Address by Naledi Pandor MP, Minister of Science and Technology, SALT science conference, STIAS, Stellenbosch
Professor Ted Williams
Delegates
It's a pleasure to be here today and I greatly appreciate your invitation to speak.
Astronomy sciences are an important part of South Africa’s strategy for research development and innovation.
There are three astronomy partnerships that stand out - the Southern African Large Telescope (SALT), MeerKAT, and SKA. These are three of several African-led science and innovation initiatives that are paving the way for Africa to play its full part in global knowledge-based activities.
Astronomy partnerships present us with unique and invaluable opportunities.
First, astronomy partnerships build infrastructure for astronomy and also build infrastructure for wider use. Big telescopes require high-speed research networks and computing resources that in turn enable our life and climate scientists to share and analyse huge datasets –a pre-condition for the development of new drugs and vaccines, as well as for effectively fighting or adapting to climate change.
Second, astronomy partnerships have helped us to build the study of astronomy in Africa and further afield. As a result of the various human capital development programmes associated with Africa’s SKA initiatives, new astronomy programmes have been established at several African universities, including in Kenya, Madagascar and Mozambique. Under other programmes, several post-graduate students from Africa are working at European universities, contributing to knowledge generation in Europe, while leading European and American astronomers have also taken up positions in Africa through, for example, the South African Research Chairs programme. Through astronomy we are beginning to expand Africa’s future workforce of scientists and engineers.
South Africa pursued the SKA and utilised the lessons of SALT as a basis for our planning and partnerships. The links we have developed with our SALT project allowed us to build on existing networks and partnerships to secure this iconic project. SKA is a very important strategic initiative that puts science and technology to work for the benefit of Africans.
The decision to split the SKA project has created collaboration opportunities that we believe will strengthen science achievements in both countries and build a strong global alliance in astronomy sciences.
Today our continent is the proud co-host with Australia of the most exciting global science project for the 21st century.
SALT has come of age through similar hard work on our part and through the contribution of our international partners. It has been available since 2012 to scientists who by the end of April 2015 had produced 109 papers based on SALT observations, one of which was a publication in Nature of the discovery of the very first known stars in the flared disk of our Milky Way Galaxy. These stars are situated on the far side of our Galaxy, 80 thousand light years from the Earth and beyond the Galactic Centre.
Our aim is to position Africa as a global centre of research excellence for multi-wavelength astronomy, with optical, radio and gamma ray telescopes working together to achieve common scientific goals. We need to do more to build bridges across the multi-wavelength spectrum, but it is encouraging to see positive developments in this regard, namely the MeerLICHT, a partnership between the South African, Dutch and British astronomy communities. With the development of new major international programs in the southern hemisphere, including MeerKAT and the SKA, HESS and the CTA, ALMA, and the LSST, there will be an expanding demand for SALT observations to support multi-wavelength astronomy. Cooperation of South African astronomers across all wavebands is essential for success.
The Sutherland astronomical site is not only home to SALT, but also to several international telescopes. In the early hours of 7 April 2015 an un-manned robotic telescope, MASTER-SAAO, situated near Sutherland in the Karoo, discovered a new comet, the first to be discovered in South Africa since 1978. MASTER-SAAO is a Russian-South Africa telescope that has been scanning the southern skies since it began operating in late December 2014, looking for “transients”–new objects which appear for the first time. We look forward to more discoveries from our unique southern skies, a geographic advantage that we must fully protect and exploit to contribute to better understanding of our universe.
A few of the SALT partners are experiencing financial difficulties. I am immensely sympathetic to the University of Canterbury, which has had to deal with the aftermath of the catastrophic earthquake of 2010. I urge the SALT Board to find a way of supporting Canterbury through a transitional period to ensure that UC remains in the partnership. I would also like the Board to find ways of helping the University of Gottingen (Germany) and CAMK (Nicholas Copernicus Astronomical Centre) to remain as well. I am grateful for the continued commitment of all the partners to SALT.
In closing, it remains for me to say how proud I am of the SALT technical operations team for its enormous commitment to and talent in servicing and supporting the telescope. I would like to thank them for working tirelessly to ensure that scientists from around the world 'get the data to do the science'.
On a grander note, we are masters of our own destinies. The futures of our children, our countries and region, are ours to determine – and that will be a better, brighter future through science and technology. So let our astronomy programmes continue to inspire and guide us, as we build globally competitive knowledge-based activities here in South Africa
