Andrew Yee[_1_]
April 29th 08, 06:24 AM
ESO Education and Public Relations Dept.
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Text with all links and the photos are available on the ESO Website at URL:
http://www.eso.org/public/outreach/press-rel/pr-2008/pr-11-08.html
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Contacts:
Claus Madsen
ESO
Phone: +49 89 3200 6278, +49 171 95 25 603
Dr. Henri Boffin
ESO Press Officer
Phone: +49 89 3200 6222
Valentina Rodriguez
ESO Press Officer in Chile
Phone: +56 2 463 3123
For Immediate Release: 24 April 2008
ESO Release 11/08
Austria Declares Intent To Join ESO
At a press conference today at the University of Vienna's Observatory, the
Austrian Science Minister Johannes Hahn announced the decision by the
Austrian Government to seek membership of ESO from 1 July this year.
Said Minister Hahn: "With membership of ESO, Austria's scientists will
receive direct access to the world's leading infrastructure in astronomy.
This strengthens Austria as a place for research and provides an opportunity
for young researchers to continue their work from here. With this move,
Austria takes an important step in the reinforcement of Europe's science and
research infrastructure."
The decision constitutes a major breakthrough for Austrian scientists who
have argued for membership of ESO for many years. Seeking membership in ESO
also marks a step towards the further development of the European Research
and Innovation Area, an important element of Europe's so-called Lisbon
Strategy.
"ESO welcomes the Austrian bid to join our organisation. I salute the
Austrian Government for taking this important step and look forward to
working closely with our Austrian friends and colleagues in the years to
come," commented the ESO Director General, Tim de Zeeuw.
For Austrian astronomers, ESO membership means not only unrestricted access
to ESO's world-leading observational facilities including the world's most
advanced optical telescope, the Very Large Telescope, and full participation
in the quasi-global ALMA project, but also the possibility to participate on
a par with their European colleagues in the future projects of ESO,
including the realisation of ESO's Extremely Large Telescope project
(E-ELT), which is currently in the design phase.
All these projects require some of the most advanced technologies in key
areas such as optics, detectors, lightweight structures, etc. Austrian
participation in ESO opens the door for Austrian industry and major research
institutes of the country to take part in the development of such
technologies with their associated potential for industrial spin off.
The main centres for astronomical research in Austria are at the
Universities of Graz, Innsbruck and Vienna. Furthermore scientists in the
area of mathematics, applied physics and computer sciences already expressed
their interest to contribute to the development of advanced technologies
required by ESO's future projects.
The Austrian bid for ESO membership will be formally considered by the ESO
Council at its next meeting on 3-4 June and is subject also to subsequent
ratification by the Austrian Parliament.
National contacts for the media:
Belgium: Dr. Rodrigo Alvarez, +32-2-474 70 50
Czech Republic: Pavel Suchan, +420 267 103 040
Denmark: Dr. Michael Linden-Vornle, +45-33-18 19 97
Finland: Ms. Riitta Tirronen, +358 9 7748 8369
France: Dr. Daniel Kunth, +33-1-44 32 80 85
Germany: Dr. Jakob Staude, +49-6221-528229
Italy: Dr. Leopoldo Benacchio, +39-347-230 26 51
The Netherlands: Dr. Marieke Baan, +31-20-525 74 80
Portugal: Prof. Teresa Lago, +351-22-089 833
Spain: Dr. Miguel Mas-Hesse, +34918131196
Sweden: Dr. Jesper Sollerman, +46-8-55 37 85 54
Switzerland: Dr. Martin Steinacher, +41-31-324 23 82
United Kingdom: Mr. Peter Barratt, +44-1793-44 20 25
USA: Dr. Paola Rebusco, +1-617-308-2397
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
ESO Press Information is available on Receive email notification
the WWW at about important news from
http://www.eso.org/outreach/press-rel/ ESO - subscribe to the
ESO-NEWS Mailing List.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright ESO Education & Public Relations Department
Karl-Schwarzschild-Strasse 2, D-85748 Garching, Germany
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Text with all links and the photos are available on the ESO Website at URL:
http://www.eso.org/public/outreach/press-rel/pr-2008/pr-11-08.html
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Contacts:
Claus Madsen
ESO
Phone: +49 89 3200 6278, +49 171 95 25 603
Dr. Henri Boffin
ESO Press Officer
Phone: +49 89 3200 6222
Valentina Rodriguez
ESO Press Officer in Chile
Phone: +56 2 463 3123
For Immediate Release: 24 April 2008
ESO Release 11/08
Austria Declares Intent To Join ESO
At a press conference today at the University of Vienna's Observatory, the
Austrian Science Minister Johannes Hahn announced the decision by the
Austrian Government to seek membership of ESO from 1 July this year.
