The "Etic" project is underway which aims to build in Italy - at the Sos Enattos site in Sardinia - the Einstein Telescope, the new large European observatory for gravitational waves.
The leader is Etic (acronym of Einstein Telescope Infrastructure Consortium) is the National Institute of Nuclear Physics and there is a funding of 50 million euro available from the Pnrr.
The plan will deal with the preparation and implementation, within the next 30 months, of the feasibility study of the interventions at the disused mine in the Lula area and with the creation of a network of research laboratories for the development of technologies that will be adopted by the new observatory.
In addition to Sardinia, the Meuse-Rhin , an area located between Holland and Belgium, is also in the running to host the Einstein Telescope. The final decision on the construction site should arrive by 2024.
"It is of fundamental importance for our country to prepare in the best possible way for the scientific and technological challenge represented by the creation of the Einstein Telescope", explains Michele Punturo , researcher of the Perugia section of the Institute and scientific coordinator of Etic.
«For this reason - he adds - Etic is a strategic project, because it offers the conditions and resources to conduct the research necessary for the development of new technologies that will be used to achieve the sensitivity envisaged by the new telescope. For example, new systems for reducing seismic and thermal noise, and new materials for making mirrors».
(Unioneonline/lf)