The main goal of INTERSTELLAR has been a thorough investigation of the formation of the earliest galaxies in the Universe, their assembly and evolution during a crucial epoch, referred to as the Epoch of Reionization encompassing the first billion year of cosmic evolution. The impact of these themes on society is very broad as these topics might quite directly speak to the general public. Questions like what is the origin of the Universe and its its evolution, and the understanding of how it became the amazing entity the we observe today are constantly asked in public talks, and form also the basis of a human cultural background all around the word. They are as general as music can be perceived by humans. Finally, from the technological and investment point of view they are very powerful drivers for breakthrough solutions and challenges.
INTERSTELLAR has approached these questions in an innovative and very successful way. The research has been based on a combination of theory, supercomputing simulations, data from the top experimental facilities, both space-born (HST, JWST) and ground based (ALMA, VLT), and cutting-edge data analysis techniques, often based on Artificial Intelligence methods. With these tools, we have produced significant breakthroughs in the field fulfilling our original promises and expectations. We have made precise predictions and used our results to guide observations, acquire and analyse top-notch data or extract them from archives. The final outcome is a coherent and unprecedented picture of the physics of the first galaxies. To manage this extremely interdisciplinary approach, we have built a very diverse, gender-balanced Team including theorists, numerical experts and experimentalists that have worked in a highly coordinated manner to achieve our objectives.
