA to schoolchildren and families at a postrgraduate-organised event intended to showcase science to young people. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | Talk to students at Oxford Physics Conference |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Undergraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Presentation and discussion on VHE gamma ray astronomy to undergraduate students. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016,2017 |
| Description | Talks at SST Meeting, Heidelberg |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Two talks - one about calibration systems and the other about the specialist window - relevant to the camera for the small-sized telescopes for the Cherenkov Telescope Array. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| Description | UAV talk CTA June 2020 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Talk discussed the feasibility of the UAV concept, and presented some preliminary results. After the talk, questions were taken from the audience. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| Description | Video for Centre for Life (Newcastle) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Filmed for Centre for Life video to be used in their new Space Zone |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| URL | https://www.life.org.uk/events/space-zone |