Call for new membership in the TMT International Science Development Teams

The second annual call for new members of the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) International Science Development Teams (ISDTs) is now open. The ISDTs provide scientific input and feedback to the TMT project, stimulate planning for future TMT science programs, and are an opportunity to build connections and collaborations within and beyond the international TMT partnership. ISDT membership is open to all Ph.D. scientists, both from the current TMT partners and from the astronomical community at large. For US astronomers unaffiliated with one of the TMT member institutions (i.e., Caltech and the University of California), the ISDTs are an opportunity to get involved in TMT and to provide scientific input that will help shape the observatory’s capabilities, operations plans, and future directions.

There are currently eight ISDTs, organized around the following science themes:

• Fundamental physics and cosmology
• Early universe, galaxy formation and the intergalactic medium
• Supermassive black holes
• Milky Way and nearby galaxies
• Formation of stars and planets
• Exoplanets
• Our solar system
• Time domain science

This year there is also an opportunity to propose to form new ISDT working groups. New ISDTs may focus on science that does not fit well within the scope of the existing groups, or on subtopics drawn from one or more of the existing ISDTs that merit additional emphasis within TMT planning.

During the past year, the ISDTs helped to update the contents of the TMT Detailed Science Case, the highest-level guiding document for scientific guidance of the TMT project. ISDT scientists met at the 2014 TMT Science Forum in Tucson, and are now starting to develop ideas for large “key program” science projects with TMT.

Application instructions are available at the TMT ISDT web site, where you can also find more detailed information about the ISDTs, their organizers, and their activities. ISDT membership entails a commitment of time and effort. Applications will be evaluated by the ISDT organizers and the TMT Science Advisory Committee, based on the candidate’s scientific qualifications, the activities that he or she proposes to carry out in support of the ISDT and TMT, and the level of effort that he or she can commit to investing in ISDT activities.

NOAO and AURA are participating in a cooperative agreement between the NSF and TMT to engage the US community and to explore potential NSF partnership in the observatory. AURA is an associate member of the TMT International Observatory, with representatives on its Board of Governors and its Science Advisory Committee. NOAO organizes a US TMT Science Working Group (SWG), consisting of 13 astronomers from institutions across the country, who are helping to prepare a US National TMT Participation Plan for the NSF. For more information about the US TMT SWG and the NSF-TMT cooperative agreement activities, please see the NOAO TMT Liaison web pages.