10th Meeting of BRICS Astronomy Working Group Held in Kazan

The 10th meeting of the BRICS Astronomy Working Group was held in Kazan on 12–13 September 2024 and was organized by Kazan (Volga Region) Federal University (KFU) and the Engelhardt Astronomical Observatory with the support of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation.

Event participants presented reports on astronomical infrastructure in their countries, active astronomical observatories, and space projects within BRICS.

Discussion focused on the implementation of the flagship ‘BRICS Intelligent Telescope and Big Data Network’ project, which started in 2019, with an astronomical and intelligent data network to be created especially for project research. The network will make it possible to incorporate existing telescopes, or those under construction, and the capabilities of other space-based and ground-based multi-wavelength facilities in BRICS member states into work.

Scientists, space researchers, and agency representatives also discussed the prospects for the development of a BRICS Astronomical Journal, with a recommendation to translate the journal into different national languages to increase its appeal to the scientific community.

The international BRICS Smart Telescope and Data Transfer scientific conference was also held at Kazan University on the eve of the Working Group meeting.

The following topics were considered during the conference: ‘The Transience of Small Bodies in the Solar System’, ‘Transients in Astrophysics’, ‘Astronomical Data’, ‘Pipelines for Astronomical Data in Multichannel Observations’, ‘A Scientific Global Data Network Platform’, ‘Astronomical Instrumentation’, and ‘Outreach, Education, and Development’.

Kazan University’s active astronomical observatories were inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List a year ago at the 45th session of the World Heritage Committee in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

The next meeting of the BRICS Astronomy Working Group will be held in Brazil in 2025.

The Roscongress Foundation manages the events of Russia’s BRICS Chairship.