Swiss SKA Days 2025
→
Europe/Zurich
SW E11 (Aula) (ZHAW - SW Building)
SW E11 (Aula)
ZHAW - SW Building
ZHAW School of Management and Law
St.-Georgen-Platz 2
CH-8401 Winterthur
Joanna Jermini-Howard,
Jean-Paul Kneib
(EPFL),
Carolyn Crichton
Description
We are pleased to invite you to participate to the 9th edition of the Swiss SKA days. During this exciting 3-day event we will discuss the ambitious SKA radio-astronomy project at the forefront of advanced technology and computing.
The program will include the following topics addressed in plenary and parallel sessions:
- Updates on the SKA Observatory and precursor facilities
- SKA Regional Centers
- Astrophysics with the SKA and precursors
- Computing, Simulations and Data Science
- Instrumentation and more...
The Square Kilometer Array Observatory (SKAO) project is an international effort to build the world’s largest radio telescope, with eventually over one square kilometer of collecting area in South Africa and Australia. The SKA Days 2025 will discuss the Swiss interest and participation in this ambitious project.
The 9th Swiss SKA meeting will take place from Monday 25th August to Wednesday 27th August 2025 in Winterthur on the campus of ZHAW, University of Applied Sciences.
Participants
Ajith Sampath
Alexandre Refregier
Alexey Boyarsky
Andreas Wassmer
Andrii Neronov
André Csillaghy
Ariane Capt
Ashutosh Kumar Mishra
Axel Murk
Ayoub Tajja
Brandon Panos
Carolina Lindqvist
Carolyn Crichton
Chris Finlay
Daniel Schaerer
Daniel Swingler
Darren Reed
Davide Piras
Devin Crichton
Dino Conciatore
Dirk Wilhelm
Elena Gavagnin
Emma Tolley
Emmanuelle David
Erica Lastufka
Etienne Orliac
Floor van Donkelaar
Florian Cabot
Frank-Peter Schilling
Gilles Cibiel
Hamza Chouh
Hatem Ghorbel
Hojka Jarc
Ivana Novak
Jean-Paul Kneib
Jennifer Studer
Jessica Dempsey
Joanna Jermini-Howard
John Hennig
Katharine Mulrey
Keletso Dichaba
Luca Valenziano
Lucio Mayer
Lukas Gehrig
Lukas Rohr
Marc Audard
Mariia Drozdova
Mark Sargent
Markus Bredberg
Massimo De Santis
Matthias Bühler
Michel Hübner
Michel Morales
Michele Bianco
Mike Peel
Miroslav Pantaleev
Noah Kubli
Pablo Llopis Sanmillan
Pascal Frei
Pascal Herzog
Pascal Hitz
Pedro Capelo
Philipp Denzel
Piero Benvenuti
Prasenjit Saha
Regula Jöhl
Reto Steiner
Rohini Joshi
Ryan Leadbetter
Rémi Poitevineau
Salvatore Di Nardo
Sebastian Keller
Shreyam Krishna
Simon Berger
Simon Berry
Stasa Kostic
Stephan Hellmich
Susanne Wampfler
Swarna Chatterjee
Tanya Petersen
Theresa Schmiedel
Thierry Volery
Thilo Stadelmann
Victor Helson
Victor Holanda
Vitaliy Kinakh
Xiaoran Chen
Yvonne Marie-Jeanne Bemelmans
Contact
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10:00
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10:30
Registration and Welcome Coffee 30m In front of Aula
In front of Aula
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10:30
→
12:55
Monday Morning: Opening Session (Day 1) SW E11 (Aula)
SW E11 (Aula)
ZHAW - SW Building
ZHAW School of Management and Law St.-Georgen-Platz 2 CH-8401 WinterthurConvener: Prof. Jean-Paul Kneib (EPFL)- 10:30
-
10:35
Welcome to Swiss SKA Days 2025 from ZHAW 15mSpeaker: Prof. Reto Steiner (ZHAW)
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10:50
Welcome - Logistical information 10mSpeaker: Dr Elena Gavagnin (ZHAW Zurich University of Applied Sciences)
- 11:00
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11:20
Switzerlands's perspective on the SKA radio-astronomy project 10mSpeaker: Dr Simon Berger (CH - SERI)
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11:30
SKACH Communications Update 20mSpeaker: Tanya Petersen (EPFL)
- 11:50
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12:05
Quick Break/Stretch and Refresh 10m
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12:15
Keynote - Learning in low frequency: Charting a path for SKA-Low from LOFAR lessons 40mSpeaker: Jessica Dempsey (ASTRON)
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13:00
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14:00
Lunch (Group photo) 1h
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14:00
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15:05
Monday Afternoon: SKAO Regional Centers (SRCs) SW E11 (Aula)
SW E11 (Aula)
ZHAW - SW Building
