About the series
The Astronomy and Astrophysics Advisory Committee is a federal advisory committee chartered under the Federal Advisory Committee Act at the recommendation of the Presidential Committee on the Organization and Management of Research in Astronomy and Astrophysics (COMRAA).
The purpose of this meeting is to provide advice and recommendations to the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) on issues within the field of astronomy and astrophysics that are of mutual interest and concern to the agencies.
- This online meeting requires advance registration: Zoom registration form.
The committee will hear presentations by representatives from NSF, NASA, DOE and other agencies relevant to astronomy and astrophysics. The primary purpose of these presentations includes a discussion of current programming and potential areas of cooperation between the agencies, as well as recommendations for continued and new areas of cooperation and mechanisms for achieving them.
Meeting agenda (All times Eastern Standard Time)
Thursday, January 29, 2026
Welcome, Opening Remarks
9:25 – 9:35 a.m.
Welcome from NSF Tie Luo, MPS Directorate Head
9:35 – 9:45 a.m.
Sign‑in (Tiana Faulcon, NSF), Logistics, Conflicts of Interest (Louise Edwards, NSF)
9:45 – 9:55 a.m.
Chair Remarks, Approval of the Minutes
Agency Updates
9:55 – 10:10 a.m.
NSF Update – Hans Krimm, Acting Astronomy Section Head
10:10 – 10:30 a.m.
Q&A
10:30 – 10:50 a.m.
DOE Update – Kathy Turner, DOE High Energy Physics
10:50 – 11:10 a.m.
Q&A
11:10 – 11:40 a.m.
NASA Update – Shawn Domagal‑Goldman, Director, Astrophysics Division, NASA SMD; Elizabeth Hook‑Rogers, NASA SMD (discussion on SCaN)
11:40 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Q&A
Report from the 4th Time Domain and Multi‑Messenger Meeting
12:00 – 12:30 p.m.
Dan Kocevski, NASA Marshall
12:30 – 12:45 p.m.
Q&A
12:45 – 1:55 p.m.
Lunch
AI and Connection to Science/AST
1:55 – 2:20 p.m.
Jesse Thaler, MIT
2:20 – 2:35 p.m.
Q&A
2:35 – 3:00 p.m.
Yuan‑Sen Ting, Ohio State University
3:00 – 3:15 p.m.
Q&A
3:15 – 4:45 p.m.
Committee Writing Period I
4:45 – 4:55 p.m.
Committee Discussion, Individual Member
4:55 p.m.
Adjourn
Friday, January 30, 2026
Opening Session
9:30 – 9:40 a.m.
Call to Order; Review Sign‑In; Review Agenda and Activities
9:40 – 10:50 a.m.
Committee Writing Period II
DESI Update
10:50 – 11:30 a.m.
Nathalie Palanque‑Delabrouille, Physics Division Director, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
11:30 – 11:45 a.m.
Q&A
11:45 a.m. – 12:55 p.m.
Lunch
CMB Panel
12:55 – 1:55 p.m.
Suzanne Staggs (Princeton) and Mark Devlin; Amy Bender (Argonne National Laboratory) and John Carlstrom (U. Chicago); Chuck Bennett (Johns Hopkins University)
1:55 – 2:15 p.m.
Q&A
2:15 – 4:35 p.m.
Committee Writing Period III
4:35 – 4:40 p.m.
Break
4:40 – 4:50 p.m.
Public Comment Period
4:50 – 5:00 p.m.
Committee Discussion
5:00 p.m.
Adjourn
For additional assistance with accessibility and reasonable accommodations, contact rarequest@nsf.gov or call 703-292-8020 to request support. Please contact NSF at least 14 days before your meeting or event date for sessions lasting one day or less and 30 days in advance for sessions lasting two or more consecutive days to allow sufficient time to coordinate arrangements.
Any opinions, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed by guest speaker(s) are those of the speaker(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the U.S. National Science Foundation.
