September 2025
By: Daniel Nikolov, Benoît Tuybens, Max Majoor, Anna Green, Patrick Essers, Giovanni Bisoffi, Yuliya Hoika
A lot happened in the Einstein Telescope Organisation (ETO) during the past half year. From our general meeting on Elba, to leading a taskforce for a new baseline design, submitting the ET-COMPASS proposal and welcoming a new member of the directorate. And let's not forget the first meeting of the ETO Funders Group and the new agreement with CERN!
The third general meeting of the Einstein Telescope Organisation (ETO) took place on Elba on 15–18 September 2025**.** It brought together ETO staff and, for the first time, a group of external participants from the host consortia and ET Collaboration was invited. For external participants, the meeting offered the chance to understand ETO's bottlenecks and see how the organisation positions itself within the wider Einstein Telescope ecosystem. By sharing openly, ETO aimed to foster stronger cooperation and collaboration and nurture a sense of community — one ship heading towards the centre of the galaxy. The meeting unfolded in an open, collegial atmosphere, under the gentle September sun and the salty air of the seaside. Conversations flowed as easily as the delicious food, and a rich programme of sessions, formats, and speakers gave participants a 360° view of ETO from multiple perspectives.
Read more about the general meeting on the Einstein Telescope website (includes photos).
Participants of the general meeting working on ETO’s newsletter. From left to right: Giovanni Bisoffi, Patrick Essers, Daniel Nikolov, Benoît Tuybens, Max Majoor, Anna Green.
Between January and June 2025, a multidisciplinary taskforce led by ETO developed a new baseline design for the Einstein Telescope. The effort was aimed at optimising the detector layout to significantly reduce overall cost, while maintaining scientific goals and flexibility for future upgrades. The new design reduces the underground volume by more than 25%. It serves as a milestone between the conceptual design and the future technical design documents that will guide construction. The work was carried out by 49 scientists and engineers from 17 organisations in 8 countries. The scientists involved are also members of the Einstein Telescope Collaboration. Liaisons for the candidate sites Sardinia and the Euregio Meuse-Rhine were actively involved. This achievement marks a crucial step in turning the Einstein Telescope from concept into reality.
Read more about the work of this taskforce on the Einstein Telescope website.
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To celebrate their work on the baseline design, taskforce members received sunglasses and chocolate as a token of thanks.
After months of intense work, the consortium submitted the INFRADEV (Early phase implementation of ESFRI Projects) proposal ET-COMPASS in September 2025. The aim is to secure €1.5 million in funding to address critical bottlenecks in the transition from the preparatory to the implementation phase. If approved, the project will contribute to organisational, management and stakeholder engagement processes, policies and tools. All work will be under ETO's responsibility and fully in line with the ETO work plan. The proposal was finalised at the ETO General Meeting on Elba. The project is coordinated by INFN, with Nikhef leading efforts on organisational structures and KU Leuven focusing on membership enlargement and partnership engagement. Partners from Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain and the UK contributed actively.
Daniela Trani, Addis Koek and Fernando Ferroni working on the ET-COMPASS proposal.
On 4 June 2025, the ETO Funders Group (EFG) held its first in-person meeting in Maastricht, at the historical Groote Sociëteit. The EFG brings together representatives from Nikhef, INFN, Belspo (Belgian Science Policy Office) and FWO (Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek). The ETO Funders Group officially started in December 2024, when a Memorandum of Understanding was signed to establish a joint ETO Fund, install the ETO Funders Group and designate Nikhef as administrator of the fund. The agenda of the meeting focused on ETO's resourcing needs and included departmental updates. Beyond reviewing funding, discussions also explored how funders can help ETO overcome challenges, for example by facilitating in-kind contributions or refining ETO's requests to other partners. The second in-person meeting of the EFG was held in Lyon on 22 October 2025 (following the Board of Governmental Representatives meeting on 21–22 October) and included a Project Office update.
Participants raising their glass after a successful first ETO Funders Group meeting in Maastricht. From left to right: Daniela Trani, Daniel Nikolov, Monique Bossi, Jorgen D’Hondt, Laurent Ghys, Arjen van Rijn, Fernando Ferroni, Karin Matthesius, Addis Koeck, Hans Plets, Jerôme Pourbaix
ET has strengthened its partnership with CERN through a new agreement signed in March 2025. Building on earlier collaborations in vacuum, materials, manufacturing and civil engineering, the scope now also includes safety. The Einstein Telescope and CERN share many challenges as large underground infrastructures require ultra-high vacuum, advanced engineering and complex technical systems. This makes CERN's expertise invaluable for the development of ET.
Read more about the collaboration with CERN on the Einstein Telescope website.