The intended investment of 42 million euros from the Dutch National Growth Fund for the Einstein Telescope is now definite. This was announced today. In April, the Dutch government granted this amount conditionally, but the project still had to develop a detailed valorisation strategy and National Monitoring Evaluation. In the meantime, the project has met these conditions and the allocation has become definite.
The investment of 42 million euros will go towards preparatory work, such as innovation of the required technology, location research, building a high-tech ecosystem and organisation.
In addition to this, the government is also reserving 870 million euros from the National Growth Fund for the Einstein Telescope. This reservation provides the Netherlands with an excellent basis for applying in the future, together with Belgium and Germany, to realise the Einstein Telescope in the border region of South Limburg.
About the Einstein Telescope
The Einstein Telescope is a future underground observatory for measuring gravitational waves. Powerful laser beams will soon bounce between deep-cooled, vibration-free mirrors at the ends of kilometre-long vacuum tunnels. The instrument will be much more sensitive than existing detectors. As a result, it can detect many more sources and scan a volume of the universe thousand times larger. Researchers will use this instrument to look for instance for the precise structure of neutron stars, the birth process of black holes and the structure of the universe immediately after the Big Bang.
The border region of South Limburg – the Euregio Meuse-Rhine – is one of the possible locations for this observatory. Housing the Einstein Telescope in this region could have a major positive impact on science, the economy and society in the Netherlands. With the committed investments from the National Growth Fund, the Netherlands has the basis to join forces with Belgium and Germany to establish a strong candidacy in 2024/2025.