Dear colleagues and friends worldwide,

The object of this message is to give you
some advanced warning of a planned closure of the RAS Library and
Archives facilities for an extended period. Plans are in the early
stages at the moment but it is likely that the whole collection in
the main part of Burlington House will be moved out into storage
some time in late 2006 for a period planned as a year but these
things have a way of extending! The object of the exercise is to
enable a complete refurbishment of the RAS building with greatly
improved facilities for Fellows and staff, and, particularly from
the Library point of view, environmentally controlled storage for the
Rare Books and Archives.

The details have still to be worked out but
the overall message is that if you want to come and use the RAS
collections aim to do it before the Autumn of 2006 ! The staff
will do their best to provide a restricted service on a 'request in
advance' basis but this will inevitable be slow and inconvenient.

Please forward this to any relevant Lists on which it has not already
appeared, with apologies for any duplication.

Best wishes,


Peter D Hingley
pdh@RAS.ORG.UK

Peter D Hingley
Librarian, Royal Astronomical Society
Burlington House
Piccadilly
London W1J OBQ

Tel 020 7734 4582 Xt 215
Fax 020 7494 0166

RAS PN06/02: UK Astronomy - Great Prospects But Important Problems To Be Addressed

Contributed by Peter Bond

Thursday, 26 January 2006

A report entitled “International Perceptions of UK Research in Physics and Astronomy” was published on 26 January 2006.

The conclusions of the international panel included the following statement:

“The UK continues to enjoy a high standing in astrophysics and solar system physics. The best departments and individuals have outstanding international reputations and there has been considerable growth on several fronts since the 2000 review, both in terms of participation in large international projects and in developing new research areas. The astrophysics and solar system physics enterprise is poised for a very productive decade.”

However, the members of the panel also recognised a number of problems that need to be addressed:

* The panel was deeply concerned that physics has ceased to be an identifiable topic in many universities. They considered that student career choices in secondary schools were not a good basis for driving a significant contribution to the financial health of university departments.

* The panel cautioned that funding agencies need to maintain a balance between the large investments in international facilities and funding opportunities to exploit them.

* The panel challenged the UK to have two female academic members of staff in each university physics and astronomy department by the end of the decade.

Other issues raised by the review included:

* The lack of progress, since the 2000 review, in providing a proper career development environment for post-doctoral scientists. This is an area of major interest to the RAS, and the Society has recently undertaken a major review of career opportunities for PhD students in astronomy. ( See http://www.ras.org.uk/index.php?option=com...id=923&Itemid=1 )

* The short duration of UK PhD training is undermining the ability of PhD graduates in physics and astronomy to compete scientifically with their peers from other countries.

REPORT LAUNCH

The report will be launched at a special briefing taking place at 10.30am on 27 January 2006 at the Institute of Physics, 76 Portland Place, London W1B 1NT. Professor Jürgen Mlynek, chair of the review panel, will present the panel’s main findings and lead a panel discussion with representatives of the funding councils which commissioned the review.

A copy of the report is available at:

http://policy.iop.org/Policy/IR05%20report%20low%20res.pdf

http://policy.iop.org/Policy/IR05%20report%20high%20res.pdf

A general press release about the report is available at:

http://www.iop.org/news/1037

The 2000 report can be found at:

http://policy.iop.org/Policy/Intrev.html

http://www.ras.org.uk/index.php?option=com...id=927&Itemid=2