AndreaBozzo/ceres-open-data-index huggingface dataset:
Parkes observations for project P1356 semester 2025APRS_17

Magnetars are neutron stars with exceptionally high magnetic fields. From the 30 known magnetars, only six have had radio emission detected so far. The remaining 24 magnetars are generally only searched for radio emission after an X-ray outburst. This added a strong selection bias to whether magnetars are radio loud or not. From the known six radio loud magnetars, we know that the radio emission changes quickly with time and for the magnetar XTE J1810-197, it has been observed that the radio flux increases strongly without an enhancement in X-ray flux. Thus, it remains unclear whether the radio quiet magnetars are in fact radio quiet and the radio X-ray relation appears to be rather complex.
  In this proposal, we propose a regular monitoring campaign of 4 radio quiet magnetars with bi-weekly observations using the Parkes UWL receiver. For 3 of the sources, we will have accompanying X-ray observations and thus, this will give an unique data set to probe the relation between radio and X-ray independent outbursts. Any detection of radio emission, i.e. single pulses or folded profiles, would be a major discovery and help to constrain the emission mechanisms of magnetars. This will also help to improve the understanding of the emission mechanism of fast radio bursts. However, also a non-detection of radio emission will provide upper limits that serve as a baseline before any future outburst of the observed magnetars as well as allow to constrain the formation process of magnetars in contrast to pulsars.

Organization: CSIRO Data Access Portal
Parkes observations for project P1054 semester 2025APRS_20

With this proposal we ask time to continue our timing follow-up campaign of pulsars discovered with the MeerKAT telescope. Fourtytwo sources have been discovered in targeted observations of Fermi unidentified point sources, two towards Supernova Remnants, 19 in the Magellanic Clouds, 105 in Globular Clusters and 81 in a survey of the Galactic plane. A large fraction of the new discoveries are recycled pulsars (including a few relativistic systems and several 'spider' binaries), or young pulsars. Timing observations have an essential role in exploiting the full potential of any pulsar discovery, allowing for the precise measurement of rotational, astrometric and orbital parameters which, in turn, give us powerful tools to improve our understanding of the physics in extreme environments as well as of the population of neutron stars as a whole. The UWL receiver of the Parkes telescope is a sensitive, versatile instrument that is allowing us to successfully time these new sources, in the bright-end of TRAPUM discoveries.

Organization: CSIRO Data Access Portal
Parkes observations for project P1327 semester 2025APRS_17

The radio radiation neutron star includes objects with spin periods ranging from milliseconds to tens of seconds. In the past years, however, the discovery of ultra-long period radio transient sources has posed a new challenge to the classical theoretical framework of the neutron star magnetospheric dipole model. In Parkes' observations, we detected single pulses with similar durations to fast radio bursts (FRBs), notably containing quasi-periodic substructures similar to some FRBs, and similar phenomena may have similar physical mechanisms. By observing its single-pulse structures and polarization profiles, we hope to understand the origin of radio emission from magnetars and establish the potential association between Galactic neutron stars and FRBs. Hence, we strongly request to keep monitoring this source, aiming to detect more signal pulses and interesting multi-structure pulses from PSR J0901-4046 to provide insights into magnetars as possible progenitor origins of FRBs, strengthening the link between magnetars and FRBs.

Organization: CSIRO Data Access Portal
Parkes observations for project PX600 semester 2020APRS_132

The Galactic Center (GC) is a key target for the radio component of Breakthrough Listen (BL) program. Offering the largest amount of stars in any given direction in the sky, the GC is widely cited as a location believed to harbour advanced civilizations, and it is also the most energetic region in the Milky Way. We aim to conduct BL-GC Survey with Parkes radio telescope for around 350 hours. We will cover the frequency range from 700 MHz to 4 GHz, utilizing the newly installed ultra-wideband receiver. Our team has already leveraged both standard and bespoke tools to construct a flexible software stack to search data for signals of interest. We will look for signals from extraterrestrial intelligence (ETI) by searching for both simple narrow-band signals and complex modulated signals. Along with that, as an ancillary science, we will also search for accelerated pulsars — likely orbiting a supermassive black hole at the centre of the Milky Way Galaxy. Data products produced during this program will also be publically available to engage larger pulsar community

Organization: CSIRO Data Access Portal
2025 APS Employee Census

##Summary

The 2025 APS Employee Census was administered to eligible Australian Public Service (APS) employees between 5 May and 6 June 2025. Overall, 151,771 APS employees responded to the APS Employee Census in 2025, a response rate of 81%.

