BALTICS project played very important role in mobilization of Ventspils University's College resources towards new technological development. The project activities ware part of VUC Ventspils International Radio Astronomy Centre's strategy for period 2014-2020 aimed to design and built new LOFAR station. The building research, engineering and personnel capacity and performance increased VIRAC performance and confidence among decision makers that institute can reach global research excellence. This reflected in growing support, providing also funds for new LOFAR station.
BALTICS is to enable additional opportunities for attracting students to VIRAC research. VIRAC is part of the Ventsplis University College which presently does not offer any physics or astronomy degrees, only engineering degrees in electronics and IT. A LOFAR station due to its data collection and processing complexity while ultimately used for scientific purposes also poses challenges in electronics, signal processing and IT. Thus, LOFAR can bridge the gap between the radio astronomy research goals of VIRAC and the more technical electronics engineering skills of the students at Ventspils University of Applied Sciences. BALTICS has provided the materials and template for educating students in LOFAR fundamentals.
Within three years 77 training weeks were executed where more than 25 VIRAC staff members were trained. Subjects covered during the project:
RF Design and Interference with practical exercises;
Introduction to LOFAR Hardware and its maintenance;
The Usage of the UniBoard Digital Signal Processing Board;
Interferometer development and design;
Techniques of radio astronomy and radio interferometry;
Interferometric Data Reduction; aspects of the LOFAR System and large base interferometry;
Data reduction with the e-MERLIN interferometer;
LOFAR data processing, analysis and imaging;
Phased array digital signal processing theory and exercises;
Catalogue of radio sources for ILT applications;
calibration focusing on importance of standardised signal sources;
aspects of transient analysis with LOFAR using catalogue of radio sources;
Long-baseline radio astronomy data analysis techniques and new image generation algorithms and platforms.
The project culminated with two day long Final Conference where 50 extremely knowledgeable participants from European countries were acquainted with project results, impact. Project initiated fruitful collaboration with Ukrainian partners resulted in new Latvian radio astronomy terminology glossary, strong contribution to VUC scientific library (new 81 items) and creation of national LOFAR user consortia lead by VUC.
Throughout the BALTICS project implementation, every effort was made to continually involve an extensive range of stakeholder groups and decision makers, as well as potential LOFAR station user network, special attention being paid to deepening their understanding of, and confidence in VLBI techniques, LOFAR technology and ILT performed research and applications. In the result there is increased expertise level of VIRAC staff who were intensively trained focusing on all aspects of ultra-modern sensor as well as Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) technologies, as used in the world-class pan-European network LOFAR, and on the class-leading radio telescope e-MERLIN, and long baseline radio Interferometry in general, as it is also used on the European Very Large Baseline Interferometry Network (EVN).
Training of VIRAC staff allowed the institute to become a long-term collaborator in the interdisciplinary research networks surrounding the International LOFAR Telescope (ILT). As a result VIRAC is able to provide top-level teaching for students in the Baltic States.