Said Minister Hahn: "With membership of ESO, Austria's scientists will
receive direct access to the world's leading infrastructure in astronomy.
This strengthens Austria as a place for research and provides an opportunity
for young researchers to continue their work from here. With this move,
Austria takes an important step in the reinforcement of Europe's science and
research infrastructure."
The decision constitutes a major breakthrough for Austrian scientists who
have argued for membership of ESO for many years. Seeking membership in ESO
also marks a step towards the further development of the European Research
and Innovation Area, an important element of Europe's so-called Lisbon
Strategy.
"ESO welcomes the Austrian bid to join our organisation. I salute the
Austrian Government for taking this important step and look forward to
working closely with our Austrian friends and colleagues in the years to
come," commented the ESO Director General, Tim de Zeeuw.
For Austrian astronomers, ESO membership means not only unrestricted access
to ESO's world-leading observational facilities including the world's most
advanced optical telescope, the Very Large Telescope, and full participation
in the quasi-global ALMA project, but also the possibility to participate on
a par with their European colleagues in the future projects of ESO,
including the realisation of ESO's Extremely Large Telescope project
(E-ELT), which is currently in the design phase.
All these projects require some of the most advanced technologies in key
areas such as optics, detectors, lightweight structures, etc. Austrian
participation in ESO opens the door for Austrian industry and major research
institutes of the country to take part in the development of such
technologies with their associated potential for industrial spin off.
The main centres for astronomical research in Austria are at the
Universities of Graz, Innsbruck and Vienna. Furthermore scientists in the
area of mathematics, applied physics and computer sciences already expressed
their interest to contribute to the development of advanced technologies
required by ESO's future projects.
The Austrian bid for ESO membership will be formally considered by the ESO
Council at its next meeting on 3-4 June and is subject also to subsequent
ratification by the Austrian Parliament.
National contacts for the media:
Belgium: Dr. Rodrigo Alvarez, +32-2-474 70 50
Czech Republic: Pavel Suchan, +420 267 103 040
Denmark: Dr. Michael Linden-Vornle, +45-33-18 19 97
Finland: Ms. Riitta Tirronen, +358 9 7748 8369
France: Dr. Daniel Kunth, +33-1-44 32 80 85
Germany: Dr. Jakob Staude, +49-6221-528229
Italy: Dr. Leopoldo Benacchio, +39-347-230 26 51
The Netherlands: Dr. Marieke Baan, +31-20-525 74 80
Portugal: Prof. Teresa Lago, +351-22-089 833
Spain: Dr. Miguel Mas-Hesse, +34918131196
Sweden: Dr. Jesper Sollerman, +46-8-55 37 85 54
Switzerland: Dr. Martin Steinacher, +41-31-324 23 82
United Kingdom: Mr. Peter Barratt, +44-1793-44 20 25
USA: Dr. Paola Rebusco, +1-617-308-2397
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
ESO Press Information is available on Receive email notification
the WWW at about important news from
http://www.eso.org/outreach/press-rel/ ESO - subscribe to the
ESO-NEWS Mailing List.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright ESO Education & Public Relations Department
Karl-Schwarzschild-Strasse 2, D-85748 Garching, Germany
----------------------------------------------------------------------------