Great news for the radio and optical community! Under H2020-INFRAIA-2018-2020, the European Commission approved the new project OPTICON RadioNet Pilot (ORP), which mobilizes the two flagship communities of advanced radio and optical/infrared astronomy.
Jean-Gabriel Cuby (CNRS) will be the coordinator of this prestigious project. Gerry Gilmore (University of Cambridge) will be scientific coordinator of the OPTICON partners and Anton Zensus, director at the Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie, will serve as scientific coordinator for the radio astronomy partners.
The ORP will not only continue the successful program of transnational access to the best telescopes and arrays, but it will take a step further towards the harmonization of national and European procedures. The ORP aims also to develop new models for long-term engagements of funders in making trans-national access sustainable beyond the EU funding.
ORP will start on March 1, 2021, with a duration of 4 years, a funding level of 15 million Euros and 37 partners, amongst them 13 excellent radio astronomical institutes operating the world class radio telescopes and arrays:EVN, e-MERLIN, IRAM NOEMA & PV, LOFAR, 100m telescope in Effelsberg, APEX, and for the first time offering transnational access to the European ALMA Nodes (ARCs) and virtual access to the ADA-ASTRON Data Archive (on WSRT and LOFAR).
RadioNet congratulates the optical and the radio community on the successful proposal and we look forward to a fruitful collaboration and great results within ORP.