Education and Public Outreach activities in Radio astronomy with the SKA South Africa

Abstract

A Human Capital Development (HCD) program is a crucial part of any large organisation, and especially for large new research facilities such as the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) Africa. HCD provides a way of developing and channeling new minds into a very demanding field that ensures sustainability of the project and a multitude of spin-off benefits. Apart from educating learners at various levels, the HCD program must also inspire and educate the general public about the projects via an active outreach program. We highlight the various types of outreach activities that have been carried out in South Africa and the other SKA Africa partner countries. While there exist many teaching models we introduce and explore a novel concept of peer teaching for research known as the Joint Exchange Development Initiative (JEDI) and present some of its results. The JEDI workshops have resulted in a considerable number of learners embarking on advanced careers in science and research, and the demand is still growing.