Another step forward, with a trip to Brussels, to support the Einstein Telescope project. What sees Italy as a candidate to host the largest interferometer in the world to study gravitational waves between 200 and 400 meters deep in the disused mine near Nuoro.
The Italian candidacy was at the center of a presentation conference in Brussels (24 March) in the Altiero Spinelli building, in the headquarters of the European Parliament. The aim of the initiative, promoted by the Sardinia Region in collaboration with the Ministry of University and Research, the National Institute of Nuclear Physics «to bring the Italian proposal to the attention of the highest European institution, in a now crucial phase in the path that will lead to the choice of the site or sites that will host the future experiment, expected in 2027».
The alliance with Saxony
The Einstein Telescope, considered a flagship project at an international level, in 2021 was included in the Roadmap of ESFRI (European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures), the European body that indicates which scientific infrastructures are crucial to invest in Europe, thanks to an Italian-led proposal, supported by Belgium, the Netherlands, Poland and Spain. Also at the meeting was the Minister of Science of the Free State of Saxony, Sebastian Gemkov. «The presence of the representatives of the two regions, both candidates to host ET respectively in the areas of SOS Enattos, in the Nuoro area, and in Lusatia – the Region informs us – confirms the strong spirit of collaboration between Sardinia and Saxony, sanctioned by the signing of a declaration of intent to consolidate scientific cooperation, last January 12th in Rome, and strengthened by a recent operational meeting in Dresden».
Over 1.4 billion in the field
For the president of the Sardinia Region Alessandra Todde what is being achieved “speaks not only of science and research, but also of the European economic and social world”.
1.4 billion euros have already been allocated for the project (350 million provided by the Sardinia Region and 950 by the State that supported the project) to which other resources will be added.
