The event is organised by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) with support of the KAVLI Foundation and by Brad Cenko (NASA Goddard Space Flight Centre/USA) and Samaya Nissanke from the German Centre for Astrophysics/DESY/University of Potsdam/Universiteit van Amsterdam).

The topic of the international workshop is: "International Coordination of the Time-Domain and Multi-Messenger Sky: New Opportunities and New Challenges".

HIGHLIGHTS

• Mon, June 22nd, 2026 • 9 a.m. • Benigna
  Eröffnung des Workshops durch Octavian Ursu mit Grußworten von Sachsens Wissenschaftsminister Sebastian Gemkow
   
• Wed, June 24th, 2026 • 3:30 p.m. • Film Palace Görlitz, Hall 1
  Cinema meets cosmos: "Interstellar" film in a fact check with 2011 Physic's Nobel Prize Laureate Brian Schmidt and YouTube influencer Doctor Whatson (program for children and adolescents)
   
• Wed, June 24th, 2026 • afternoon • Departure of the delegation to Herrnhut (Sternemanufaktur) and Obercunnersdorf
   
• Wed, June 24th, 2026 • 8 p.m. • Kufa Hoyerswerda • HOME
  Evening discussion with the President of the International Astronomical Union about the Earth, exoplanets and possible worlds beyond our solar system

Cooperation between major international projects as a key to new discoveries

In the next decade, major international projects such as the Square Kilometre Array Observatory (SKAO) or gravitational wave detectors such as the Einstein Telescope (ET) will be drivers of these research areas. In the best case, the instruments work together and researchers combine their data. Researchers worldwide must coordinate for the tracking of new astronomical phenomena that last only a few days or disappear earlier. This will be the subject of this face-to-face workshop for invited researchers. The results of the workshop are an update of an international roadmap.

"This meeting is the unique opportunity to pave the way together for the next big breakthroughs in astronomy. We also want to ensure that the next generation of researchers is empowered to organise this path responsibly. Multimessenger astrophysics requires an interaction between large-scale infrastructures and researchers as in a Swiss clockwork. This workshop is an example of global scientific collaboration and our common determination to uncover some of humanity's most profound questions about our cosmos – under the one heaven we all live in.”

Samaya Nissanke, co-organiser of the workshop and head of the DZA research focus Multimessenger Astronomy

IAU President Willy Benz: IAU and KAVLI promote excellent scientific cooperation

"The promotion of excellent scientific cooperation at all levels of astronomical research is at the centre of the IAU's mission. We are very grateful to the KAVLI Foundation for its continued commitment to promoting the best in cutting-edge research in astronomy and supporting the next generation to achieve future scientific breakthroughs"

Willy Benz • President of the IAU and Professor Emeritus at the University of Bern

Gregory Mack from the KAVLI Foundation added:

"Global coordination is a cornerstone of scientific progress in the 21st century. We are pleased to continue to support this workshop and to catalyse discoveries created through international cooperation and to support astronomers at their early careers.”

Günther Hasinger: Workshop in Görlitz is a great honour for the DZA

"It is a great honour for us that the KAVLI Foundation and the IAU have selected the German Centre for Astrophysics as hosts for this year's workshop. It is equally a great honour for me to welcome renowned leaders of international astrophysical institutions and the extended astronomical community from all over the world to Görlitz. We will help shape the future of this exciting field of research, which fits perfectly with the scientific mission of the DZA"

Günther Hasinger • Scientific Director DZA

About the International Astronomical Union (IAU)

The IAU brings together more than 13,000 active professional astronomers from more than 100 countries. The task of the IAU is to promote and protect astronomy as the world's oldest science in all aspects – including research, communication, education and development – through international cooperation. The IAU also acts as an internationally recognised institution for the assignment of designations of celestial bodies and their surface characteristics. Founded in 1919, the IAU is the world's largest astronomical professional organisation.

About the KAVLI Foundation

The Kavli Foundation promotes science for the benefit of humanity. The mission of the foundation is to promote basic research in astrophysics, nanosciences, neuroscience and theoretical physics; to strengthen the relationship between science and society and to honour scientific discoveries with the KAVLI Prize. Further information at kavlifoundation.org.