Issues in international collaboration in large astronomical projects

1
Issues in international collaboration in large
astronomical projects

• Richard Schilizzi
• Chair, IAU Working Group on Future Large Scale
  Facilities

2
acknowledgements

• Report of the OECD Global Science Forum Workshop
  on Best Practices in International Scientific
  Cooperation
• ALMA Project Plan
• Pierre Auger Observatory Management Plan
• SALT Business Management Plan
• Square Kilometre Array Management Plan

3
A few general remarks

• large international research collaborations are
  not straightforward
• they involve long drawn-out procedures
• international is more complex than national
• the players are

• Individual scientists
• Universities
• Research institutes
• International Scientfic Unions
• Funding bodies

• Government agencies
• Legal advisors
• High level government officials
• Intergovernmental agencies
• General public

4
What forms do research collaborations take?

• 1) between individual scientists informal, no
  exchange of funds
• 2) between research institutions can be more
  formal, requiring government agency funding
• 3) collaborations needing large injections of
  capital or operational funds
• formal approach needed with more complex
  arrangements, even if no exchange of funds
• can be based on an existing facility, or require
  a new facility
• 4) collaborations designed to provide a new
  facility, including those beyond the capability
  of a single country

Driving motivation mutual benefit
5
International collaboration or not?

• advantages
• can broaden the research base
• reduces financial burden to individual partners
  (but note that total cost usually higher)
• cross-cultural benefits at scientific and
  personal level
• can provide access to facilities or information
  beyond the reach of individual participants

• disadvantages
• loss of national sovereignity and control
• loss of home-team advantage
• extra administrative complexity
• potential difficulties of working abroad

6
Policy-makers

• Governments and their agencies dont like
  surprises!
• Bring policy-makers into the process at an early
  stage

7
Types of collaborative agreement

• Intergovernmental treaty eg ESO
• Cooperative agreement eg Canary Islands
  Agreement on Cooperation in Astrophysics
• Inter-agency agreements eg CFHT, IRAM, JCMT,
  Gemini, JIVE, ALMA

8
leadership

• Individual level
• Need motivated individuals to steer project
  through the scientific, administrative and
  political processes
• Consultation with potential stake-holders and
  scientific community
• Lead country?
• Host to formal secretariat/headquarters/facility
  itself
• If a lead country arrangement is preferred,
  better to evolve this early in the project so
  host country characteristics can be included in
  project decisions

9
Funding and finance

• Realistic negotiations with partners and
  government agencies require realistic cost
  estimates early in project
• Need to consider division of costs amongst
  partners

• Host country premium?
• Cash vs in-kind
• juste retour

• Flat rate
• Based on GDP
• Based on expected usage

• Business plan
• Problem how to align funding opportunities
  world-wide in an international project

10
Project governance

• Statutes, rules and procedures ?
• managerial framework
• clear decision-making procedures
• voting rights
• Should the organisation be a legal entity?
• Entrance and exit criteria for partners

11
Access policy

• Open access
• Only members of the collaboration
• Access by payment

12
Intellectual Property

• Procedures needed from the start
• Take account of different guidelines and
  regulations for IPR in the different countries

13
Site selection for facility, HQ, or science
centres

• Best facility site for the best science
• Need well-defined and transparent criteria to
  allow potential sites to compete on a fair basis
• In some cases, site is determined uniquely by
  geography. Where this is not clear-cut, financial
  and political trade-offs may play a role.

14
Industry and business

• Large astronomical projects attractive to
  commercial interests
• Participation in pre-competitive research
  together with research institutes
• Contracts for construction
• Government policy to encourage public-private
  partnerships in many countries

15
Organisation and management

• Pre-international funding
• Square Kilometre Array
• Funded
• ALMA
• Pierre Auger Observatory
• South African Large Telescope

16
Square Kilometre Array Current organisation
17
Square Kilometre Array Likely organisation in
2005
sponsors
18
Pierre Auger Observatory

• Separate financial and scientific oversight
• - Collaboration Board
• - Financial Board
• Executive financial institution (CERN)
• 80 of construction funding is in-kind
• Common fund is essential

19
ALMA

• One ALMA Board - no separated financial and
  scientific oversight
• Financial authority remains with the legal entity
  in each region, the regional executive
• -Fair Return ? multiple project offices

20
South Africa Large Telescope (SALT) Foundation
Pty LTD
Board of directors

• Private company, registered in SAfr, and operated
  as a non-profit organisation
• 10 shareholder organisations in 5 countries
• Limited liability, long term, clear ownership
  structure
• Shareholders fund capital costs and first 10
  years of operation

21
Global issues

• global funding role for the OECD Global
  Science Forum?
• develop astronomy-wide scientific priorities for
  large projects role for the IAU?
• multi-wavelength observatory requires telescopes
  across the e-m spectrum to be contemporaneous and
  able to see the same sky
• forget about detailed collaboration on
  individual projects, and agree at a global level
  that one country or region does one of the large
  projects, and another country or region does
  another.

22
Conclusions

• Successful international collaborations require
• Clear and compelling scientific objectives
• Motivated scientists committed for the long term
• Mutual benefit for all participants
• Credible organisation and management
• Early participation of policy-makers
• A means of internationally-coordinated funding
• What role for the IAU?
• develop scientific priorities for individual
  projects?
• global forward look for astronomy?