Dear Colleagues and Students, 
We are pleased to announce that a delegation from the Square Kilometre Array Observatory (SKAO), including the newly appointed Director-General Prof. Jessica Dempsey, Council Chair Dr. Filippo Zerbi, and Deputy Director-General Dr. Simon Berry, will be visiting SHAO in the upcoming few days. As part of this visit, Prof. Jessica Dempsey will deliver a special keynote talk to SHAO colleagues. We hereby issue this notice for your advance planning. Your active participation is warmly welcomed!

 1. Time

10:30 – 11:30, Monday, 7 September 2026 (Please save the date in your calendar.) 

 2. Venue

Lecture Hall, 3rd Floor, Xuhui Campus & Circular Conference Room, Sheshan Campus

 3. About the Talk

TOPIC:

SKAO: Transformative Potential for Chinese and Global Astronomy

ABSTRACT: 

The world's largest radio telescope is nearly built. SKA construction is at its peak across South Africa and Australia, with first science verification on the horizon. This talk delivers a picture of the project's current status — covering data systems, sustainability challenges, and the global partnerships that will be vital for the SKA to fulfil its transformative potential for Chinese and global astronomy.

 4. About the Speaker

Prof. Jessica Dempsey took office as Director-General of SKAO on 1 June 2026. She is a globally recognized radio astronomer and research leader, specializing in astronomical instrumentation and telescope design. She has led the construction and operation of telescopes across multiple continents and in some of the world's most extreme environments, and is the first Australian female scientist to have conducted research in Antarctica. As a founding member of the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) collaboration, she was part of the team awarded the Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics. Prior to her current role as DG of the SKAO, she served as Deputy Director of the East Asian Observatory and the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope in Hawaii, and as Director of ASTRON, the Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy.