Name: March 17th science meeting at Zurich prior to Council
Start: 2025-03-17T04:30:00+01:00
End: 2025-03-17T23:59:00+01:00
Location: Zurich, UZH University

- 09:30
  
  Welcome session with coffee RAA Building
  
  RAA Building
  
  Zurich, UZH University
  
  Raa-G-01, Rämistrasse 59, 8001 Zürich
- SKACH: Morning Session RAA Building (University of Zurich)
  
  RAA Building
  
  University of Zurich
  
  Rämistrasse 59 8001 Zurich
  - 1
    
    Collaboration with SKACH
    
    Speaker: Carolyn Crichton
    
    SKACH Consortium and Collaboration.pptx
  - 2
    
    Swiss Science Priorities
    
    The Swiss astrophysics community looks forward to contributing to all key science areas of the SKA and, in doing so, exploiting many of the different observing modes SKA LOW and MID will offer. In this presentation we will highlight some of the science topics which are of an esp. high priority to Swiss researchers, and where Swiss involvement in other projects generates synergies that are particularly beneficial for science with the SKA.
    
    Speakers: Prof. Jean-Paul Kneib (EPFL), Dr Mark Sargent (International Space Science Institute (ISSI))
    
    Swiss Science Priorities (1).pdf
  - 3
    
    SPH-EXA : exascale simulations for astrophysics and cosmology
    
    We will present an overview of SPH-EXA, the first Exascale-capable astrophysical simulation code for hydrodynamics and gravity with a native GPU implementation. We will show the
    current and upcoming capabilities of SPH-EXA in simulating
    star formation, tidal disruption events and other transient phenomena, protoplanetary disks and cosmological volumes
    for galaxy formation. We will focus on applications that are most relevant for the SKAO scientific themes and its precursors, hinting at the transformative ability of SPH-EXA to model much
    larger systems or samples of astrophysical objects at much higher resolution, which will allow to harness the upcoming datasets of SKA
    
    Speakers: Prof. Florina Ciorba (University of Basel), Prof. Lucio Mayer (UZH)
    
    SKAOCouncil-meeting.key.pdf
  - 4
    
    Astrophysics & Cosmology
    
    Speaker: Prof. Alexandre Refregier (ETHZ)
    
    SKA0 Council Science Meeting ARefregier 2025.pdf
  - 11:10
    
    Group Photo & Morning Break
  - 5
    
    AI Developments in SKACH
    
    Speakers: Elena Gavagnin (ZHAW Zurich University of Applied Sciences), Dr Philipp Denzel (Centre for Artificial Intelligence, ZHAW)
    
    SKAO_Science_250317_gavagnin_denzel.pptx
  - 6
    
    CSCS Infrastructure for SRCs
    
    Infrastructure for the Swiss SRC Node
    
    Speaker: Pablo Fernandez (ETH Zurich / CSCS)
    
    CSCS SKAO Council meeting 2025.pdf
  - 7
    
    SRC Net
    
    Speaker: Rohini Joshi (FHNW)
    
    SRCNet and Swiss SRC node update
  - 8
    Lightning talks
    
    de_Salis_2025ScienceDayZurich.pdf
    
    a) Towards understanding the formation of the universe
    
    Innovative approaches to extracting the 21-cm Hydrogen Signal
    
    Speaker: Mr Emmanuel de Salis (HES-SO)
    
    b) First Results of the Phoebos Simulation Galaxy Sizes during the Early Universe
    
    We will present initial results from the Phoebos simulation, emphasizing its connection to SKA's HI science. Using the ChaNGa code, Phoebos models a large volume of the Universe and accurately reproduces key galaxy statistics. This talk will focus on galaxy sizes at z > 8, providing new insights into the formation and evolution of early galaxies.
    
    Speaker: Floor van Donkelaar (UZH)
  - 9
    
    HPC
    
    HPC, Data science, and astrophysics @ EPFL
    
    Speaker: Emma Tolley (EPFL)
    
    RadioHPC_March17.pdf
    
    RadioHPC_March17_shorter.pdf
- SKACH: Luncheon RAA Building (UZH )
  
  RAA Building
  
  UZH
  
  Rämistrasse 59, 8001 Zurich
- SKACH: Afternoon Session RAA Building (University of Zurich)
  
  RAA Building
  
  University of Zurich
  
  Rämistrasse 59 8001 Zurich
  - 10
    Science tool demonstration
    
    a) KARABO
    
    Karabo is a powerful, accessible simulation tool designed to support researchers in radio astronomy, particularly in the context of the Square Kilometre Array (SKA). Karabo aims at facilitating learning, algorithm validation, and benchmarking within interferometry. This demonstration introduces Karabo’s capabilities with a very simple pipeline. Through a hands-on walkthrough, attendees will explore key features, including sky simulations, telescope configurations, observation setup, and image processing. Karabo’s integration with Renkulab enables users to run pipelines effortlessly, leveraging predefined telescope models and sky catalogs or creating custom setups. The session highlights practical applications, from generating synthetic sky data to processing interferometric observations using OSKAR, RASCIL, and WSClean. The demonstration is available at: https://bit.ly/karabo-demo.
    
    Speaker: André Csillaghy (University of Applied Sciences North Western Switzerland (FHNW))
    
    b) Tutorial: Radiative Transfer Simulation
    
    Learn to set and run your Radiative Transfer Simulation for the Cosmic Epoch of Reionization with the pyC2Ray code
    
    Speaker: Michele Bianco (ETH Zurich)
    
    c) A Radio Imager for Outreach
    
    I will present a radio interferometric imager made using UnityHub and the C# language that has been used at multiple events across Switzerland for scientific outreach.
    
    Speaker: Shreyam Krishna (EPFL)
  - 11
    
    Towards MID-band 6 (15-50GHz) on the SKAO
    
    Following the successful development of an elegant breadboard/Proof of Conept for the 15-25GHz direct sampling receiver, a roadmap is presented towards an engineering model, witz discussion about way to extend the upper frequency limit up to 40 or 50GHz. The talk also presets ideas to retrofit the Mid-band 6 in the dish's foreseen infrastructure, integrating with the other bands' infrastructure.
    
    Speaker: Dominique Bovey (HES-SO/HEIG-VD)
    
    20250317_SKA_science_day_MB6-EBB_and_beyond_V1.0.pdf
  - 12
    
    Opportunities in Africa
    
    I will provide a brief synopsis of current initiatives to establish astronomy research infrastructure and human capital across the African continent, and highlight specific opportunities for cooperation.
    
    Speaker: Dr Adrian Tiplady (SARAO)
    
    Africa and Opportunities in Africa - 2025 V2.pdf
- SKACH Tour of Einstein Archives: Group 3 Campus Tour Mainbuilding (ETH Zurich)
  
  Campus Tour Mainbuilding
  
  ETH Zurich
  
  ETH HG Rämistrasse 101 8006 Zürich
- SKACH Tour of Einstein Archives: Group 1 Campus Tour Mainbuilding (ETH Zurich)
  
  Campus Tour Mainbuilding
  
  ETH Zurich
  
  ETH HG Rämistrasse 101 8006 Zürich
- SKACH Tour of Einstein Archives: Group 2 Campus Tour Mainbuilding (ETH Zurich)
  
  Campus Tour Mainbuilding
  
  ETH Zurich
  
  ETH HG Rämistrasse 101 8006 Zürich
- SKACH Tour of Einstein Archives: Group 2 Campus Tour Mainbuilding (ETH Zurich)
  
  Campus Tour Mainbuilding
  
  ETH Zurich
  
  ETH HG Rämistrasse 101 8006 Zürich
- SKACH Tour of Einstein Archives: Groupe 1 Campus Tour Mainbuilding (ETH Zurich)
  
  Campus Tour Mainbuilding
  
  ETH Zurich
  
  ETH HG Rämistrasse 101 8006 Zürich
- SKACH: Apero - Level J (elevator after the fontain on your left) look for the SKACH banner Main Building (ETH)
  
  Main Building
  
  ETH
  
  Rämistrasse 101, 8092 Zürich

March 17th science meeting at Zurich prior to Council

RAA Building

Zurich, UZH University

RAA Building

Zurich, UZH University

RAA Building

University of Zurich

RAA Building

UZH

RAA Building

University of Zurich

Campus Tour Mainbuilding

ETH Zurich

Campus Tour Mainbuilding

ETH Zurich

Campus Tour Mainbuilding

ETH Zurich

Campus Tour Mainbuilding

ETH Zurich

Campus Tour Mainbuilding

ETH Zurich

Main Building

ETH