Lunchtime Sessions
Lunchtime sessions are focused on information sharing, discussions, and specific activities and they typically do not accept contributions. If you want to present in a lunchtime session, then please directly contact the organisers of that session.
Bridging Perspectives: Art and Science in Collaboration
Organizers: Ulrike Kuchner, Soheb Mandhai, Jenni French, Jake Noel-Storr
Art and science intersect to expand knowledge by creating spaces where diverse expertise can collaborate. In astronomy, the scale and complexity of data and methods can limit creative engagement beyond standard analytical approaches. Art can function as a boundary object: a flexible
medium that enables collaboration across disciplines without requiring full agreement (Star, 2010). A single artwork, for example, may be approached by scientists for ideation, outreach or communication, and by artists as an outcome of creative research addressing societal needs. This flexibility allows shared meaning while respecting distinct perspectives.
We will discuss three aspects of ArtScience practice:
- ArtScience collaborations: Examples of successful projects demonstrate how collaboration can generate new research questions and connect research to societal challenges.
- Data visualisation and interdisciplinary tools: Visualisation, extended reality, and sonification are increasingly popular entry points into creative engagement and science communication, allowing teams to negotiate understanding.
- Inclusivity and STEAM education: Artistic approaches foreground accessibility, inclusivity, and diverse learning styles. How can they be integrated into scientific practice, education and outreach?
The session builds on our successful NAM 2025 sessions, which brought together artists, scientists, educators, and interdisciplinary practitioners for a fully attended, highly engaging day.
This is a lunch session linked to the BridgPerspex session
LSST:UK Junior Associates Network Lunch
Organizers: Tom J. Wilson, Andrés Ponte Pérez, Andy Wilson, Clara Pennock, James Robinson, Steve Ardern, Tom Cornish
This lunchtime session will be dedicated to the LSST:UK Junior Associates Network, set up last year to coordinate all Early Career Researcher activities related to the Vera C. Rubin Observatory, and its Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST), in the UK. The session will cover a range of topics including:
- Brief introduction to LSST:UK
- Introduction/explanation of the LSST:UK Junior Associates Network, with information on how to sign up and how to get more involved.
- Updates from the Junior Associates Network and plans for the future.
- Open discussion of the most pressing wider issues ECRs are facing as LSST begins Early Operations.
- Open discussion on how the network can improve to best support ECRs.
The aim is to complement the main LSST- and Rubin-focussed parallel sessions with a view to enabling participation in the early LSST for all ECRs.
UKSP Solar Physics Business Meeting
Organizers: Malcolm Druett, Marianna Korsos, Karen Meyer, Alex Russell, Peter Wyper, Sargam Mulay, Samuel Skirvin, Lauren McClure
In this session, we will host the UK Solar Physics (UKSP) business meeting, where the UKSP Council will provide updates on ongoing initiatives and future plans for the solar physics community. The session will include invited presentations from representatives of key funding bodies (for example, the Solar System Advisory Panel).
We will also hold an open forum to discuss important community concerns, including but not limited to access to funding opportunities, doctoral student support, space- and ground-based instrumentation, and community meetings or conferences. We welcome engagement and participation from all members of the community, across all career stages.
Early Career Lunch and RAS ECN Town Hall
Organizers: Vishnu Varma, Ruth Kelly, Matthew Temple, Jack Reid, Nahid Chowdhury
During this lunch session, Early Career Researchers (ECRs) will have the opportunity to meet in person, network, and learn more about the RAS Early-Career Network. Previous NAM lunch sessions have provided a popular forum for ECRs to network and access informal peer-support. Given that many PhD students and postdocs can feel isolated within larger physics departments, this networking lunch aims to provide not only a social space for ECRs but also a sense of community, and to give delegates a chance to meet fellow Astronomy & Geophysics researchers and, for new PhD students, their nationwide PhD cohort.
This session is organised by the Early Career Network (ECN) of the RAS. It will also provide an informal ‘town hall’ space for Early Career Researchers to meet the RAS ECN and express their concerns and opinions about the current challenges facing PhD students and postdocs. At the same time, speakers from the “Jobs in Astronomy and Geophysics” session will be present to answer questions and provide advice in a more informal setting.
This town hall lunch will not feature talks and therefore does not seek abstract submissions.
