JIVE Wiki

This page is read only. You can view the source, but not change it. Ask your administrator if you think this is wrong.
====== EXPReS Update - October 2006 ======
T. Charles Yun [ tcyun at jive dot nl ]

===== CONTENTS =====
==== 0. INTRODUCTION ====

Greetings and hello at the start of a new month.  With the 
new month comes another round of communications.  I am
trying to regularize project communications for EXPReS and
am creating a more organized note in response to helpful
comments.  Hopefully this format is useful.  Please feel
free to send comments and suggestions along.

===== ACTION REQUIRED =====
==== 1. CONSORTIUM AGREEMENT ====

You should all have received an email asking to sign and
return the Consortium Agreement.  As of the deadline
(yesterday Mon 2 Oct 2006), we received signed copies from a
half-dozen sites.  If you have not already done so, please
print and return signed copies immediately.

Instructions for delivery from the initial email:
	Please print 2 (two) copies of the appropriate
	signature page of the Consortium Agreement, sign
	them and send them back to us by express  courier by
	Monday 2 October 2006 at the latest to the following
	address:

	Joint Institute for V.L.B.I. in Europe
	JIVE Secretariat (EXPReS)
	Oude Hoogeveensedijk 4
	7991 PD  DWINGELOO
	The Netherlands

==== 2. MONTHLY REPORTS ARE DUE AGAIN ==== 
I realize that these are not popular, but it is time for our
monthly report to the EC.  I have had conversations with a
variety of people and have noted the fact that many (most)
of you feel that monthly reporting is too frequent.
Unfortunately, our science officer is quite firm on this
point.

Therefore, I would like a few paragraphs from each section
leader summarizing activities over the past month.  Items to
note include:
  * why you are not beating/missing milestones
  * recently published/released deliverables
  * new hires, difficulty with hires
  * activities or meetings of note

Section leaders are the leads for NA1, NA2, NA3, NA4, SA1,
SA2 and JRA1.  Everyone please send section leaders a quick
summary with your activities over the past month to help
them generate the necessary text.

I would like this information by Mon 9 Oct 2006 so that I
can collect the report and send it to our science officer on
Wed 11 Oct.  Again, I'm only asking for a few paragraphs...

==== 3. ZAANDAM: KICKOFF, BOARD AND EVN-NREN MEETING ====

We are approaching the date for the Kickoff, Board and EVN-
NREN meeting in Zaandam, the Netherlands.  The basic agenda
is as follows:
	Tue 31 Oct 2006
	- 09:00 to 13:00  EVN-NREN meeting
	- 13:00 to 17:15  Kickoff Meeting
	- 18:00 to 20:30  Dinner

	Wed 01 Nov 2006
	- 08:00 to 17:15  Board Meeting

If you have not yet made hotel reservations with the Golden
Tulip Hotel, please do so immediately as the registration
date has passed. [phone: +31 075 - 6311711, registration
block under JIVE].  In the case that rooms are unavailable,
we will attempt to find rooms in another hotel nearby.

===== UPDATES AND GENERAL INFORMATION =====
==== 4. Quarterly Financial Reporting ====

I was informed by our science officer that we are required
to provide quarterly financial reports.  This means that
last month's report should have included financial status
information for all activities.

I am about two days from completing a template Excel
spreadsheet that should collect all the necessary
information.  To let you know, this is a quarterly version
of the JOR and Form C reports that all sites will need to
complete for the annual report.  Generating these forms
quarterly is actually useful for us all.

I will have the template sent out before the end of the week
with additional information on how to complete it.

==== 5. RECENT/UPCOMING MEETINGS ====

Upcoming Meetings:
  * GigaPort Next Generation Seminar for Astronomers: 2 November 2006; SURFnet, Utrecht, Netherlands

Recent Meetings:
  * 5th Annual e-VLBI Workshop: 17-20 September 2006; MIT/Haystack, Boston, MA, USA
  * FABRIC Meeting: 25 September 2006; PSNC, Poznan, Poland
  * 8th EVN Symposium 2006: 26-29 September 2006; Torun, Poland

==== 6. WIKI ====

The EXPReS wiki <http://www.jive.nl/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=expres:expres> is
being upgraded to allow for better page protection.  We hope
to have the upgrade in place in the next few weeks so that
individuals can create pages that are only visible by the
creator and the project manager.  We hope that this
capability will make the monthly reporting process a bit
easier.  We will send out a note once the upgrade is
complete.