ZHAW School of Management and Law St.-Georgen-Platz 2 CH-8401 WinterthurConvener: Pablo Llopis Sanmillan (EPFL)-
14:00
Updates from SRCNet Project Scientists 20mSpeaker: Chin-Shin Chang (University of Geneva)
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14:20
Swiss SRC contributions to SRCNet 25mSpeaker: Rohini Joshi (FHNW)
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14:45
SRCNet Infrastructure updates for CHSRC 20mSpeakers: Carolina Lindqvist (EPFL), Dino Conciatore (ETHZ/CSCS)
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14:00
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15:05
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15:35
Coffee Break 30m In front of Auditorium
In front of Auditorium
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15:35
→
16:35
Monday Afternoon: CTAO-SKAO Synergies SW 401
SW 401
ZHAW - SW Building
Convener: Victor Holanda (ETHZ/CSCS)-
15:35
Unveiling the origins of high energy cosmic rays with the SKAO and CTAO 20mSpeaker: Dr Katharine Mulrey (Astro)
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15:55
Behind the Firewall: Unseen Synergies in CTAO and SKAO 20mSpeaker: Victor Holanda (ETHZ/CSCS)
- 16:15
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15:35
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15:35
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17:05
Monday Afternoon: Industry Contributions & Opportunities SW E11 (Aula)
SW E11 (Aula)
ZHAW - SW Building
ZHAW School of Management and Law St.-Georgen-Platz 2 CH-8401 WinterthurConvener: Michel Hübner (Swiss ILO Office)- 15:35
-
15:50
State-of-the-art Time & Frequency references for SKA-Low & SKA-Mid 15mSpeaker: Gilles CIBIEL (T4Science)
- 16:05
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16:20
Scaling up the Central Signal Processor 15mSpeaker: Ivana Novak (Cosylab Switzerland)
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16:35
Co-design for the SKA Science Data Processor 15mSpeaker: Hamza Chouh (EPFL)
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16:50
Progress towards an industrial Rb two-photon clock tailored for scientific applications 15mSpeaker: Victor Helson (CSEM)
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17:05
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17:10
Closing Remarks SW E11 (Aula)
SW E11 (Aula)
ZHAW - SW Building
ZHAW School of Management and Law St.-Georgen-Platz 2 CH-8401 Winterthur -
18:00
→
21:00
Welcome Reception 3h At the Park Hotel Winterthur
At the Park Hotel Winterthur
Park Hotel, Stadthausstrasse 4, CH-8400 Winterthur
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10:00
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10:30
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-
08:30
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09:00
Arrival & Coffee 30m
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09:00
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09:15
Tuesday morning: Opening Session (Day 2) SW E11 (Aula)
SW E11 (Aula)
ZHAW - SW Building
ZHAW School of Management and Law St.-Georgen-Platz 2 CH-8401 WinterthurConvener: Emma Tolley (EPFL)-
09:00
A plenary overview of the parallel sessions 15mSpeaker: Emma Tolley (EPFL)
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09:00
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09:15
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10:55
Tuesday morning: Dark & Quiet Skies SW 401
SW 401
ZHAW - SW Building
Convener: Carolyn Crichton-
09:15
Satellite Mega-constellations: The risks for the SKA and a Potential Solution with TABASCAL 20mSpeaker: Dr Chris Finlay (EPFL)
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09:35
Committee on Radio Astronomy Frequencies: an update on our ongoing work for protecting radio astronomy 20mSpeaker: Susanne Wampfler (Center for Space and Habitability, University of Bern)
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09:55
The renewed IAU Centre for the Protection of Dark and Quiet Sky 20mSpeaker: Prof. Piero Benvenuti (International Astronomical Union CPS)
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10:15
Satellite software tools for the community 20mSpeaker: Mike Peel (Imperial College London)
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10:35