The APS Employee Census is an annual employee perception survey of the Australian Public Service workforce. The APS Employee Census has been conducted since 2012 and collects APS employee opinions and perspectives on a range of topics, including employee engagement, wellbeing, and leadership. 

The APS Employee Census provides a comprehensive view of the APS and ensures no eligible respondents are omitted from the survey sample, removing sampling bias and reducing sample error. 

Please be aware that the very large number of respondents to the APS Employee Census means these files are over 200MB in size. 

Downloading and opening these files may take some time.

## Technical notes
Five files are available for download.

* 2025 APS Employee Census questionnaire: This contains the 2025 APS Employee Census questionnaire.
* 2025 APS Employee Census data dictionary: This file contains a list of variables and labels within the APS Employee Census.
* 2025 APS Employee Census - 5 point dataset with data values: This CSV file contains individual responses to the 2025 APS Employee Census as clean, tabular data as required by data.gov.au. This will need to be used in conjunction with the above documents. Data in this file are presented as data values.
* 2025 APS Employee Census - 5 point dataset with data labels: This CSV file contains individual responses to the 2025 APS Employee Census as clean, tabular data as required by data.gov.au. This will need to be used in conjunction with the above documents. Data in this file are presented as data labels.
* 2025 APS Employee Census - 5 point dataset: This file contains individual responses to the 2025 APS Employee Census for use with the SPSS software package. 

To protect the privacy and confidentiality of respondents to the 2025 APS Employee Census, the datasets provided on data.gov.au include responses to a limited number of demographic or other attribute questions.

Full citation of this dataset should list the Australian Public Service Commission (APSC) as the author.  
A recommended short citation is: 2025 APS Employee Census, Australian Public Service Commission. 
Any queries can be directed to research@apsc.gov.au.


Tags: APS Employee Census, APSC, Employee Census, Employee Opinion Survey, Have your say
Organization: Australian Public Service Commission
A crown-of-thorns starfish (Acanthaster planci) control program at Grub Reef, central Great Barrier Reef

A crown-of-thorns starfish control program was conducted on Grub Reef, a mid-shelf, lagoonal reef in the central Great Barrier Reef. The control site was located on the leeward, north-western side of the reef, in an area which previous surveys indicated had large numbers of starfish. The site covered an area of 0.64 km² and contained 53 patch reefs interspersed amongst a predominantly sandy substrate of 10-30 m depth. Each patch reef was mapped, marked and numbered for identification during the control exercise. Starfish control was carried out by 15 Royal Australian Navy divers between 3 and 17 July 1986. Each patch reef was searched by a squad of 5 divers, spaced about 5 m apart searching to a depth of 20 m. All starfish observed were injected with 5-10 ml of saturated copper sulphate solution using "Dupont" agricultural injection guns. Once injected, starfish were marked with a cut from a knife to avoid repeated injection. The final 2 days of the control exercise were used to inject starfish on adjacent patch reefs to the north and west of the control site. As a guide to the efficiency of the control exercise, starfish were injected on patch reef No.3 over the last 4 consecutive days of the control.Biological surveys were conducted 2 weeks prior to the start of the program (23-26 June 1986), and 1 month and 6 months after the program had ended (20-23 August 1986 and 20-22 January 1987). Three different methods were used during each of these surveys: (1) The perimeter of Grub Reef, including a group of patch reefs to the west of the main section of the reef, was surveyed using the manta tow technique. Counts of starfish and estimates of coral cover were recorded; (2) Twenty-six of the patch reefs were initially chosen randomly and then searched intensively by SCUBA divers during each of the 3 surveys. Two divers swam around the sides, and across the top of each patch reef, recording the number of starfish observed and estimating the relative cover of live and dead corals using the same categories as manta tow; (3) A 50 m line transect was laid along the crest of each of the 26 patch reefs, to estimate the relative cover of live and dead corals.A detailed record was kept of the cost of undertaking all various aspects of the control program. The total cost of the program was calculated by including the direct outlay recorded plus calculating shadow prices for the services provided by the Government.
 This study was undertaken to evaluate the effectiveness of a crown-of-thorns starfish (Acanthaster planci) control program at Grub Reef in the central Great Barrier Reef and to assess the biological benefits gained in the light of the costs of the program.

