Skip to main content
Go to the home page of the European Commission (opens in new window)
English English
CORDIS - EU research results
CORDIS
Content archived on 2024-06-18

Radio pulsars with LOFAR: a study of extreme physics laboratories

Objective

A radio pulsar is formed when the iron core of a massive star collapses in a supernova explosion. Due to their extreme compactness and supernuclear density radio pulsars are extremely stable rotators. Our goal is 1) to use radio pulsars to improve our limited understanding of some of the most energetic events known in the universe and the source of the elements that make up planets and all forms of life: supernovae 2) to find individual radio-pulsar systems that are such stable rotators that they can be used for the first-ever direct detection of gravitational waves or in the first ever strong-field test of gravity. We can do this with LOFAR, a revolutionary new radio telescope that host institute ASTRON is currently completing. LOFAR has more collecting by itself than all other radio telescopes in the world combined. In the course of his research in the US, van Leeuwen has acquired the radio-telescope survey experience, the instrument-development skills and the pulsar-population knowledge that will be needed for this project to push the boundary of our understanding of the universe. As the host institute is close to completing the most sensitive radio telescope in the world, the researcher will have unsurpassed means to accomplish the objectives laid out above. The host institute offers the researcher a tenure position in its scientific staff where he can be at the global forefront of telescope possibilities for the next decade. We expect to foster several intense decade-long EU-US co-operations between the host and the researcher's current US collaborators and Berkeley group to 1) adapt algorithms, monitor new discoveries and improve supernova modelling; and 2) design and build several leading-edge signal processing machines. For the next decade this project can define the global scientific and technological state-of-the-art within its field.

Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)

CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.

You need to log in or register to use this function

Keywords

Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)

Topic(s)

Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.

Call for proposal

Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.

FP7-PEOPLE-2007-4-3-IRG
See other projects for this call

Funding Scheme

Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.

MC-IRG - International Re-integration Grants (IRG)

Coordinator

STICHTING ASTRONOMISCH ONDERZOEK IN NEDERLAND
EU contribution
€ 100 000,00
Total cost

The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.

No data
My booklet 0 0