RAS Publishing Workshop: How to Promote Your Paper
Organizers: Alice Power, Liz Baker
This lunchtime session is for Early Career Researchers who are at the beginning of their publishing careers. The session aims to provide an insight into how to effectively disseminate your work, as well as sharing tips and tricks on how to best promote your articles (and yourselves!). The session will be led by the Royal Astronomical Society Editorial Team, who will be joined by the Editor-in-Chief of RAS Techniques and Instruments, Professor Jonathan Tennyson, and representatives from the journal’s Publisher, Oxford University Press.
LGBTQ+ Networking Lunch
Organizers: Claire Greenwell, Victoria Fawcett, Izzy Garland, Alfredo Carpineti, Beth Gould
Since 2022, a fixture of NAM has been the LGBTQ+ Networking Lunch. This popular session provides a fantastic way for LGBTQ+ astronomers at all career stages to meet up and foster community.
With anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric on the rise globally, including in the UK, astronomy must remain a safe space. Researchers can feel isolated in their offices and departments, unsure with whom they can discuss their worries or thoughts. The ongoing pressure to produce successful research outputs, and high-quality teaching in this context is significant, and solidarity between LGBTQ+ astronomers across the UK provides a vital support system. This community session provides a space for LGBTQ+ astronomers to find connections and insights from others to relieve some of the load placed on them as members of underrepresented demographics, which is particularly heavy for those with intersecting identities. Many members of such communities take on more official and unofficial EDI efforts, leading to higher rates of burn-out. This session is an opportunity for attendees to relax with people who share their experiences, a sorely needed relief at this time.
Conference attendees can join us for a fun and light-hearted session, focussed not on our struggles, but creating a vital space for joy in our shared community (often known as “Queer Joy”). We will share information about current community sessions and networks, and encourage active participation among attendees to facilitate long-lasting connections.
Sharing the Stars – The Jodcast & UK Outreach Initiatives
Organizers: Louisa Mason, Lily Correa Magnus, George Bendo, Phoebe Ryder, Jessy Marin, Bárbara Cabrales, Jamie Incley, Tobias Russell, Jordan Norris, Sohini Dutta, Josh Bishop, Thea Hauxwell, Emily Walls, Alex Walls, Louis Hurrey, Sara Evangelista, Mélissa Azombo.
This lunchtime workshop will explore effective strategies for communicating astrophysics research to the wider public, as well as the opportunity to network with other outreach projects across the UK. This workshop will be run by the Jodcast – the UK’s oldest astrophysics podcast, produced by volunteer postgraduate students at Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics – with the intent in sharing some of our strategies including organising public events, breaking down cutting-edge research for the public, the use of social media in science communication and celebrating 20 years of our podcast! We also hope to provide the opportunity to showcase the diversity and successes in your outreach initiatives, led by institutes and individuals, across NAM. This workshop will provide the space for discussion at NAM about best practices in science communication, foster collaborations across the UK as well as amplify upcoming engagement projects and astrophysics outreach.
Get into engagement with the RAS - Lunchtime session
Organizers: Adam Boal, Lucinda Offer, Robert Massey
In this informal lunch session the Royal Astronomical Society are going to share different ways attendees can share their passion for astronomy and geophysics to engage the public. We will show how the RAS can support attendees to engage audiences, how to sign up as a STEM Ambassador, what it involves and what is needed to get the most of the experience.
The RAS is working with STEM Learnings ambassador platform to enable easier ways for fellows to engage with public and education groups. The STEM Ambassador programme supports a network of thousands of volunteers to bring real-life examples of STEM careers into schools, colleges, and community groups across the UK. They can help to break stereotypes and offer engaging activities to inspire the next generation into the possibilities of STEM pathways.
We encourage all delegates at NAM to come to our lunch, whether you are a novice or an experienced practitioner, to find out how to get involved in inspiring future astronomers and geophysicists.
Socio-economic backgrounds as a barrier to entry: Let's start the conversation
Organizer: Mélissa Azombo
Socio-economic backgrounds are seldom discussed as a barrier to entry to careers in astronomy and academia, yet influence the career paths of many individuals. Against the backdrop of public engagement initiatives to increase diversity within astronomy, how do socio-economic backgrounds play a role in students' abilities to achieve their qualifications all the way up to PhD level and enter astronomy careers. Moreover, how does it impact retention post-admission?
This is intended as a lunchtime session for which no abstracts will be accepted for submission. It is expected to be interactive and informative, including a discussion format