People

Solved for X! UP IDIA team part of research that solves mystery of X-shaped radio galaxies with MeerKAT telescope

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This study was carried out by a team from the South African Radio Astronomy Observatory (SARAO), the (US) National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO), the University of Pretoria, and Rhodes University. The results will be published in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. Dr Kshitij Thorat, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Pretoria and second author of the paper, explained: … Read More

Two UWC “ambassadors” nominated for Science Oscars

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Two academics from the University of the Western Cape (UWC) have been nominated for the 22nd prestigious National Science and Technology Forum-South32 (NSTF-South32) Awards, popularly known as “Science Oscars of South Africa”. International renowned academic Associate Professor Carolina Ödman has been nominated for the Communication Award for her pioneering work in astronomy outreach, development and education. The Communication Award recognises … Read More

IDIA Welcomes New Postdoc

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We are excited to announce that we will be joined by a new postdoctoral researcher, Dr. Francesco Cavallaro, who will be based at the University of Cape Town. Dr. Cavallaro will be working with the ThunderKAT, MIGHTEE and MeerLICHT projects on research into stellar radio emission. Dr. Cavallaro joins us from Italian National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF) in Catania, Sicily, … Read More

Dr Ugo Becciani visits IDIA

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The Inter-University Institute for Data Intensive and the Astronomy Department at the University of Cape Town (UCT) will host Dr Ugo Becciani from the Catania Astrophysical Observatory, Italian Institute of Astrophysics (INAF) in Catania (Sicily). As part of the visit Dr. Becciani will give a talk at the UCT entitled “Towards Astronomical Big Data Analysis – Visual Analytics, Machine Learning … Read More

Discovery of the highest energy light from a gamma-ray burst

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Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are the most luminous explosions in the cosmos. These explosive events last several seconds and during that time they they release in 10 seconds in gamma rays as much energy as the sun will emit in its 10-bilion year life. Such extreme amounts of energy can only be released during catastrophic events like the death of a … Read More

New UP Postdoctoral Fellow Joins IDIA

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We are excited once again to announce that IDIA is proud to welcome a new Postdoctoral Fellow who will be joining the University of Pretoria. Since joining the partnership in 2018, the University of Pretoria has grown its research, researchers and science in the IDIA-supported project “Artificial Intelligence enhanced wide-field VLBI surveys: precursor science to the full SKA”. Dr. Jack … Read More

Prof Sue Harrison

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Prof. Sue Harrison is the Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Research and Internationalisation at the University of Cape Town. Prof. Harrison has 30 years experience in research in bioprocess engineering in the industrial and academic arenas. She holds a BSc (Chemistry & Microbiology) and BSc Hons (Microbiology) from the University of Cape Town; and a PhD from Cambridge University. She holds the … Read More

superMIGHTEE Workshop held at Kruger National Park

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Astronomers from India and South Africa descended upon the Kruger National Park to kick off the superMIGHTEE Workshop from 05 – 07 June 2019. superMIGHTEE is the joint exploration of the Deep Sky with uGMRT and MeerKAT, and evolved from a series of joint workshops co-sponsored by India’s Department of Science and Technology and South Africa’s National Research Foundation bilateral, … Read More