The delegation led by LIU Duo, Vice Mayor of Shanghai, visited the global headquarters of the Square Kilometre Array Observatiory (SKAO) on October 5, 2023. During the visit, Professor Philip Diamond, Director General of the SKAO, briefed the delegation on the significant progress made in the construction, engineering and scientific research of the SKA project since its launch. He highly praised the world’s first SKA Regional Center (SRC) prototype facility, which was led and built by the team from the Shanghai Astronomical Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

 

Vice Mayor LIU Duo expressed firm determination to the Director General of SKAO that the Shanghai Municipal Government would support the international large-scale scientific project SKA.

 

Under the joint witness of Vice Mayor LIU Duo and Director General Philip Diamond, SHEN Zhiqiang, Director of the Shanghai Astronomical Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Simon Berry, Director of the Office of the Director General of the SKAO, signed a bilateral memorandum of understanding on scientific cooperation at the SKA project.

 

During the seminar after the signing, Director General Diamond expected Shanghai to provide more support for the SKA Regional Center. The Shanghai Municipal Government encourages the Shanghai Astronomical Observatory to continue to lead the international collaboration of the SKA Regional Center, strive to build the China node of the SRC into a model node, and lead the organization of large-scale scientific activities with international impact, integrating the SKA into the grand strategy of building Shanghai into a global science and innovation center.

 

Afterwards, Professor AN Tao, the Chinese representative of the SKA Regional Center Steering Committee, and the team had a deep discussion with the SRC Headquarter management team and the UK SRC team on the commissioning of the SKA Regional Center, China-UK SRC cooperation, future planning and implementation plans, and reached a deep collaboration intention. Both sides will play a leading role in the commissioning phase of the SKA Regional Center, and jointly bear the international responsibilities of major member countries.

 

 

 

Shanghai Astronomical Observatory of Chinese Academy of Sciences Signed Memorandum of Understanding with Square Kilometre Array Observatory