| About | Meeting Info | Talks & Schedule | Recruiting Info |
The inspiration for this splinter meeting is our desire (shared by many of our friends and colleagues from both data science and astronomy) to create a more cohesive community among Astronomers-Turned-Data-Scientists (ATDS) and between ATDS and current astronomers (especially those who use data science tools and techniques in their research, as well as those who might be interested in transitioning into a data science career).
The meeting will take place during the AAS 2019 Winter meeting in Seattle, WA on Monday, January 7 and Tuesday, January 8.
The first day (Monday) will include a series of talks (in Room 4C-1) that cover a wide range of topics and is aimed specifically at ATDS who are currently working as data scientists in industry. The schedule includes mostly technical talks by data scientists, for data scientists. We have also included some career-related presentations as well, parts of which will be more applicable to current data scientists and parts of which will be more applicable to prospective data scientists at the AAS Meeting. The full list of talks can be found below.
On the second day (Tuesday), we will help facilitate informal, more focused meetups/discussions - depending on who attends the Splinter Meeting and the domains of expertise of the attendees. For instance, we might have meetups around NLP, data infrastructure, GANs and NNs, team management, product planning & roadmapping, etc. If there is a meetup topic you would like to see, or something you would like to hack at during the second day, let us know.
In addition, networking and recruiting among the current data scientists and among prospective data scientists is strongly encouraged. To that end, on the second day (Tuesday), there will be a AAS Career Networking & Job Fair and other related events (more recruiting info can be found below).
We will also have two off-site evening events. On Monday, January 7, Twitter will host us as their Seattle office, which is about 0.2 miles away from the Convention Center (1501 4th Ave, 19th Floor, Suite 1900) for a social with drinks and appetizers along with a brief moderated Q&A with a couple of Twitter ATDS. And on Tuesday, January 8, at 7:00pm, Insight Data Science will host us at their Seattle office, which is about 1 mile away from the Convention Center (605 1st Ave, Suite 200) for a social with food and drinks.
If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact us at Astro2Data{at}gmail{dot}com and we look forward to seeing you in January!
Sincerely,
Jessica Kirkpatrick (Slack),
Emily McLinden (Square), &
Jeffrey Silverman (Samba TV)
In order to strengthen the connection between the AAS and former members, the AAS has recently created a new class of membership: Alumni Affiliate. The 2019 membership fee is $103 and one qualifies for this membership if they "do not depend on the astronomical sciences or related fields as their primary source of income or support". Furthermore, prior AAS membership at the Full, Associate, or Junior (i.e., student) level is desired (for ATDS attendees), but not required. Note that it takes a few days for an Alumni Affiliate application to be processed, and you will receive an email confirmation and member ID once your membership is approved. If you have any questions regarding AAS membership, please contact Diane Frendak.
Once someone is an Alumni Affiliate member of the AAS (and has their valid member ID), they can register for the AAS Winter Meeting at the highly reduced rate of $233 (this is in addition to the membership fee mentioned above), valid through December 10. After that date, the registration rate is still highly reduced, but will go up to $307 (and you can register online or at the meeting). You must register for the AAS Meeting in order to attend the ATDS Splinter Meeting, but the registration does include all aspects of the AAS Meeting, not just the ATDS Splinter Meeting. Note that meeting registration is $911 for non-members.
The talks will take place on Monday, January 7, in Room 4C-1. All talks will be 20 minutes total (10-15 minutes of content with ~5 minutes of Q&A). Click here for more information about the speakers and their talks, including the full abstracts.
The scientific program for entire AAS Meeting can be found here. The ATDS schedule for the first day (Monday) avoids most Plenary and Prize Talks and includes ample time for mingling and networking during coffee breaks and lunch.
| Event | Time |
|---|---|
| ATDS Welcome Mingling | 9:00am - 9:30am |
| Morning Session 1 (Welcome Remarks, M. George, C. Davis) | 9:30am - 10:30am |
| Morning Coffee Break | 10:30am - 10:50am |
| Morning Session 2 (Planning Session, R. Davari) | 10:50am - 11:30am |
| Break for AAS Prize Talk | 11:30am - 12:30pm |
| Lunch | 12:30pm - 2:00pm |
| Afternoon Session 1 (D. Saul, M. Busha, T. Tanaka) | 2:00pm - 3:00pm |
| Afternoon Coffee Break | 3:00pm - 3:20pm |
| Afternoon Session 2 (J. Miller, U. Vijh, E. Barton) | 3:20pm - 4:20pm |
| Break for AAS Prize Talk | 4:20pm - 5:30pm |
| Evening Session 1 (J. Hollek, C. Lindner, D. Lee-Brown) | 5:30pm - 6:30pm |
On the second day (Tuesday), we will have some informal breakout/meetup sessions on a variety of topics. We'll convene in the lobby of the Sheraton Grand Seattle (across the street from the Convention Center) at 9:00am and split into groups from there. Some topics suggested by the attendees are:
Twitter will host us at their Seattle office, which is about 0.2 miles away from the Convention Center (1501 4th Ave, 19th Floor, Suite 1900). Doors will open at 6:30pm and the intro and moderated Q&A will start at 7:15pm and end at about 8:30pm. The event will include drinks and appetizers. If you plan to attend this event, you MUST sign up here, so that you can get through building security. Thanks!
Insight Data Science will host us at their Seattle office, which is about 1 mile away from the Convention Center (605 1st Ave, Suite 200, at the historic Mutual Life Building on top of the toy store). A group will head to the event from the Career Networking & Job Fair area of the Exhibit Hall at 6:30pm. It will start at 7:00pm and include light food and drinks. In addition, there will be a panel discussion and Q&A on the topic of data ethics. There will be information for astronomers interested in applying to the program, as well as information for current data scientists and recruiters looking to work with Insight to hire new data scientists.