Within the framework of this new collaboration, joint research focusses are to be determined and targeted research and development projects are to be carried out in areas such as detector technologies in visible light and in the near-infrared range. This also applies to the development of radio receivers or novel instruments and telescopes. The partnership will also provide training and further education opportunities for young researchers, engineers as well as exchange programs for students and employees.

The agreement is part of ESO's TecDev technology development program. ESO cooperates with leading research institutions in this context and wants to advance key technologies in the sense of its mission. The goal is to keep ESO facilities at the forefront of astronomical research by taking up technologies at an early stage and developing them into mature solutions for future projects. Currently, TecDev focusses on five main areas: technologies for adaptive optics, scientific detectors, calibration sources for spectroscopy, technologies in millimetre and submillimeter astronomy, and the validation of technologies that use ESO infrastructures.

As an immediate target for the near future, the cooperation between ESO and DZA focusses on image sensors for visible light and near infrared. Both partners see this as an attractive area for joint research and development. The dynamic ecosystem of semiconductor industry and science in and around Dresden in the immediate vicinity of Görlitz offers excellent development opportunities in this area.

One of the tasks of the DZA is to facilitate access to international astronomical organisations. The joint efforts of ESO TecDev and the DZA Centre for Technology Development are to develop and promote new technologies for telescope instrumentation that will benefit both ESO and the DZA, as well as the scientific community in general.

With the DZA, an important research institution for astrophysics, technology development and data science is being created in Lusatia in the heart of Europe. The headquarters of the research centre is located in the easternmost city of Germany, in the European city of Görlitz on the border with Poland.

💡Further information: https://www.eso.org/public/

❓Contacts for media professionals

• Stephan Witschas
  DZA Head of Communications
  Postplatz 1, 02826 Görlitz
  E-Mail: medien@dzastro.de
   
• Bárbara Ferreira
  ESO Media Manager
  Garching bei München, Germany
  Tel: +49 89 3200 6670
  E-Mail: press@eso.org