Call for new membership in the TMT International Science Development Teams (applications due 15 January 2016)

Applications for membership in the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) International Science Development Teams (ISDTs) are being accepted until 15 January 2016. The ISDTs are research groups that provide scientific guidance and feedback to the TMT project, stimulate planning for future TMT observing programs, and build connections between TMT and the international astronomical community. They foster scientific collaboration across the TMT partnership and beyond, into the broader astronomical community. ISDT membership is open to all qualified Ph.D. scientists, including astronomers from the US astronomical community.

Recently, ISDT members have contributed extensively to rewriting and updating the TMT Detailed Science Case, the fundamental description of the science drivers for building a Thirty Meter Telescope. The ISDTs organized a day of topical parallel sessions at the annual TMT Science Forum, and have recently written a set of concept studies for TMT Key Project observing programs, with a second round planned for early 2016.

There are nine 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
• Stars, stellar physics and the interstellar medium
• Formation of stars and planets
• Exoplanets
• Our solar system
• Time domain science

Applicants may also propose to form new ISDTs to 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.

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.