What is PHISCC

Pathfinder H i SCience Community

PHISCC originally started in 2009 as a small committee, i.e., SKA Pathfinder H i Science Coordination Committee. The goal of the committee was to coordinate activities on the way to the H i surveys on SKA pathfinders and precursors. At that time, PHISCC members were primarily the PIs of the major H i surveys.

With the H i surveys in full swing — some even completed — PHISCC has broadened into an H i community forum with the goals of facilitating the discussion of our results and techniques, strengthening our science and our community, and engaging early-career researchers. All of these are done primarily through the organisation of the approximately yearly PHISCC workshops, whose main focus is still on SKA pathfinders and precursors.

PHISCC workshops

PHISCC workshops include typically a mix of plenary science sessions and smaller, more focused, technical break-out sessions. Past workshops include:

PHISCC coordinators

With the current format, the organisation of the PHISCC workshops is coordinated by a small group of seven H i astronomers covering a range of expertise both in terms of science topics and telescopes. The plan is for a few of these coordinators to be replaced every few years to keep the group lively and representative of an evolving community.

The current PHISCC coordinators are:

Previously, PHISCC activities have been coordinated by Lister Staveley-Smith and Marc Verheijen.