Building A Field: The Future of Astronomy with Gravitational Waves, A State of The Profession Consideration for Astro2020

TL;DR

The paper emphasizes the importance of strategic planning and infrastructure development to foster a diverse and collaborative community in gravitational wave astronomy for future scientific breakthroughs.

Contribution

It provides a set of recommendations for stakeholders to build a robust, inclusive, and well-connected gravitational wave astronomy workforce.

Findings

Need for strategic workforce development plan

Importance of interdisciplinary collaboration

Recommendations for funding and institutional support

Abstract

Harnessing the sheer discovery potential of gravitational wave astronomy will require bold, deliberate, and sustained efforts to train and develop the requisite workforce. The next decade requires a strategic plan to build -- from the ground up -- a robust, open, and well-connected gravitational wave astronomy community with deep participation from traditional astronomers, physicists, data scientists, and instrumentalists. This basic infrastructure is sorely needed as an enabling foundation for research. We outline a set of recommendations for funding agencies, universities, and professional societies to help build a thriving, diverse, and inclusive new field.