Organization: Australian Ocean Data Network
Error-mitigated quantum computing SEMO Python dynamic module

Qubit noise is one of the major barriers limiting broad adoption of quantum computing in solving complex real-word problems, such as optimisation. The qubit noise and the local minima in the underlying optimisation objective function often make the probability of obtaining the true optimal solution (global optimal rather than local minima) decrease exponentially with increasing underlying problem complexity. A quantum computing error mitigation invention has been filed by CSIRO with IP Australia in Feb 2024. Based on the invention, a Python SEMO (spin-error mitigation for optimisation) software module has been developed.  The SEMO software module is available for collaboration for selected parties with a SEMO digital token issued from the CSIRO applied quantum computing project team. The token is authenticated online against the registration server at the beginning of each usage session. The SEMO software module can be evaluated without a digital token for small problems up to 100 spin variables and 200 couplings. 
Information about CSIRO applied quantum computing and SEMO is available at http://research.csiro.au/aqc. Enquiries about accessing the SEMO software module, please email appliedquantumcomputing@csiro.au. 

Organization: CSIRO Data Access Portal
Parkes observations for project P1327 semester 2025APRS_15

The radio radiation neutron star includes objects with spin periods ranging from milliseconds to tens of seconds. In the past years, however, the discovery of ultra-long period radio transient sources has posed a new challenge to the classical theoretical framework of the neutron star magnetospheric dipole model. In Parkes' observations, we detected single pulses with similar durations to fast radio bursts (FRBs), notably containing quasi-periodic substructures similar to some FRBs, and similar phenomena may have similar physical mechanisms. By observing its single-pulse structures and polarization profiles, we hope to understand the origin of radio emission from magnetars and establish the potential association between Galactic neutron stars and FRBs. Hence, we strongly request to keep monitoring this source, aiming to detect more signal pulses and interesting multi-structure pulses from PSR J0901-4046 to provide insights into magnetars as possible progenitor origins of FRBs, strengthening the link between magnetars and FRBs.

Organization: CSIRO Data Access Portal
Parkes observations for project P512 semester 2008APRS_01

We propose to complete a pulsar survey along the Galactic Plane using the new Methanol Multibeam receiver in order to uncover pulsars previously selected against in lower frequency surveys. The scientific aims of this survey are
(a) to discover young pulsars in the spiral arms, hidden at lower frequencies, (b) to improve our knowledge of the distribution of dispersing and scattering material, particularly in the inner Galaxy, (c) strike it lucky and discover unique objects (e.g. a pulsar with a black hole companion and short period binary pulsars) and
(d) to survey the transient radio sky at high frequencies.

Organization: CSIRO Data Access Portal
Long-term project observations for project P1101 semester 2025APRS_09

We propose a long-term project to monitor a very active repeater, FRB 20190520B, with Murriyang's UWL system. Our previous observations show that FRB 20190520B is not only among the most active FRBs that can be observed with Murriyang, but also shows extreme rotation measure (RM) and dispersion measure (DM) evolution, along with distinctive behavior at 3GHz frequency. This makes the UWL receiver uniquely suited for detailed studies and long-term monitoring of this repeating FRB. Through this program, we anticipate detecting a large sample of bursts from this FRB. In collaboration with FAST, we aim to investigate the time evolution of various properties of FRB 20190520B, enhance our understanding of polarisation across an extremely wide bandwidth with high sensitivity, and gain deeper insights into the local environment and emission mechanisms of FRBs.

