The UK Square Kilometre Array Regional Centre 2023-2025

The Square Kilometre Array Observatory (SKAO) is a large, next-generation radio telescope that is planned to be many times more sensitive than the current most sensitive telescopes in the world and will transform our view of the Universe. It is a global mega-science project involving scientists and engineers from institutes and industry partners in 16 member countries.

The Observatory comprises two telescope facilities; one located in South Africa, SKA-MID, to observe radio frequencies between 350MHz and 15.4GHz, and one located in Australia, SKA-LOW, to observe lower band frequencies between 50MHz and 350MHz. The SKAO's Global Headquarters (HQ), from where the SKA Design Authority directs and manages the whole SKA Programme, is adjacent to the University of Manchester's (UoM's) Jodrell Bank Observatory (JBO), home to the iconic Lovell telescope and operational HQ of the e-MERLIN interferometer, an SKA Pathfinder instrument. The SKA is one of a small number of flagship astronomical instruments that will span the entire electromagnetic spectrum from radio to gamma rays, and beyond the electromagnetic spectrum to gravitational waves, cosmic rays and neutrinos, and whose collective aim is chart the full history of the universe from its beginnings in the Big Bang to the present day.

The operation of the SKA Observatory assumes the existence of SKA Regional Centres (SRCs) to deliver a range of support to the science community. The SRCs are required in order to provide the main portal for scientists to access the SKA including provision of computing resources and support to enable the science user community to analyse and extract science from data products produced by the SKA. An SRC Network (SRCNet) will be made up of SRCs distributed around the world in SKA Member countries. Each SRC will be required to conform to agreed standards in protocols, data architecture and information management policies to ensure that they appear as a single federated entity to SKA...