Nine research institutes from nine countries will collaborate to establish a clear organizational and management structure for the Einstein Telescope, the proposed European gravitational-wave detector. Nikhef is participating on behalf of the Netherlands.
This is reported in the latest newsletter of the EU-backed Einstein Telescope initiative. Following the signing of the agreement in May, 1.5 million euros in EU funding is now available to move the ET project from the preparatory phase to concrete implementation.
The ET-COMPASS consortium is led by the Italian INFN and includes institutes in the Netherlands, Belgium, Austria, Spain, Poland, the United Kingdom, Germany, and Croatia. The work will take place in close collaboration with the Einstein Telescope Organization (ETO), which is responsible for the scientific preparation of the detector project.
Work on proposals for an organizational and management structure will begin in 2027 and will last two years. It will take place in parallel with the preparatory work on the telescope itself and the selection of the construction site.
ETO Deputy Director Daniela Trani welcomes the organizational project. “Regardless of where the Einstein Telescope is located, a central professional organization is needed with clear structures and processes, project management, cost methodology, and collaboration models.”
The Einstein Telescope is a proposed advanced new gravitational-wave detector that will be cryogenically cooled and built underground to reduce ambient noise. The instrument will measure spacetime vibrations from colliding black holes and will be able to peer much deeper into the universe than the current generation of gravitational-wave detectors, such as Virgo in Italy.
Discussions regarding the optimal configuration for the Einstein Telescope and its location are ongoing. Several candidates are working on a bid book for the project, which is due to be submitted in 2027. A decision on its construction and location is expected in the years that follow.
The Netherlands is closely involved in a proposal to build the Einstein Telescope beneath the sound-absorbing loess soils in the border region with Belgium and Germany (Euregio Meuse-Rhine). The Dutch government has allocated 870 million euros for this through the Growth Fund, plus several tens of millions for the preparatory phase.