Organization: CSIRO Data Access Portal
Parkes observations for project P1363 semester 2025APRS_15

We propose to monitor the bursts from the hyperactive repeating fast radio burst FRB 20240619D over six months using the Murriyang UWL receiver. The primary aim is to study the evolution of burst activity and polarization properties with frequency and time, and to discover any potential periodicity in the burst activity. These insights will enhance our understanding of the progenitor, emission physics, and the immediate magneto-ionic environment of FRB 20240619D, thereby informing the general FRB population. A total of 15 hours of observing between August and November 2024 resulted in over 1300 bursts detected using the UWL receiver. Some bursts exhibit complex spectro-temporal emission patterns. The burst rate, based on Murriyang and MeerKAT observations, indicates that the source was active until September 2nd, after which it became inactive. Given that two other repeating FRBs have exhibited periodic activity cycles, it is reasonable to expect that FRB 20240619D could become active again, making continued monitoring crucial. The UWL receiver's broad frequency coverage and sensitivity are essential for detecting many bursts and enabling simultaneous observations at different frequencies. This is important for understanding the burst activity evolution with time and frequency, spectral properties, and underlying emission mechanisms. The combination of sensitivity and wide bandwidth makes Murriyang the ideal telescope for monitoring this FRB. Results from these observations will be pivotal in understanding FRB 20240619D's place within the broader repeater population and its potential connection to broader FRB progenitor models.

Organization: CSIRO Data Access Portal
Long-term project observations for project P1361 semester 2025APRS_08

PSR J1227-6208 is a recycled pulsar in a bianry with a massive white dwarf companion. A recent timing measurement from combined MeerKAT and Parkes observations shows the companion mass to be between 1.2 and 1.5 $M_\odot$, very close to the Chandrasekhar, resulting in potential profound physical implications. However, the timing precision is limited by the DM timing noise. We propose regular monitoring of this pulsar with the Parkes UWL receiver in conjunction with MeerKAT observations during the following four years. The joint monitoring will significantly improve the constraints on the Post-Keplerian parameters, with Parkes observations contributing to constrain the DM noise due to its large frequency bandwidth. These observations will be added to the already existing 11-year-long timing baseline, of which the later 5 years already include high-precision MeerKAT data and Parkes UWL data. After four years of further timing with the inclusion of UWL observatiosn, we predict an uncertainty on the masses smaller than 0.01 solar masses based on simulations. If UWL is not included, the mass uncertanites may saturate on their current values.

Organization: CSIRO Data Access Portal
Parkes observations for project P1345 semester 2025APRS_21

This proposal aims to constrain burst rates and spin down properties of a sample of new Rotating Radio Transients (RRATs) discovered with the ASKAP CRAFT Coherent upgrade (CRACO) system. Over the past 12-months of commissioning, CRACO discovered and precisely localised 15 new RRATs, characterised by their sporadic pulses with dispersion measures (DM) consistent with Galactic sources. We request 22.5h of Parkes time split into three 30min observations spanning 6-months for each target. This can help constrain periods and potentially phase-coherent timing solutions given that we already have arcsec-precision interferometric localisations. Our main science goals are: 1) to measure their burst rates, periods, and spin-down properties; 2) to assess their nulling fraction and intermittency; 3) to measure their polarimetric properties and constrain their emission mechanism; 4) to determine if the CRACO RRATs are fundamentally different from the known RRAT population. Some of these goals can be answered even with the detection of a limited number of pulses.

