AusSRC Design Study Concludes
The AusSRC is Australia’s portion of the international computing and data delivery network that is required by the SKAO. In 2019, the AusSRC DSP was launched through funding from the Commonwealth through the Department of Industry, Innovation and Science (DIIS) and the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) along with in-kind contributions from various partners.
The 3-year DSP was initiated to establish requirements for an SKA Regional Centre (SRC), develop a prototype and framework, support and improve the scientific outputs from a range of projects using SKA precursors, and to secure funding for the long-term program of the AusSRC.
The prototyping work has enabled scientists currently working with SKA precursor telescopes, primarily ASKAP and the MWA, to more efficiently post-process, analyse, and share their data with other team members located around the world. Based on the work of the DSP, in February 2021 a proposal for long-term funding was submitted to the Commonwealth as a part of the submission covering Australia’s overall contribution to the SKA project.
This proposal was successful and will deliver $63 million to build, operate, and maintain the AusSRC over the next decade, following the completion of the DSP in 2022.
We now embark on a new journey, building the long-term foundations of the global SRC Network that will enable science with the SKA telescopes!
A final report that provides an overview of the AusSRC DSP along with a summary of the technical developments achieved by the team while working on various science projects can be found here.
