Dr. Tana Joseph (Founder of AstroComms and South African Astronomer) slide presentation on Career opportunities that young Africans can discover in Science at large. This was in commemoration of the Global Astronomy Month, 2020 on the 25th of April 2020. #STEM #Astronomy #science #GAM2020 #technology #scicomm

2. Opportunities in Science for
African Scientists
Dr. Tana Joseph

3. Studying the Universe and the objects inside it, like stars, galaxies,
planets, moons, comets, asteroids, clouds of gas. Using telescopes and
detectors that measure light, particles and waves and space debris
coming from these objects
Credit: Katz & Spiering (2011)
Credit: NASA Credit: Institute of Gravitational Research/ University of Glasgow.
Image: Christie's

4. About me
Decided to become an astronomer in the mid 90s
after seeing the incredible images
taken with the Hubble Space Telescope

5. About me
No roles models, no sci comm, few facilities and v. little public awareness
… But, We started building SALT in 2002

6. About me
By the time I finished my BSc in Physics in 2005, SALT was complete

7. About me
By the time I finished my PhD in 2013,
SA had been chosen as joint host of SKA and KAT-7 was complete

8. SKA in Africa
SKA SA Human Capital Development
(HCD)
9( 14( 28( 47( 54( 62(
88( 108( 86( 103( 122( 113( 109(
943(
0(
100(
200(
300(
400(
500(
600(
700(
800(
900(
1000(
2005( 2006( 2007( 2008( 2009( 2010( 2011( 2012( 2013( 2014( 2015( 2016( 2017( TOTAL(
Total(Number(of(Bursaries,(Fellowships(and(Grants(by(Year(
Credit: SKA
Credit: www.ska.ac.za – Rob Adam

9. How to get involved in astronomy in
Africa and around the world
• Attend webinars like this one
• Attend public events, e.g. NASA’s Observe the
Moon
https://moon.nasa.gov/observe-the-moon/annual-event/overview/

10. How to get involved in astronomy in
Africa and around the world
Citizen science!
Help astronomers (and other researchers) around
the world to analyse their data
A list of some citizen science projects can be found
on the SKA website
https://www.skatelescope.org/outreachandeducat
ion/outreach-resources/citizen-science/

11. “In the field of observations, chance favours the prepared
mind.”
- Louis Pasteur, referring to seemingly serendipitous discoveries
Wellcome Collection

12. Your studies
• Start prepping early
– Check deadlines, etc.
• Make contacts - social media is a good way to
get in touch with people

13. Funding opportunities
• Check local and international funding opps
• Best way is to follow funding bodies on social
media
• e.g. South Africa’s National Research Foundation
(NRF) regularly posts funding announcements
and calls for applications on Twitter

14. Be brave!
• Be brave and apply!
• Ask for advice and support from peers or more
senior students/colleagues/mentors

15. Be brave!
• Make use of training opps at your institution
– Speaker training
– Attend hacks to learn skills
– Writing courses
– Online courses

16. Non-academic opportunities
• Science communication (Scicomm)
– Maybe you have a gift for communicating with the
public
• Other careers, e.g. data science, teaching, etc.
– http://www.jobsforastronomers.com/careers

17. AstroComms
I started my own STEM communications and
consulting company!

18. Some resources
• Resources for opportunities
• NRF https://www.nrf.ac.za/funding
• Office of Astronomy for Development http://www.astro4dev.org/aboutiauoad/oadteam/
• Organisation for Women in Science for the Developing World https://owsd.net/
• Royal Society
https://royalsociety.org/grants-schemes-awards/
• SKA
https://www.sarao.ac.za/students/funding/
• DARA
https://www.dara-project.org/, https://www.darabigdata.com/
• African Academy of Sciences
https://www.aasciences.africa/
• The World Academy of Sciences
https://twas.org/
Fulbright Programme
https://foreign.fulbrightonline.org/about/foreign-fulbright