Education and opportunities
Astronomy is well-known for its ability to attract young people to science and technology careers, and drive education and training that can also help solve major societal challenges and answer immediate crises. SKAO partners around the world already enthuse thousands and in some cases tens of thousands of children, students and adults alike every year through open day events at their facilities, public engagement initiatives such as talks or hands-on interactive activities, travelling exhibitions, etc.
As a beacon of inspiration for the next generation, the SKAO is leading some to careers in science, engineering, and technology. Already now, it is fair to say that building the SKA telescopes is producing a cohort of highly accomplished engineers and scientists, who will be capable of applying their talents to a broad range of areas of great benefit to the member state economies and societies.
The emergence of citizen science in the past 20 years thanks to distributed computing is also offering opportunities to the SKAO and its partners. Some have already developed citizen science initiatives making use of data from SKA pathfinders and the SKAO will certainly provide opportunities for involving members of the public through similar initiatives using data from its telescopes.
In SKA-Low host country Australia, the SKAO, CSIRO, representatives from the Wajarri community and Central Regional Technical and Further Education institute in Geraldton, have co-designed and delivered a unique programme to recruit and provide training for field technicians who are building the SKA-Low telescope on site. The programme provides the technicians not only with the skills to build the telescope but also ensures they will have long-term benefit through skills applicable to the telecommunications and mining industries, which are highly active in the area. A particular effort has been made to encourage applicants from the Wajarri Yamaji - the Traditional Owners and native titles holders of the land where SKA-Low is being built - and within the first cohort of field technicians hired in 2024, 70% are Wajarri employees.
CSIRO also organises visits to Inyarrimanha Ilgari Bundara, the CSIRO Murchison Radio-astronomy Observatory, where SKA-Low is being built, for students from communities nearby, giving them a behind-the-scenes look at the telescopes on site.
The SKAO has also partnered with the International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR) to deliver the first regional tour of the STEM Stargirls camp for girls and gender minorities. The free two-day camp, welcomed 21 students at the SKAO’s office in Geraldton, was an opportunity to practice real-world astronomy research skills and hear from leading experts in the field.
In SKA-Mid host country South Africa, the SKAO’s partner SARAO has been investing heavily in education and human capital development for more than a decade. SARAO’s Robotics Schools Programme was launched to develop and inspire interest in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) skills in local schools around the SKA-Mid site.
SARAO has also helped to recruit qualified science and maths teachers, invested in educational facilities – including donating hundreds of new computers to schools and the library in Carnarvon – and technical training for local artisans in the Northern Cape region, and provided bursaries for students from local schools to attend technical colleges and universities. It has also provided grants for more than 1,000 students nationally and in other African countries to study science and engineering, from graduate degrees to post-doctoral studies.
The SKAO Global HQ team regularly hosts work experience students from nearby schools to learn from our experts and engage in science and engineering activities, and attends major public outreach events such as the Bluedot festival, which attracts tens of thousands of people annually. In 2023, the HQ also welcomed a class of primary school children from South Africa, on exchange at a local school, who heard from Afrikaans-speaking staff about the science behind the SKA telescopes, and about their own careers in STEM.
