During 1993 the RCfTA hosted three workshops and a winter school for postgraduates, and provided financial support for a postgraduate summer school.
The RCfTA hosted the 1993 Astronomical Society of Australia - Harley Wood Winter School, for Honours and postgraduate students. Organized by Lewis Ball, with assistance from Mark Walker, the School was held at the Hotel Imperial, Mt Victoria, over three days in June. Entitled `Active Galactic Nuclei, Quasars, Black Holes and the Like' the School attracted the unusually high number of 39 students from institutions all over Australia. Five international visitors, two members of the RCfTA, and one member of the Anglo-Australian Observatory (AAO) gave talks at the Winter School, and all helped to make it a big success.
A two-day workshop entitled `Born with a Bang: Supernovae, Supernova Remnants and Pulsars', organized by Lewis Ball with assistance from Simon Johnston, was held in The University of Sydney Club in September. Some 40 astrophysicists attended, and abstracts from most of the invited talks, together with a summary of the informal discussions, is in press in the Proceedings of the Astronomical Society of Australia.
A one-day workshop, entitled `Central Questions: A Galactic Centre Workshop', was organized by Jenny Nicholls and held in The University of Sydney Club in November. Some 45 astrophysicists from all over Australia attended this RCfTA workshop to discuss the various areas of research concerning the centre of our Galaxy in which Australian astrophysicists are involved.
Mark Walker organized a one-day meeting entitled `Two Degrees of Freedom', which addressed issues related to the AAO's Two Degree Field instrument (2dF). The 2dF is a major new facility for the Anglo-Australian Telescope, due to be commissioned late 1994. The meeting was held at the ATNF in November and was co-sponsored by the RCfTA and the AAO. Technical, scientific and policy issues relating to the 2dF were discussed at the meeting and the proceedings will be published in a special edition of the AAO Newsletter.
The RCfTA also provided financial assistance for the Summer School in Stellar Astrophysics held in February. This School for postgraduate students was organized by John Thatcher, a PhD student in the School of Mathematics and Statistics at Sydney University, and Dr Brad Carter from the University of New South Wales and was held jointly at the ATNF and Mt Stromlo Observatory. It was organized to coincide with a visit to Australia by Dr Jeff Linsky, a renowned expert on stellar atmospheres, of the Joint Institute for Laboratory Astrophysics, University of Colorado, Boulder.