ACAMAR

The Australia-China Consortium for Astrophysical Research (ACAMAR) is a joint Australia-China research centre between the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Australian Department of Industry, Science and Resources (DISR) and AAL to collaborate on areas of common interest within astronomy, astrophysics and cosmology.

Acamar (Eridani) is a bright naked-eye star visible from both Australia and China. Credit: ACAMAR.
Approximately 40 people pose for a group photograph at a conference.
Attendees at the ACAMAR 9 workshop held at the Vines Resort in Perth, WA. Credit: Romy Pearse.
A man giving a lecture.
Professor Di Li, Chief Scientist of the Radio Division at Chinese Academy of Sciences, recently visited Australia for a month as part of the ACAMAR Visiting Fellowship program. During his time in Australia, Professor Li visited The University of Sydney, CSIRO Mansfield, and The University of Tasmania. Credit: Di Li.

Acamar (Eridani) is a bright naked-eye star visible from both Australia and China.

In Australia, ACAMAR aims to:

  • build upon existing arrangements
  • maximise the scientific return on investment in astronomy infrastructure;
  • develop human capital in the field of astronomy, and
  • enhance our common scientific understanding of the universe.

ACAMAR is currently supporting collaboration on projects connected with The Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope (FAST), SKA and Antarctic Astronomy, but is actively encouraging other opportunities and will facilitate collaborations in other large projects.

AAL took over responsibility for Australian operations of ACAMAR in early 2018, and since then ACAMAR has successfully managed the following events and projects:

  • ACAMAR 5 workshop in Melbourne (2019), ACAMAR 6 virtual workshop (2020) and ACAMAR 7 virtual workshop (2021), ACAMAR 8 virtual workshop (2022), ACAMAR 9 workshop in Perth (2023)
  • ACAMAR Astroinformatics School
  • ACAMAR themed workshops: e.g. Astroparticle Physics Workshop, Gas and Galaxies, Cosmic Magnetism, etc. 
  • ACAMAR Visiting Fellowship Scheme
  • ACAMAR SKA PhD Scholarship.

To date more than 20 Chinese PhD students have been awarded SKA Scholarships, allowing them to visit or enroll with selected Australian universities and research institutions. ACAMAR Australia is also working with Chinese counterparts to explore a new PhD scholarship scheme using the Chinese SKA fund.

ACAMAR Visiting Fellowships

The ACAMAR Visiting Fellowship scheme sponsors distinguished researchers to make extended visits to Australia and enhance collaborations on areas of common interest within astronomy, astrophysics and cosmology. Please see more information here.

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