The importance of Dark and Quiet Skies in Swiss Astronomy and the Dialog with the Space Industry 20mSpeaker: Stephan Hellmich (EPFL)
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09:15
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09:15
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10:35
Tuesday morning: Data Science & Imaging (Part 1) SW E11 (Aula)
SW E11 (Aula)
ZHAW - SW Building
ZHAW School of Management and Law St.-Georgen-Platz 2 CH-8401 WinterthurConvener: Emma Tolley (EPFL)-
09:15
The R2D2 deep neural network series paradigm for radio-astronomical imaging 20mSpeaker: Mr Ayoub Tajja (EPFL)
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09:35
Classification of cluster radio emission with machine learning 20mSpeaker: Markus Bredberg (EPFL)
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09:55
Radio Astronomy in the era of Large Models: Specialised Fine-tuning 20mSpeaker: Erica Lastufka (University of Geneva)
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10:15
Complex-valued DDRM for Visibility inpainting 20mSpeaker: Michel Morales (EPFL)
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09:15
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10:55
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11:25
Coffee Break 30m
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11:25
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11:45
Monday Morning: SKACH Science Tools SW 401
SW 401
ZHAW - SW Building
Convener: Dr Chris Finlay (EPFL)-
11:25
Karabo Community Poll 20mSpeaker: Dr Chris Finlay (EPFL)
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11:25
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11:25
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12:25
Tuesday morning: Data Science & Imaging (Part 2) SW E11 (Aula)
SW E11 (Aula)
ZHAW - SW Building
ZHAW School of Management and Law St.-Georgen-Platz 2 CH-8401 WinterthurConvener: Emma Tolley (EPFL)-
11:25
Separating Point Source Contaminants at the Visibility Level 20mSpeaker: Shreyam Krishna (EPFL)
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11:45
Galaxy Clusters on the Road to the SKA: Probing Diffuse Emission with Machine Learning 20mSpeaker: Dr Swarna Chatterjee (Rhodes University)
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12:05
Radio Astronomy in the era of Large Models: Can Vision-Language Models Generalize to Unseen Scientific Data? 20mSpeakers: Mariia Drozdova (University of Geneva), Vitaliy Kinakh (University of Geneva)
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11:25
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11:45
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12:25
Tuesday morning: Precursor Science SW 401
SW 401
ZHAW - SW Building
Convener: Devin Crichton (ETH Zurich)-
11:45
The Hydrogen Intensity and Real-time Analysis eXperiment (HIRAX) - Overview and Status Update 20mSpeakers: Devin Crichton (ETH Zurich), Jennifer Studer (ETH Zurich)
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12:05
Primary Beam Chromaticity in HIRAX: Characterization from Simulations and Power Spectrum Implications 20mSpeaker: Ajith Sampath (University of Geneva)
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11:45
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12:30
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13:30
Lunch 1h
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13:30
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14:30
Tuesday afternoon: Karabo Workshop SW E11 (Aula)
SW E11 (Aula)
ZHAW - SW Building
ZHAW School of Management and Law St.-Georgen-Platz 2 CH-8401 Winterthur-
13:30
Karabo Update and Tutorial: Radio Interferometry Simulations, Now Including RFI 1hSpeaker: Dr Chris Finlay (EPFL)
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13:30
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14:30
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14:55
Tuesday afternoon: VIRUP SW E11 (Aula)
SW E11 (Aula)
ZHAW - SW Building
ZHAW School of Management and Law St.-Georgen-Platz 2 CH-8401 Winterthur- 14:30
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14:55
→
15:55
Tuesday afternoon: CHSRC Workshop SW E11 (Aula)
SW E11 (Aula)
ZHAW - SW Building
ZHAW School of Management and Law St.-Georgen-Platz 2 CH-8401 Winterthur-
14:55