Organization: CSIRO Data Access Portal
Parkes observations for project P1032 semester 2025APRS_05

With this proposal, we aim to continue P1032, the rapid measurements of relativistic parameters of southern binary pulsar systems using data from the Parkes Ultra Wideband Low (UWL) receiver. As the MeerTime project at the MeerKAT radio telescope ended in early 2024, observations with the UWL receiver now form the backbone for extending the timing baselines of many pulsars that have been part of this project. Since the source selection in APRS2024 was tailored such that the UWL receiver is the most (versatile and) suited instrument to achieve the proposed scientific goals for the chosen pulsars, we propose to continue these observations. We will use the UWL data to obtain significant orbital coverage and timing baselines on these pulsars and obtain important constraints on orbital and temporal DM variations that will help in identifying the nature of the companion stars. Increasing the number of measured Neutron Star (NS) masses, as well as improving on current constraints has profound implications for NS internal structure and for stellar and binary evolution physics. We request pre-graded status for this project for the next semester.

Organization: CSIRO Data Access Portal
Parkes observations for project P1327 semester 2025APRS_14

The radio radiation neutron star includes objects with spin periods ranging from milliseconds to tens of seconds. In the past years, however, the discovery of ultra-long period radio transient sources has posed a new challenge to the classical theoretical framework of the neutron star magnetospheric dipole model. In Parkes' observations, we detected single pulses with similar durations to fast radio bursts (FRBs), notably containing quasi-periodic substructures similar to some FRBs, and similar phenomena may have similar physical mechanisms. By observing its single-pulse structures and polarization profiles, we hope to understand the origin of radio emission from magnetars and establish the potential association between Galactic neutron stars and FRBs. Hence, we strongly request to keep monitoring this source, aiming to detect more signal pulses and interesting multi-structure pulses from PSR J0901-4046 to provide insights into magnetars as possible progenitor origins of FRBs, strengthening the link between magnetars and FRBs.

Organization: CSIRO Data Access Portal
Long-term project observations for project P885 semester 2025APRS_13

We propose a modest program to continue monitoring 4 of the 6 known radio magnetars in order to achieve three primary science goals. The first is to characterise magnetar outbursts over long timescales, for which tracking their rotational, flux density, and polarisation properties provide a clear view of the impulse response of their magnetic fields. Second, understanding the links between magnetars the mysterious fast radio burst phenomenon through the discovery of rare emission and propagation effects, shared spectro-temporal phenomenology, and connections to high-energy (X-ray/gamma-ray) phenomena. Lastly, our continued monitoring has enormous benefit to the wider magnetar community, providing rapid alerts to changes in activity, adding context to unusual behaviour detected by high-enery observations, and a host of supplementary science through the teams extensive collaborative networks. The project and its precursors have been running since 2007 and have contributed to 21 publications since then. We are seeking to convert the project to long-term status, thereby also carrying these investigations into the SKA era.

Organization: CSIRO Data Access Portal
Parkes observations for project P1338 semester 2025APRS_62

Fast radio bursts (FRBs) are millisecond-duration radio bursts of extragalactic origin. Since the discovery of the first FRB in the archival Parkes/Murriyang multibeam data, a broad dichotomy in population has emerged. Some FRBs have been seen to be repeating, while others are not, despite a significant amount of follow-up using different radio telescopes. The repeating FRB 20240114A was recently discovered by CHIME/FRB, which has been seen to have an exceptionally high burst activity. Such extreme burst activity has not been seen in any other source. The repeating FRBs, such as FRB 20240114A, provide an unparalleled window into their circumburst environment due to their repeating nature, which can be used to constrain possible progenitor models and test underlying emission mechanisms. The previous Parkes/Murriyang source follow-up has also revealed intriguing spectro-polarimetric properties, such as frequency-dependent evolution of burst central frequency or chromaticity, a possible activity window, significantly large circular polarisation (CP), and frequency-dependent CP. These properties hold the key towards understanding the circumburst environment of the FRBs, and test possible progenitor models. A large bandwidth instrument with reliable polarimetry has been critical in uncovering these properties. The ultra-wideband low (UWL) receiver on Parkes/Murriyang is ideally suited to explore the source's wideband spectro-temporal and polarimetric behaviour. We propose a campaign to regularly follow up FRB 20240114A to ascertain its long-term evolution of spectro-temporal properties.

Organization: CSIRO Data Access Portal