The Italian National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF) invites the astrophysical community to attend the “The Fifth National Workshop on the SKA Project - From precursors to SKAO: shaping the future of Italian radio astronomy”, that will be held on 24 - 28 November 2025 in Bologna.
Important Deadlines:
Pre-registration closes on 30 June 2025
Call for abstracts closes on 31 July 2025
Registration closes on 30 October 2025
Programme: See Timetable
Workshop description and aims
With nearly 200 dishes in South Africa and more than 130,000 antennas in Australia operating across the radio spectrum, the SKA Observatory (SKAO) is expected to revolutionise our knowledge in all fields of modern astrophysics and cosmology. It will also have substantial scientific applications in general and astroparticle physics. The SKAO will enable a wealth of unique discoveries in areas as diverse as the formation of Earth-like planets, the origin of gravitational waves, the origin of cosmic magnetic fields, the formation and growth of stars, galaxies and black holes, as well as the large-scale cosmic structure, back to the epoch of reionization and cosmic dawn.
Awaiting the SKAO’s telescopes, radio astronomy is rapidly advancing under the impetus of several new, state-of-the-art facilities, collectively known as Precursors and Pathfinders. In particular, the advent of ASKAP, MeerKAT and LOFAR has considerably broadened the observational parameter space and opened new windows on several astrophysical areas. Leveraging these facilities leads to the design of future SKA surveys, fosters the development of advanced data analysis skills, and ultimately contributes to the formation of national and international SKA research teams.
Italy, through the Italian National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF), has been involved in the project since the establishment of the initial SKA Organisation (in 2012) and is one of the six countries that founded the SKA Observatory in 2019. On the way to SKA operations, INAF joined the International LOFAR Telescope (ILT) in 2018 and the MeerKAT+ project (an extension of MeerKAT) in 2020. In addition to this, INAF will provide high-frequency receivers for the MeerKAT dishes. To fully exploit the SKA capabilities, INAF is working towards the development of a dedicated data analysis facility which will join the so-called SKA Regional Centres network (SRCnet): a distributed network of data centres housing high-end computing facilities for data processing and long-term archiving, which are also expected to provide proposal preparation and data handling support to SKA users. Italy is, therefore, in an ideal position to play an essential role in the SKA era and get leadership roles in future SKA surveys.
The construction of the SKAO’s telescopes is well underway, with science verification planned in 2027, and shared-risk projects expected to start in 2029. In preparation for this, the international SKA community is currently updating the SKA science case, with a first opportunity to present ideas and projects for early exploitation of the SKA telescopes next June at the international SKA conference organised in Germany.
With operations quickly approaching and scientific activities blooming, the time is ripe to start organising and coordinating the Italian community for an early engagement in SKA observational programmes.
The main goals of this Fifth National Conference are:
- present to the broad Italian scientific community the ongoing construction activities and timelines, as well as other technology projects relevant to the SKAO, highlighting the Italian contribution;
- review the ongoing SKA-related scientific activities in Italy, either resulting from precursors and pathfinders or theoretical/simulation studies, or planning for the synergistic use of other facilities. The community is encouraged to present their work prospectively, giving particular emphasis to plans for future SKA surveys;
- present the current activities towards the development of the Italian node of the SKA Regional Centre network, as well as the Italian contribution to SKA-related data analysis tools and pipelines;
- stimulate scientific collaborations at a national level among the various groups interested in exploiting new-generation radio surveys and start organising the future SKA teams, easing early engagement in SKA operations.
The workshop will cover the following scientific themes:
- Cosmology
- Cradle of Life & Our Galaxy
- Epoch of Reionization and Cosmic Dawn
- Galaxy Clusters & LSS (relativistic particles and magnetic fields)
- Galaxy Evolution & AGN
- Pulsars & GW detection (PTAs)
- Transients & GW follow-up
The conference will give the community at large (not only the radio astronomical one) the opportunity to discuss common scientific interests, establish and/or widen collaborations towards future SKA surveys.
