SKA national Network
The Spanish SKA Network (RedSKA) was created with the aim of coordinating the SKA-related interests of the Spanish scientific, technological and industrial community in the SKA Observatory (SKAO). It is coordinated by the Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (IAA-CSIC) and is financed by different grants, with the Thematic Network for Spanish scientific and technological participation in the Square Kilometre Array (RED2022-134464-T, ‘Redes de Investigación 2022’ call from Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (MICIU)) currently in force. It has fostered the necessary contacts between all national groups interested in the SKA project at scientific, technological and industrial levels. RedSKA establishes a collaborative forum between multidisciplinary Spanish teams centred around the activities of the SKAO. The participating institutions are: Barcelona Supercomputing Centre (BSC), Centro de Astrobiología (CAB-INTA/CSIC), Centros de Estudios de Física del Cosmos de Aragón (CEFCA), Centro de Supercomputación de Galicia (CESGA), Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (IAA-CSIC), Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC), Instituto de Ciencias del Espacio (ICE-CSIC), Instituto de Física de Cantabria (IFCA-CSIC/UC), Instituto de Física Corpuscular (IFIC-CSIC/UV), Observatorio Astronómico Nacional (OAN-IGN), Univ. de Granada (UGR), Univ. de Málaga (UMA), Univ. de Salamanca (USAL) and Univ. de Valencia (UV).
The objectives focus on supporting scientific preparation for the use of the SKA data in the future and promoting the involvement of Spanish groups in projects to be carried out with SKA's precursor (telescopes physically located in the same locations as the SKA telescopes) and pathfinder (systems dotted around the globe that are engaged in SKA-related technology and science studies) telescopes. Given that the evaluation of the Key Science Projects (KSPs - legacy surveys that will occupy ~70% of time in the first 5 years of operations) will consider the ability of the teams to exploit data of the volume and complexity expected with the SKA, RedSKA provides the added value of bringing together international reference groups in various fields: SKA science groups, international SKA committees, SKA Regional Centres Network (SRCNet) international groups, experts in Exabyte-scale data mining with e-Science and Big Data techniques, and groups with the capacity to make new developments for the SKAO Development Programme (SODP). Therefore, the preparation of the community is enhanced by taking advantage of the synergies between the scientific and technological groups of the network.
In its technological aspect, the main objective is focused on maximising a technological return during the SKA construction phase and the SODP, aimed at enhancing the scientific capabilities of the telescopes in their future expansions, and identifying possible opportunities for technology transfer to other areas. Complementary, the R&D results derived from Spanish projects in areas of social impact, such as high-speed data distribution, massive data processing, or renewable energies, will be shared and promoted internationally for the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals.
