Science and Engineering Advisory Committee (SEAC)

The Science and Engineering Advisory Committee (SEAC) is a key independent advisory body to the SKAO Council and the SKAO Director-General, established in accordance with Article 8(13) of the SKAO Convention (the governance framework). It has up to 21 science and engineering experts (May 2023) from the SKAO’s member countries and beyond. SEAC members are highly regarded specialists in topics of relevance to the SKAO and appointed for three years.
SEAC Meeting - February 2024
Hybrid SEAC meeting at SKAO HQ, February 2024

Membership

Members are appointed by the Council and include:

  1. a representative for each SKAO Member - appointed as independent experts who do not represent the Member’s interests
  2. up to seven representatives-at-large, proposed to the Council by the Director-General to provide specialist expertise, and who may be from countries beyond the Observatory’s membership
  3. representatives from countries with Observer status at the SKAO Council

The Committee’s advice is based on the consensus view of the Committee. A Science and Engineering Advisory Committee also existed under the Observatory’s forerunner, the SKA Organisation.

The membership of the SEAC is (April 2024):

RepresentativeAffiliationCountry (SKAO Member)
Prof. Naomi McClure-Griffiths (Chair)Australian National UniversityAustralia
Prof. Kristine Spekkens (Vice-Chair)Royal Military College of CanadaCanada
TBC China
Dr Wim van CappellenASTRONThe Netherlands
Ms Marta GonçalvesPortuguese Space AgencyPortugal
TBC South Africa
Dr Antxon AlberdiInstituto de Astrofísica de AndalucíaSpain
Prof. André CsillaghyUniversity of Applied Sciences and Arts Switzerland
Dr Laura WolzUniversity of ManchesterUnited Kingdom
Dr Gianfranco BrunettiIstituto di Radioastronomia, BolognaItaly

 

RepresentativeAffiliationAt-large members
Mr Brian Glendenning NRAO (USA) 
Dr Dale FrailNRAO (USA) 
TBCEuropean Southern Observatory 
Dr Adrian RussellEuropean Southern Observatory 
Dr Gillian WrightUKATC (UK) 

Observers

RepresentativeAffiliationCountry (Observer/ Future Member)
Dr Cherry Ng-GuiheneufCNRSFrance (SKAO future Member)
Dr Gundolf WiechingMax Planck Institute for Radio AstronomyGermany (SKAO future Member)
Prof. Uday ShankarRaman Research InstituteIndia (SKAO Observer)
Prof. Garrelt MellemaStockholm UniversitySweden (SKAO Observer)

Rules and Regulations

The Science and Engineering Committee must follow the SEAC Remit and Rules of Procedure:  which explain the actions which the SEAC can take, and state the composition of the SEAC, rules relating to conduct and attendance, and how meetings work e.g. voting.

Last modified on 04 April 2024