China still having trouble staffing up its mega-telescope

China has built a staggeringly large radio telescope in a remote part of the country, and although it is the largest and most advanced instrument of its kind in the world, the country continues to have a difficult time staffing up the observatory.

Not only has the 500-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope, or FAST instrument, still failed to attract a chief scientist, according to the South China Morning Post the facility is also struggling to attract two dozen researchers to work on site to maintain the instrument and analyze data collected there.

One problem is pay. According to the Post, astronomers interested in joining working there should speak fluent English, and expect to work in the remote location on a long-term basis. (The telescope is located southwest China’s mountainous Guizhou province.) Compensation for the job is meager, at least by Western standards—about 100,000 yuan, or $14,400 annually.

“It’s not surprising they have had difficulties hiring people, given the low pay compared with similar international institutes,” an unnamed Chinese chemical physics researcher told the paper. “They are looking for contract workers instead of permanent employees, as the National Astronomical Observatory doesn’t have that [many] permanent posts.”

Chief scientist, still wanted

International astronomers say there are simply not that many radio astronomers in China qualified to work with the technical data collected by the radio telescope, and process it for research purposes. Given the contract nature of the position, it seems possible that foreign astronomers brought to China on a contract basis may be training their replacements, and will not see their contracts renewed.

Meanwhile, the observatory is still having difficulty attracting a chief scientist to oversee scientific operations. Only a few dozen people in the world have the qualifications that China is seeking for this position, a US astronomer told Ars last year.

The proffered compensation may seem generous, at about $1.2 million. But it seems that this pay package entails a one-time start-up grant, after which the annual salary will be considerably less. So far Chinese officials have yet to announce any results from their job search.

Another concern international astronomers have about the chief scientist position, as well as that of the research associates, is that their activities will be controlled by the Chinese Academy of Sciences. This seems likely to limit the academic freedom that western observers generally enjoy.