China is looking for aliens discovery The largest telescope in the world, who wants to recruit people is also zero applicants

China's world's largest radio telescope built to explore extraterrestrial life entitiesFAST"(Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope: 500 meter opening spherical radio telescope) has been completed, and it is entering the stage of operation start. China actually recruited talent from the world to oversee the facility, but it seems that people who respond to recruitment are still "zeroed" despite high salary being indicated.

China built the world's largest telescope, but has no one to run it | Ars Technica
https://arstechnica.com/science/2017/08/china-built-the-worlds-largest-telescope-but-has-no-one-to-run-it/

ChineseNational Development and Reform CommissionIs responsible for the budget and belongs to the Chinese Academy of SciencesNational observatoryFAST which is managed by the world is the world's largest reflection type radio telescope whose opening diameter reaches 500 meters. Until the FAST was completed, the world's largest was operated by the US in Puerto RicoArecibo ObservatoryIt was 305 meters in diameter, but by the appearance of FAST it gave way to that position.

FAST, the world's largest 500 meter radio telescope accelerating the search for aliens, started operation in China - GIGAZINE


FAST was built in the province of Guizhou located in the southwestern part of China and started operation on 25th September 2016, and researchers in China are mainly conducting observations. In response to this radio telescope expected to receive radio waves arriving from celestial bodies such as pulsars and black holes using the world's largest parabolic antenna and even receiving radio waves from extraterrestrial life, Has positioned it as a symbol of the development of the country, and has invested 1.2 billion yuan (about 18.2 billion yen) in budget construction. In this construction, in order to eliminate the influence of radio waves and light emitted by humans to create a good observation environment,A policy to settle 10,000 residents living in the surrounding radius of 5 km has been announced.


Indeed, FAST was built with the prestige of the state, China is looking for astronomers to supervise facilities by preparing a high salary of annual income of 1.2 million dollars (about 130 million yen). However, it seems that the situation that "zero" is still continuing for those who applied for that position at the moment.

One of the reasons seems to be that the conditions listed are too strict. Applicants have over 20 years of experience in the field of astronomy and have led a project using the gigantic radio telescope. In addition to being required to have extensive experience in management, The institution or university has a condition that it is in a professor or a job equivalent.

Texas A & M UniversityProfessor of the Universe, one of the mysteries of the universeDark energy"Discovered the existence ofNicholas SassevMr., while a "eventually China will find the human resources", "American astronomers do not want to work outside of the country. I have a hard time even when you find the people working in Chile of the Observatory Although I was, the thought of wonderful people of Chile, you have said you do not know do not want to Why go ", the current state of American researchers are reluctant to do research abroad.

Among European and American astronomers, skeptical view of FAST's scientific purpose is also expanding. In the commentary released by the American National Science Foundation, the priority of the Arecibo Observatory is already at the bottom of the list, and it is expected that the budget will be reduced in the future and will be allocated to another new field. This time FAST, which China began to operate, is "a larger Arecibo Observatory", so there are widespread perspectives as to how much useful data can be taken in contemporary science.

Legendary Arecibo Observatory Faces a Bleak Future - Scientific American


Also, FAST is a radio telescope with a diameter of 500 meters, but its effective size is seen as about 400 meters in diameter due to equipment restrictions, the difference from the 305 meter diameter Arecibo Observatory is numerical There is also a voice that it is not so big. In addition, although it was possible for the Aresibo Observatory to emit radio waves by itself and observe using the returning radio waves, FAST said it is a completely passive (reception-only) radio telescope not equipped with such facilities The point seems to further lower its superiority.

Such as research institutions of the United States, put up on huge Observatory, such as FAST, floating in spaceJames Webb Space TelescopeObservations are conducted in cooperation withHuge Magellan TelescopeAndLarge Synoptic Survey TelescopeWe are in the stage of transition to research using. FAST has the attractiveness of "the world's largest observation device", but there is the current situation as described above, and after moving to China, learning Chinese, and bureaucratic color is said to be strong China It is interesting whether a person who accepts the responsibility to operate in the world of politics / academic research of the world appears.