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arXiv · 1007.1455

A decline and fall in the future of Italian Astronomy?

Angelo Antonelli·Vincenzo Antonuccio-Delogu·Andrea Baruffolo·Stefano Benetti·Simone Bianchi·Andrea Biviano·Annalisa Bonafede·Marco Bondi·Stefano Borgani·Angela Bragaglia·Massimo Brescia·John Robert Brucato·Gianfranco Brunetti·Riccardo Brunino·Michele Cantiello·Viviana Casasola·Rossella Cassano·Alberto Cellino·Gabriele Cescutti·Andrea Cimatti·Andrea Comastri·Edvige Corbelli·Giovanni Cresci·Serena Criscuoli·Stefano Cristiani·Guido Cupani·Sabrina De Grandi·Valerio D'Elia·Melania Del Santo·Gabriella De Lucia·Silvano Desidera·Marcella Di Criscienzo·Valentina D'Odorico·Elisabetta Dotto·Fabio Fontanot·Mario Gai·Simona Gallerani·Stefano Gallozzi·Bianca Garilli·Isabella Gioia·Marisa Girardi·Myriam Gitti·Gianluigi Granato·Raffaele Gratton·Andrea Grazian·Carlotta Gruppioni·Leslie Hunt·Giuseppe Leto·Gianluca Israel·Manuela Magliocchetti·Laura Magrini·Gabriele Mainetti·Filippo Mannucci·Alessandro Marconi·Martino Marelli·Michele Maris·Francesca Matteucci·Massimo Meneghetti·Aniello Mennella·Amata Mercurio·Silvano Molendi·Pierluigi Monaco·Alessia Moretti·Giuseppe Murante·Fabrizio Nicastro·Marina Orio·Adamantia Paizis·Francesca Panessa·Fabio Pasian·Laura Pentericci·Lucia Pozzetti·Mariachiara Rossetti·Joana S. Santos·Alexandro Saro·Raffaella Schneider·Laura Silva·Roberto Silvotti·Richard Smart·Andrea Tiengo·Luca Tornatore·Paolo Tozzi·Edoardo Trussoni·Tiziano Valentinuzzi·Eros Vanzella·Franco Vazza·Alberto Vecchiato·Tiziana Venturi·Giacomo Vianello·Matteo Viel·Alvaro Villalobos·Valentina Viotto·Benedetta Vulcani
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Abstract

On May 27th 2010, the Italian astronomical community learned with concern that the National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF) was going to be suppressed, and that its employees were going to be transferred to the National Research Council (CNR). It was not clear if this applied to all employees (i.e. also to researchers hired on short-term contracts), and how this was going to happen in practice. In this letter, we give a brief historical overview of INAF and present a short chronicle of the few eventful days that followed. Starting from this example, we then comment on the current situation and prospects of astronomical research in Italy.

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Angelo Antonelli, Vincenzo Antonuccio-Delogu, Andrea Baruffolo, Stefano Benetti, Simone Bianchi, Andrea Biviano, Annalisa Bonafede, Marco Bondi, Stefano Borgani, Angela Bragaglia, Massimo Brescia, John Robert Brucato, Gianfranco Brunetti, Riccardo Brunino, Michele Cantiello, Viviana Casasola, Rossella Cassano, Alberto Cellino, Gabriele Cescutti, Andrea Cimatti, Andrea Comastri, Edvige Corbelli, Giovanni Cresci, Serena Criscuoli, Stefano Cristiani, Guido Cupani, Sabrina De Grandi, Valerio D'Elia, Melania Del Santo, Gabriella De Lucia, Silvano Desidera, Marcella Di Criscienzo, Valentina D'Odorico, Elisabetta Dotto, Fabio Fontanot, Mario Gai, Simona Gallerani, Stefano Gallozzi, Bianca Garilli, Isabella Gioia, Marisa Girardi, Myriam Gitti, Gianluigi Granato, Raffaele Gratton, Andrea Grazian, Carlotta Gruppioni, Leslie Hunt, Giuseppe Leto, Gianluca Israel, Manuela Magliocchetti, Laura Magrini, Gabriele Mainetti, Filippo Mannucci, Alessandro Marconi, Martino Marelli, Michele Maris, Francesca Matteucci, Massimo Meneghetti, Aniello Mennella, Amata Mercurio, Silvano Molendi, Pierluigi Monaco, Alessia Moretti, Giuseppe Murante, Fabrizio Nicastro, Marina Orio, Adamantia Paizis, Francesca Panessa, Fabio Pasian, Laura Pentericci, Lucia Pozzetti, Mariachiara Rossetti, Joana S. Santos, Alexandro Saro, Raffaella Schneider, Laura Silva, Roberto Silvotti, Richard Smart, Andrea Tiengo, Luca Tornatore, Paolo Tozzi, Edoardo Trussoni, Tiziano Valentinuzzi, Eros Vanzella, Franco Vazza, Alberto Vecchiato, Tiziana Venturi, Giacomo Vianello, Matteo Viel, Alvaro Villalobos, Valentina Viotto, Benedetta Vulcani. 2010-07-08. A decline and fall in the future of Italian Astronomy?. https://arxiv.org/abs/1007.1455

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