The UK SKA Regional Centre Strategy sets out the vision, pillars and objectives for the UK’s involvement in the SKA Regional Centre work. It spans the construction and early operations phases of the telescope (2022 to 2030), and our work is contributing directly to its delivery.

Why an SKAO Regional Centre?

The Square Kilometre Array Observatory (SKAO) will be the world’s largest and most sensitive radio telescope, made up of hundreds of dishes in South Africa and over a hundred thousand antennas in Australia. Together these instruments will help astronomers answer some of the biggest questions about the Universe — but they will also produce an extraordinary amount of data.

By 2030, the telescopes are expected to deliver around 2 petabytes of data every day, with several more petabytes of advanced science products created by researchers on top of that. No single computer — or even a single data centre — can handle this. Instead, the SKA relies on a global network of SKA Regional Centres (the SRCNet): a connected set of computing and data facilities, joined by high-speed networks, that give scientists a single doorway to access, process, analyse and store SKA data, along with the expert support to make sense of it.

The UK SKA Regional Centre (ukSRC) is the UK’s contribution to that global network. Building it ensures UK researchers can be among the first to explore the discoveries the SKA makes possible, while developing world-leading skills and data technologies that benefit science, industry and the wider economy.

Our vision

For the SRCNet to meet the needs of the UK science community — providing seamless access to SKA data and support, and enabling UK scientists to lead the way in exploiting it.

Our mission

  • To maximise the return to the UK by contributing to the SRCNet at a level that matches the UK’s leading role in the SKA project.
  • To deliver a UK node of the network, helping the UK maximise its scientific return and drive innovation in data science.

Our three strategic pillars

The strategy is built around three pillars, each describing a different part of the work.

1. The SRC Network

To lead, participate in and influence global SKA Regional Centre activities for the benefit of the UK.

The UK has a long history of leadership in radio astronomy, and we want to carry that into the SRCNet. By helping to design and shape how the global network works — its technology, standards and ways of working — we ensure it serves UK priorities and builds lasting international partnerships in research, development and industry.

2. The UK SKA Regional Centre

To design, deliver and support an SRC within the UK that forms a key part of the global network.

We are building a UK node that meets the global standards of the SRCNet while being tailored to the needs of UK researchers. Hosting a centre in the UK gives our community the best possible opportunity to exploit SKA science, makes the UK an attractive destination for top scientists, and develops cutting-edge data and computing capabilities in collaboration with industry.

3. The UK science community

To communicate and engage with the UK science community, making sure the network and the ukSRC meet its needs.

The ukSRC exists to serve scientists, so we work closely with the community to understand their priorities and keep them informed. This pillar also covers training and skills — from students and apprentices to early-career researchers — building a skilled UK workforce, and engaging the public to inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers.

Working with others

The ukSRC builds on, and works alongside, existing UK and international facilities. We collaborate with SKA pathfinder and precursor telescopes such as MeerKAT, ASKAP, LOFAR and e-MERLIN, with national computing initiatives including IRIS, DiRAC, GridPP and JISC, and with international partners across Europe and beyond. These connections let us test new capabilities with real data, share expertise and reduce risk as we prepare for full SKA operations.

Source: Madden, G., 2022. UK SKA Regional Centre Strategy — 1. Summary, 2. Context and Scope. UKRI: UK Research and Innovation, United Kingdom. Retrieved from policycommons.net. CID: 20.500.12592/n9pp2f.