CHSRC workshop 1hSpeakers: Chin-Shin Chang (University of Geneva), Rohini Joshi (FHNW)
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14:55
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15:55
→
16:00
Closing Remarks SW E11 (Aula)
SW E11 (Aula)
ZHAW - SW Building
ZHAW School of Management and Law St.-Georgen-Platz 2 CH-8401 WinterthurConvener: Joanna Jermini-Howard -
16:00
→
21:30
Social Event - Visit of Technorama and Dinner 5h 30m
16:00 Departure by shuttle from the conference venue to Technorama Winterthur
16:15–18:00 Visit of Technorama, Switzerland’s Science Center
18:00–18:15 Transfer by shuttle to Restaurant Goldenberg, Winterthur
from 18:15 Dinner and informal networking at Restaurant Goldenberg
ca. 21:30 Return shuttle transfer to Winterthur (walking option available)
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08:30
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09:00
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-
08:30
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09:00
Arrival & Coffee 30m
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09:00
→
09:05
Wednesday Morning: Opening Session (Day 3) SW E11 (Aula)
SW E11 (Aula)
ZHAW - SW Building
ZHAW School of Management and Law St.-Georgen-Platz 2 CH-8401 WinterthurConvener: Carolyn Crichton -
09:05
→
10:35
Wednesday Morning: Astro Science SW E11 (Aula)
SW E11 (Aula)
ZHAW - SW Building
ZHAW School of Management and Law St.-Georgen-Platz 2 CH-8401 WinterthurConvener: Daniel Schaerer (Observatoire de Geneve)-
09:05
A Spin-Glass Formulation for Solar Magnetic Field Disambiguation 15mSpeaker: Brandon Panos (FHNW)
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09:20
Extragalactic survey science in deep SKA multi-frequency continuum observations 15mSpeaker: Dr Mark Sargent (EPFL LASTRO)
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09:35
Stochastic Star Formation and Its Role in Shaping Cosmic Reionization 15mSpeaker: Michele Bianco (ETH Zurich)
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09:50
Spectral studies of MERGHERS cluster sources 15mSpeaker: Keletso Dichaba (Rhodes University)
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10:05
Gravitational lensing of FRBs: prospects for probing microlens populations in lensing galaxies 15mSpeaker: Prasenjit Saha (University of Zurich)
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10:20
The Science Data Challenge 3b (Inference) results 15mSpeakers: Davide Piras (University of Geneva), Massimo De Santis (HES-SO)
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09:05
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10:35
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11:05
Coffee Break 30m
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11:05
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12:20
Wednesday Morning: Data Science & Simulations SW E11 (Aula)
SW E11 (Aula)
ZHAW - SW Building
ZHAW School of Management and Law St.-Georgen-Platz 2 CH-8401 WinterthurConvener: Darren Reed (University of Zurich)-
11:05
Fast Simulation of Cosmological Neutral Hydrogen based on the Halo Model 15mSpeaker: Pascal Hitz (ETH Zurich)
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11:20
Investigating the Birth of Galactic Discs in the PHOEBOS Simulation 15mSpeaker: Daniel Swingler (UZH)
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11:35
Connecting galaxy theory and observables using generative deep learning 15mSpeaker: Dr Philipp Denzel (Centre for Artificial Intelligence, ZHAW)
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11:50
Advancing cosmological simulations of fuzzy dark matter (FDM) with physics informed neural networks (PINNs) and generative modeling 15mSpeaker: Ashutosh Kumar Mishra (EPFL)
- 12:05
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11:05
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12:20
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12:25
Closing Remarks SW E11 (Aula)
SW E11 (Aula)
ZHAW - SW Building
ZHAW School of Management and Law St.-Georgen-Platz 2 CH-8401 WinterthurConvener: Prof. Jean-Paul Kneib (EPFL) -
12:30
→
13:30
Lunch - End of conference 1h
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08:30
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09:00