Stromlo Distinguished Visitor Program (RSAA)

The Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics (RSAA) at the Australian National University (ANU) offers a program to support Distinguished Visitors for longer-term visits to Mount Stromlo to work collaboratively on activities associated with RSAA’s astrophysics and technology research programs.

The Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics (RSAA) at the Australian National University(ANU) offers a program to support Distinguished Visitors for longer-term visits to Mount Stromlo to work collaboratively on activities associated with RSAA’s astrophysics and technology research programs.

The requirements and application process for the Stromlo Distinguished Visitor program are as follows:

  1.  Visitors will spend between one and six months at RSAA. The period at RSAA may be spread over a small number of visits within a one-year window.
  2. Visitors must be sponsored by, and work with, one or more RSAA scientists.
  3. Visitors must give at least one colloquium at RSAA and are strongly encouraged to give colloquia at other Australian research organizations and talks to the general public (RSAA can assist in arranging public talks).
  4. The Distinguished Visitor program can contribute funding towards a round-trip economy air ticket and living expenses. Funding will be provided on the basis of reimbursement of expenses (receipts required). Visitors will usually require additional funding from other sources to cover their expenses.
  5. Visitors will be provided with office space, computing/internet services, and limited administrative support. They will also have full access to ANU’s telescope facilities during the period of their visit.
  6. Applications must include: (i) the Visitor's curriculum vitae (<2 pages); (ii) a statement, written by the applicant, regarding the purpose and period of the visit, the research and other activities to be undertaken during the visit, and the resulting benefits to RSAA’s programs (<2 pages); (iii) a supporting statement by the RSAA scientist sponsoring the visit (<1 page); and (iv) a budget with details of the requested funding and supporting funding from other sources (<1 page).
  7. Applications will be assessed by the Stromlo Distinguished Visitor Committee, which has two subcommittees: one for astronomy & astrophysics and one for instrumentation & technology. The available funding will be allocated based on (i) the benefit to RSAA’s research programs and status, (ii) the research record of the applicant, and (iii) the significance of the proposed research and other activities, and their alignment with RSAA research programs. The extent of additional funding from other sources will also be taken into account.
  8. If a Distinguished Visitor award is not taken up within 3 months of the end date for the visit as specified in the application, then the funding offer will lapse.
  9. The RSAA staff member sponsoring the visit will provide a report to the RSAA Director detailing the outcomes of the visit and the benefits to the RSAA within 1 month of the completion of the visit.
  10. Applications must be emailed to the RSAA Director (director.rsaa@anu.edu.au). There are two annual deadlines: the next deadline is 30 September 2022 for visits from January to June 2023; the subsequent deadline is 17 March 2023 for visits from July to December 2023.

ANU values diversity and inclusion and believes opportunities must not be limited by socio-economic background, race, religion or gender. Women are particularly encouraged to apply for the Stromlo Distinguished Visitor program. Questions about the program may be addressed to the RSAA Director.

Year Name Home institution
Stromlo Distinguished Visitors
2020 Ewan Schafer DLR German Aerospace Center
2020 Andy Bunker University of Oxford
2020 Chiaki Kobayashi University of Hertfordshire
2020 Michael S. Fall Space Telescope Science Institute
2020 Lars Hernquist Harvard University
2020 Ryan Leaman Max Planck Institute for Astronomy
2019 Magda Arnaboldi European Southern Observatory
2019 Ortwin Gerhard Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics
2019 Isabel Perez University of Granada
2019 Troels Haugølle University of Copenhagen
2019 Matthew Baring Rice University
2019 Andreas Burkert University of Munich
2019 Kimberley Venn University of Victoria, BC
2018 Elena D'Onghia University of Wisconsin
2018 Kaitlin Kratter University of Arizona
2018 Nicola Schneider University of Cologne
2018 John Tonry University of Hawaii
2018 Rene Kraan-Korteweg University of Cape Town
2018 Mike Hudson University of Waterloo
2017 Tomaz Zwitter University of Ljubljana
2017 Stuart Sim Queen's University Belfast
2017 Ralf Klessen University of Heidelberg
2017 Chris Gordon University of Canterbury
2017

Tim de Zeeuw

Leiden University

2017

Matthias Steinmetz

Leibniz Institute Potsdam

2017

Lars Hernquist

Harvard University

2017

Colin Norman

Johns Hopkins

2017

Nicola Schneider

University of Cologne

2016

Changbom Park

Korea Institute for Advanced Study

2016

Parviz Ghavamian Towson University

2016

David Rupke Rhodes College

2016

Prajval Shastri Indian Institute of Astrophysics

2016

Anna Frebel Massachusetts Institute of Technology

2016

Robi Banerjee University of Hamburg

2016

Matthias Steinmetz Leibniz Institute Potsdam

2016

Stefan Wagner Landessternwarte Heidelberg

2016

Chris Belczynski Warsaw University

2015

Rosemary Wyse Johns Hopkins University

2015

Phil Hopkins California Institute of Technology

2015

Johan Richard Observatoire de Lyon

2015

Peter Wizinowich Keck Observatory
2015 Anna Frebel Massachusetts Institute of Technology
2015 Albert Zijlstra University of Manchester
2015 Kim-Vy Tran Texas A&M University
2015 Jouni Kainulainen Max-Planck Institute of Astronomy

2014

Bruno Leibundgut

European Southern Observatory

2014 David Sanders University of Hawaii
2014 Ravi Subrahmanyan Raman Institute
2014 Andy Bunker University of Oxford
2014 Chiaki Kobayashi University of Hertfordshire
2014 Ivan Hubeny University of Arizona
2014 Daniela Calzetti University of Massachusetts
2014 John Hillier University of Pittsburgh
2014 Kim Venn University of Victoria