I'll make one more entry tonight about some personal science updates. First of all, the results of the Spitzer Cycle 2 competition were announced recently. My own proposal to examine post-starburst quasars in the mid-infrared was rejected, but I'm very proud of my post-doc, Zhaohui Shang, who got his "Next Generation of Quasar Spectral Energy Distrubutions" program through.
My trip to Austin involved more infrared astronomy, serving on the NASA IRTF telescope allocation committee. We had nearly 60 non-solar-system proposals to evaluate, and I was primary reviewer on the extragalactic proposals (luckily a smaller fraction in the fall semester when the north Galactic cap is mostly unobservable). The process is always difficult and a lot of work, but it's an important community service (we get an honorarium of $150, which isn't a lot of money given the many days of work involved), and is always educational. The better/clearer programs get through, usually. My post-doc's proposal didn't get through this panel (I was excluded from the deliberations due to the conflict of interest), but I think it will next time given the recommended revisions.
Finally, I'm completing my search for a second post-doc. I'll be sending out rejections when I get back from Italy and the position is officially offered with all the details and accepted by my first choice. I got about 15 applications, which is normal for this type of postdoc, and I was very happy with the applicant pool. There were several people I think would have been very successful, and I wish all applicants the best of luck in their future careers.
Posted by Mike at May 22, 2005 8:16 PM