Hello, a few months ago I completed all Portal and Notebook aspect tutorials of the RSP, as an astronomy novice. I’m extremely interested in Rubin and the science it’s doing, but my background is in Computer Science and Math, not astronomy or physics. I was curious about next steps and I’ve learned about science collaborations as a place to contribute.
I figured I’d ask the community here is it’s appropriate for someone who’s a novice in astronomy but with intermediate experience with the RSP to join a science collaboration, if there’s room for someone like me in one of those groups, and what the expected time commitment is/what someone of my skill level can contribute while I work a full-time job.
Any feedback or advice that the community could provide would be very appreciated!
Hi John,
in general, Science Collaborations are simply communities of scientists from all over the world doing similar things. The policy of joining depends on the collaboration, since some have rules regarding e.g. co-authorship of publications or internal peer-review, while others are essentially free-entry. There is no general (or even common) rule about commitment to dedicate a certain number of hours, etc - in many cases the degree of participation is completely your call.
So it depends on what kind of science you want to do. If you got access to the RSP, it means you have data rights, so you are part of some research group - what does it do? From that you select the Science Collaboration that suits your interests and reach out to the SC leaders, and see if they’re ok with accepting you (usually they do).
I don’t have an answer, but I wanted to add that I am following this thread as I have a similar interest. I have no idea how to connect with people for collaboration if I am not already connected through some senior researcher. I also worry that as an early career scientist, it is inappropriate (and maybe even a negative mark on your reputation) to reach out without your supervisor or something like that, at least in some countries, so what is the culture here with Vera Rubin observatory on this? How ‘free’ or ‘welcome’ is such communication from people who are not already in the collaboration? As the advice is to reach out to the SC leaders, who I assume are senior scientists, I would appreciate if a little bit more explanation is given in what the expectation is and how such requests are perceived in this amazing Observatory .
For John, I humbly comment that I am an astronomer without a significant coding experience (comparatively as I am an observer vs astronomers who are focused on computational regime), and in my experience of 10+ years in astronomy, your background is highly sought after, even without ANY background in astronomy . In fact, I myself try to always improve my coding skills and gain computational experience which don’t come naturally with my science work. So I would highly encourage you to emphasize your background in Computer Science and Math, it is a very big plus on your expertise/record for any collaborative project.
Good luck and thank you for posting this question here.
John, as @RShA has said, every Science Collaboration is different. If you start here and follow the links, you can see what suits you, and what their rules are. Just reach out and see if you get a reply. Usually, the folks running the collaboration will want to see what your relevant experience is. Given what you have said, it sounds like you could make a useful contribution in the Informatics and Statistics Science Collaboration.
The level of commitment will vary from one Collaboration to another. But this is as much about you as about them. I used to be a member of the AGN Collaboration, but let my membership lapse, not because they kicked me out, but because my work moved elsewhere for a while, and I felt I couldn’t give it the time that I wanted to. I am now feeling I should revisit that, but need a hard think about my own time and ambitions over the next few years. (I am distinctly long of tooth.) Good luck!
I run a research program at https://science.greatbasinobservatory.org for students seeking to write first research papers in binary star studies. Come join our group and help us train others on working with the LSST RSP. As a group we are active in developing research ideas and would love to have you participate with us at any level.
While I understand that different countries and different collaborations have different customs, I’d like to note that Rubin Science Collaborations are a highly international community that in general aims to help and support early career stage researchers, and in my experience, it is very kind and friendly towards newcomers. No one will hold it against you if you reach out and ask science collaboration leaders if you can join the SC - even if the answer is “no”, it is always ok to ask, and in general, everyone is happy when there are new people who want to learn more about our science).
Thank you for the words of encouragement Maria. I would hardly even call myself a scientist, but I’ve so far found people very welcoming and I hope you can find a collaboration that fits with your interests.
I wan to echo and elevate what @RShA has said: the Science Collaborations (SCs) are designed to be welcoming and supportive communities of practice! While each works differently, and likely you will be asked what your experience is when you apply, this is not intended in general to “vet” you, but to provide you with effective onboarding and better support you. While there may be different levels of access to the resources of an SC for members that have different levels of commitment, all Science Collaborations are expected to have a way for people to join with minimal to no work commitments - it is written explicitly in our Federation Charter.
While each SC should set its own criteria and threshold for membership, there shall be a low threshold for involvement in the SC activities in order to give equitable access to the SC infrastructure, even for those who have not yet contributed a significant amount of work to the SC (e.g., new graduate students or scientists moving into a new research field).
So my recommendation is to simply look at what SC or SCs (you can be member of more than one!) does science that is closest to your interest and join!
The ISSC (informatics and statistics science collaboration) welcomes membership and contributions from those outside traditional astronomy roles. You can find out more and apply via https://issc.science.lsst.org/
I did fill out the ISSC application. I was pretty clear in the response, that I do not have a background and ties to statistics and informatic. However, the collaboration may be broader in scope than it appears from my first reading, so I completed the application. Hopefully I will learn more about the collaboration after I join. If new collaborations are created that might better cover where I can be of assistance, I hope I become sophisticated enough to find them in the future.