The purpose of this Summer School is to offer, for the first time, a comprehensive view of both technical and regulatory issues related to radio astronomers' use of the spectrum. The intended audience is members of the radio astronomy and related radio engineering community, who are becoming active in this area at the local, national or international level.

Organizing Committee:

Co-Chaired by: D. Emerson (NRAO and IUCAF) and T. Gergely (NSF).

Members: J. Cohen (Jodrell Bank), W. Van Driel (Paris Obs.), M. Ohishi (NAO, Japan) and T. Tzioumis (CSIRO)

Lecturers will include experts in the relevant areas from Australia, Europe, Japan and the U.S.A

Nearly 70 years passed since K. G. Jansky first detected radio emission from the Galaxy, while searching for the origin of the weak static that was causing interference to communications. Since then, radio astronomy has revolutionized our view of the Universe through the discovery of quasars, pulsars, the Cosmic Microwave Background, and the survey of our Galaxy in the 21-cm line, molecular lines and many other phenomena. The radio window was the first non-optical window in the electromagnetic spectrum to be explored, and radio techniques continue being a prime tool in mankind's exploration of the Universe. At the same time, radio astronomy remained closely linked to the world of radio communications, adopting some of its leading technologies, and sometimes giving rise to technologies of its own that have been adopted by radio engineers for commercial applications.

Until recently, by locating telescopes far from potential sources of man-made noise, radio astronomers have enjoyed relatively easy and interference free access to large portions of the spectrum, A small number of specialists took care of regulatory issues that arose in national and international fora, which rarely required attention from the broader astronomy community.  This state of affairs is changing rapidly, as pressure on the spectrum increases due to huge increases in the demand and availability of wireless applications, communications satellites and marketing of new technologies, such as ultra-wide band systems. The development and health of radio astronomy depend critically on astronomers' continued access to the radio spectrum, and this in turn demands that astronomers and particularly radio observatories pay closer attention to the technical and regulatory issues that arise in relation to managing the radio spectrum, particularly as they relate to radio astronomy.

Support:          Funds may be available to help with the travel expenses of some participants. Please indicate if you need travel support on the registration form

The latest information may be obtained via the IUCAF web site at http://www.iucaf.org.