April 2026
By: Andreas Freise, Fernando Ferroni, Martine Oudenhoven
In a complex and evolving landscape, the Einstein Telescope Organisation (ETO) is focusing on the coordination, structure, and enabling systems needed to turn the Einstein Telescope into a reality. With approximately 43 colleagues (~24 fte) within ETO, and in collaboration with many other colleagues, the organisation drives progress on multiple fronts. ETO directors Andreas Freise and Fernando Ferroni reflect on achievements, challenges, and expectations for the future.
Andreas Freise (left) and Fernando Ferroni (right)
There seems to be a lot of buzz around the Einstein Telescope: media attention, political discussions, internal meetings, etc. What is that like for you?
Andreas: “It’s great to see so much interest and to have the attention of people from outside the scientific community. Sometimes this means our days are filled with calls and talks, giving statements, explaining things.”
Fernando: “To me, a lot of buzz around ET also looks like a good thing. The project is considered manifestly of great importance and this gives me additional motivation to keep organising the project in the best possible way.”
And what does this mean for ETO and the other ETO colleagues?
Fernando: “At times, a lot of attention comes together with a lot of stress. ETO is at the center of a complex galaxy of stakeholders. When they all have requests and ask questions, that can put pressure on the organisation. However, ETO, though still too small relative to what it should be, is made up of excellent people who have learned to work together efficiently.”
Andreas: “I agree that the constant external attention can be difficult to manage. That’s why we have to be clever in how we deal with the input that we receive, so that it does not provide a constant distraction from our work. At the same time, I think we all get some reward from doing a job that’s in the center of an exciting project.”
In general: how do you feel things are going for ETO?
Andreas: “I am very positive about our progress. Despite the small team and the large responsibility, we were able to build a stable and resilient core of an organisation, which we are now growing with new people seconded to ETO from our partners.”
Fernando: “ETO has become a focal point of the Einstein Telescope project. We are operating in different fields of action and at this moment the organisation is focused on the Geometry Comparison Report that the Board of Governmental Representatives has requested and should be ready in the autumn.”
The last newsletter came out in the fall of 2025. What progress has ETO made since then?
Fernando: “A lot of progress! A new mandate for ETO has been approved by the BGR, expanding and clarifying our field of action. The ETO Funders Group has acquired IFAE, Spain as a new member. And the work with CERN is also progressing extremely well.”
Andreas: “At CERN, a 36 m-long pilot sector of the vacuum beam pipe has been installed and is currently undergoing extensive testing. The engineering departments of CERN and ETO have also begun examining multiple aspects of the ET technical infrastructure, holding dedicated meetings with the candidate host consortia to address several critical elements. In addition, a formal collaboration with ESA has been established to provide advice and guidance on the costing of the ET project.”
Impressions of work for ETO, including the beampipe installation at CERN, a presentation, a coffee break and a hybrid meeting of the directorate.
What are the main priorities for the Einstein Telescope Organisation right now?
Andreas: “We have been asked to provide a Geometry Comparison Report to the BGR. This is a large activity involving many partners, in particular the ET Collaboration and the Host Consortia studying the candidate sites. Our priority is to demonstrate that the diverse ET community can work well together to deliver this report, using the professional management we develop.”
Fernando: “We are in a phase where activities are expanding and all of them require close cooperation with both the Scientific Collaboration (ETC) and the Host Consortia (HC). Although the process of establishing a collaboration has started, the level of challenges calls for a much closer integration of the efforts and a much better level of mutual trust.”
Alongside those priorities, what are the main challenges you’re navigating?
Fernando: “I would say one of the challenges is what I just mentioned, working on the closer integration of efforts with the Einstein Telescope Collaboration and the candidate host consortia.”
Andreas: “I think our greatest challenge is to keep the expertise we are developing in our team. We are coming to the end of the ET-PP project and other national or local funding for ET related tasks. For many of these projects we hired young and motivated people, and it’s crucial that we find ways to keep them in the ET ecosystem.”