The XMM Survey Science
Centre is an international collaboration involving a consortium of 8
institutions in the UK, France and Germany. The SSC Principal Investigator is Mike
Watson of Leicester University and MSSL is a co-I group. ESA formally selected
this consortium to provide the SSC in February 1996. PPARC funding of the UK
element of the SSC is currently approved for a 7-year period which commenced in
April 1996. The SSC has major responsibilities within the XMM project in the
development of the XMM science analysis software, the `pipeline' processing of
XMM observations and in co-ordinating the exploitation of the XMM serendipitous
sky survey via a ground-based follow-up/identification programme.
Within the SSC, MSSL has two main areas of activity: (a) pipeline software for
the RGS and OM instruments and (b) the planning
and co-ordination of the SSC follow-up/identification programme (the `XID'
programme) and its associated database system. MSSL is the main source of
expertise in the SSC for the RGS and OM, and also has considerable experience
in the optical identification of X-ray surveys.
Last modified 2nd September 1998q
www_astro@mssl.ucl.ac.uk