2009/05/13 by Nadia L. Zakamska, Zakamska, N. L., Alexia Schulz +21
Decision Sciences · #FOS: Physical sciences #Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics (astro-ph.IM) #demographic modeling and climate adaptation
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.0905.1986
openalex publication_date 2009/05/13 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
In order to attract and retain excellent researchers and diverse individuals in astrophysics, we recommend action be taken in several key areas impacting young scientists: (1) Maintain balance between large collaborations and individual projects through distribution of funding; encourage public releases of observational and simulation data for use by a broader community. (2) Improve the involvement of women, particularly at leading institutions. (3) Address the critical shortage of child care options and design reasonable profession-wide parental leave policies. (4) Streamline the job application and hiring process. We summarize our reasons for bringing these areas to the attention of the committee, and we suggest several practical steps that can be taken to address them.