Below is the text of the document unanimously approved by the Staff Assembly of the Astronomical Observatory of Cagliari.
STATEMENT OF DISSENT.
We have received a copy of the “Executive Summary”watchonsale produced by the international committee appointed by INAF to review Italian radio astronomy, and we have received a copy of the subsequent decisions made by the Board of Directors.
While we appreciate the spirit behind the committee’s recommendations, we strongly oppose the proposed solution for the general management of radio astronomy within INAF, which involves merging the two structures of Cagliari and Bologna. The Astronomical Observatory of Cagliari (OAC) (for thirteen years a 2nd Level Research Structure of INAF) has grown significantly in recent years and today constitutes an inspiring primary place for conducting the institution’s scientific research, which is precisely the definition of a Research Structure, as stated in Article 17 of the INAF Statute. With the recent proposal, the OAC would become merely a branch of another structure or, at best, a 3rd Level Spending Center. This is quite demoralizing for the staff, makes the system inefficient, and in fact contradicts the statutory concept of a primary place for conducting scientific research.
This proposal represents a significant change that we firmly reject. It could be argued that “new rules” will be implemented in the new unified structure so as not to substantially change our working environment. If this is the case, let’s simply use the existing rules to implement effective coordination of this prestigious system of Research Structures that together constitute Italian radio astronomy. The current rules enshrined in the INAF Statute and its Organizational Regulations offer ample scope for coordination actions. There is the Scientific Directorate of the institution, whose primary mission is precisely coordination. The Scientific Directorate has the possibility to create Central Scientific Units, which are not Structures but thematic coordination bodies. There is the possibility to create a Board, the possibility to create a specific Office, and so on.
This is precisely the point: as noted by the committee, Italian radio astronomy is a system, not a simple structure, as it is articulated in different research locations and needs to be coordinated as a system. The Scientific Directorate has all the statutory tools to efficiently achieve this goal.
In accordance with these considerations, the staff of the Astronomical Observatory of Cagliari is ready and determined to pursue all possible legitimate actions to stop this unification process, which it firmly rejects. At the same time, the staff declares its willingness to discuss only solutions that do not change Cagliari’s current definition as a 2nd Level Structure in Sardinia. Obviously, any further suggestions
from the committee regarding alternative solutions for coordinating Italian radio astronomy and its interface with Europe will be welcome.
The Staff of the Astronomical Observatory of Cagliari