ASTRONET

Coordinating strategic planning for European Astronomy

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 Obiettivo del progetto (Objective)

'Improved cooperation has brought European astronomy to front player, notably through such organisations as ESO and ESA. To continue to excel in a competitive world, Europe must also coordinate national resources in the long term and across borders between disciplines and nations.

Accordingly, the goal of ASTRONET is to establish a strategic planning and coordination mechanism for all of European astronomy. Established as an ERA-NET in 2005, ASTRONET developed its 'Science Vision for European Astronomy' (2007), followed in 2008 by an 'Infrastructure Roadmap'. Both documents are very comprehensive: they cover all scientific topics in astronomy, from the Sun and Solar System to the limits of the observable Universe, and observation tools from the radio domain to gamma-rays and particles, on the ground and in space; they discuss theory and computing, outreach, training and recruitment of the vital human resources; they cover all of Europe as ASTRONET aims to engage all astronomical communities on the new map of Europe.

Building on those achievements, our ambition now goes even farther as we proceed to the implementation stage, a very significant new step towards increased coordination of the European resources for astronomy. ASTRONET's objectives for 2011-2015 are fourfold: (1) To establish a permanent mechanism for planning and coordination in European astronomy. (2) To follow-up and implement the Roadmap by building the new facilities that are needed to reach our scientific goals while optimising existing programmes in both scientific and financial terms – not only new joint projects at ESO or ESA, but a range of national resources as well. (3) To narrow the scientific and – in particular - technology gaps between different European countries, and (4) To establish a regularly updated data base with key information on the financial and human resources for astronomy in all European countries, as well as on the structure and governance of astronomical research in Europe.'

Introduzione (Teaser)

Cooperation has made European astronomy a leader in the field. To defend this position, key national research funding agencies and international organisations have established consensus on the next generation of infrastructures that are only feasible at European level.

Descrizione progetto (Article)

Today's success of European astronomy is based on previously scattered resources that have been brought together in the service of exciting discoveries. Thanks to multilateral partnerships like the European Southern Observatory (ESO) and the European Space Agency (ESA), astronomers have discovered hundreds of planetary systems around stars. The exploration of our solar system has taken humankind to exotic worlds like Saturn and its moons.

Given the scale and projected cost of proposed new infrastructures, their choice needs to be based on the scientific priorities of all key European actors in the field. Their construction and operation should also rely on an agreed plan for the optimal deployment of Europe's financial and human resources. This was the mission of the EU-funded initiative 'Coordinating strategic planning for European astronomy' (http://www.astronet-eu.org/ (ASTRONET)).

ASTRONET was awarded a Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) grant to establish a permanent mechanism for planning and coordinating European astronomy for the next 25 years. This will cover scientific topics from the solar neighbourhood to the limits of the observable Universe. ASTRONET engages all astronomical communities and funding agencies to build a shared knowledge of information on financial and human resources for astronomy in all European countries.

The groundwork had already been laid with the 'Science vision for European astronomy' and 'Infrastructure roadmap' on which all major funding agencies agreed in 2007 and 2008. Both documents were very comprehensive but needed to be updated to cover radio astronomy and projects such as the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA). In addition, ASTRONET is consolidating proposals for associated technologies and, in particular, virtual observatories for data mining and large-scale computing facilities.

Possibilities for future integration of Central and East European countries into the European astronomy community have also been explored. The first step forward in this direction was to assess the status and activities of astronomical communities in Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia and Ukraine.

By addressing long-term scientific goals, infrastructure needs and human resource management, ASTRONET will strengthen the position of European astronomy as a front-line player in the field.