Dear Colleague,

We are hosting an Square Kilometre Array (SKA) workshop sponsored by Korea Astronomy and Space science Institute (KASI) and National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) on

"SKA in Seoul: Asia-Pacific Regional Workshop on HI Science"

to be held Nov 2-4, 2015 in Seoul, South Korea.

The venue at Centermark Hotel in Seoul is limited to ~70 participants; this allows us to have a small but a friendly meeting. Registration opens now at the conference website:

http://ska.kasi.re.kr/skainseoul/

* SCIENTIFIC RATIONALE *
For the coming decade, the forthcoming Square Kilometre Array (SKA) pathfinders - facilities like Apertif, ASKAP, FAST, MeerKAT, and JVLA - will open a new golden age of radio astronomy, providing unprecedented data flow of high quality multi-wavelength data in combination with the observations at other wavelengths.

As Asian countries' involvement to SKA increases and SKA re-baseline process is being finalised, it is timely to discuss about collaboration of science and engineering between Australia, one of SKA member countries, and Asian countries, which have an advantage of geological closeness to facilitate collaboration.

The main purpose of this workshop is to bring together scientists and engineers who are, or who would like to be, involved in SKA pathfinders and SKA not only to foster collaboration between those countries, but also to draw more attention and involvement from Asian astronomical communities. This meeting will be a strong drive to establish a lasting collaborative relationship between the astronomical societies in the Asia-Pacific region, thereby contributing to maximising science from the ground breaking facilities.

* INVITED SPEAKERS *
Bon-Chul Koo (Seoul National University)
Claude Carignan (University of Cape Town)
Erwin de Blok (ASTRON)
Jacqueline van Gorkom (Columbia University)
Jayaram Chengalur (NCRA)
Kyungjin Ahn (Chosun University)
Marc Verheijen (Kapteyn Astronomical Institute)
Martin Meyer (ICRAR/University of Western Australia)
Naomi McClure-Griffiths (Australian National University)
Philip Diamond (SKA Organisation)
Robert Braun (SKA Organisation)
Tzu-Ching Chang (ASIAA)
Virginia Kilborn (Swinburne University of Technology)
Xuelei Chen (NAOC)
* SCIENTIFIC ORGANIZING COMMITTEE *
Aeree Chung (Co-chair) (Yonsei University, Korea)
Se-Heon Oh (Co-chair) (ICRAR/UWA, Australia)
Kyungjin Ahn (Chosun University, Korea)
Tzu-Ching Chang (ASIAA, Taiwan)
Toshihiro Handa (Kagoshima University, Japan)
Nissim Kanekar (NCRA, India)
Di Li (NAOC, China)
Lister Staveley-Smith (ICRAR/UWA, Australia)
Stuart Wyithe (University of Melbourne, Australia)

* LOCAL ORGANIZING COMMITTEE *
Bong Won Sohn (Chair) (KASI)
Ji-Hyun Kang (KASI)
Chandreyee Sengupta (KASI)
Ha Ni Jeong (KASI)
Jonghwan Rhee (ICRAR/UWA)
Aeree Chung (Yonsei University)
Hyein Yoon (Yonsei University)

* IMPORTANT DATES *
May 15 : Registration & Abstract Submissions Open
June 30 : Registration & Abstract submission deadline
July 15 : Last day to cancel registration
July 31 : Program outline
Aug 15 : Final program
Aug 31 : Registration closes
Sept 30 : Last day for hotel reservation as part of the guaranteed block reservation
Nov 2: Registration at Centermark Hotel in Seoul, 08:00-0900 am
Nov 2-4 : Workshop sessions, Centermark Hotel, Insa-Dong, Jongno-Gu, Seoul, Korea
Nov 4 : Workshop ends at 6:00 pm

* WORKSHOP REGISTRATION *
The venue at Centermark Hotel is limited to 70 participants; this allows us to have a small, friendly meeting. Approximately 50 talks can be accommodated and these will be chosen by the SOC based on the title/abstract submitted. Approximately 10 posters can also be accommodated. Registration will be available on-line now and the registration fee is KRW 100,000 (~80 USD; KRW 50,000 for students) which will include three light breakfasts, three catered lunches, coffee/tea and souvenir. This is payable at the reception in Korean cash (a receipt will be provided).

* ABSTRACT SUBMISSION *
The deadline for receipt of abstracts is 30 June 2015. Please submit abstracts electronically at the conference website.

For more information, contact us via ska_kr@kasi.re.kr
 
on behalf of SOC and LOC,