CORDIS

EU research results

CORDIS

Optical Infrared Coordination Network for Astronomy

Fact Sheet

Reporting

Results

Objective

Europe has become a global leader in optical-near infrared astronomy through excellence in space and ground-based experimental and theoretical research. While the major infrastructures are delivered through major national and multi-national agencies (ESO, ESA) their continuing scientific competitiveness requires a strong community of scientists and technologists distributed across Europe’s nations.
OPTICON has a proven record supporting European astrophysical excellence through development of new technologies, through training of new people, through delivering open access to the best infrastructures, and through strategic planning for future requirements in technology, innovative research methodologies, and trans-national coordination.
Europe’s scientific excellence depends on continuing effort developing and supporting the distributed expertise across Europe - this is essential to develop and implement new technologies and ensure instrumentation and infrastructures remain cutting edge.
Excellence depends on continuing effort to strengthen and broaden the community, through networking initiatives to include and then consolidate European communities with more limited science expertise.
Excellence builds on training actions to qualify scientists from European communities which lack national access to state of the art research infrastructures to compete successfully for use of the best available facilities.
Excellence depends on access programmes which enable all European scientists to access the best infrastructures needs-blind, purely on competitive merit.
Global competitiveness and the future of the community require early planning of long-term sustainability, awareness of potentially disruptive technologies, and new approaches to the use of national-scale infrastructures under remote or robotic control.
OPTICON will continue to promote this excellence, global competitiveness and long-term strategic planning.

Programme(s)

H2020-EU.1.4.1.2. - Integrating and opening existing national and regional research infrastructures of European interest

Topic(s)

INFRAIA-01-2016-2017 - Integrating Activities for Advanced Communities

Call for proposal

H2020-INFRAIA-2016-1

See other projects for this call

Funding Scheme

RIA - Research and Innovation action

Coordinator

THE CHANCELLOR MASTERS AND SCHOLARS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE

Address

Trinity Lane The Old Schools
Cb2 1tn Cambridge

United Kingdom

Activity type

Higher or Secondary Education Establishments

EU Contribution

€ 796 132,25

Website

Contact the organisation

Participants (32)

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CENTRE NATIONAL DE LA RECHERCHE SCIENTIFIQUE CNRS

France

EU Contribution

€ 1 221 288,75

ISTITUTO NAZIONALE DI ASTROFISICA

Italy

EU Contribution

€ 1 110 081

MAX-PLANCK-GESELLSCHAFT ZUR FORDERUNG DER WISSENSCHAFTEN EV

Germany

EU Contribution

€ 437 021

UNITED KINGDOM RESEARCH AND INNOVATION

United Kingdom

EU Contribution

€ 1 187 918

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY FACILITIES COUNCIL

United Kingdom

EUROPEAN SOUTHERN OBSERVATORY - ESO EUROPEAN ORGANISATION FOR ASTRONOMICAL RESEARCH IN THE SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE

Germany

EU Contribution

€ 450 000

AGENCIA ESTATAL CONSEJO SUPERIOR DEINVESTIGACIONES CIENTIFICAS

Spain

UNIVERSITEIT LEIDEN

Netherlands

EU Contribution

€ 399 762,50

FIRST LIGHT IMAGING SAS

France

EU Contribution

€ 270 000

OFFICE NATIONAL D'ETUDES ET DE RECHERCHES AEROSPATIALES

France

EU Contribution

€ 56 250

NEDERLANDSE ORGANISATIE VOOR TOEGEPAST NATUURWETENSCHAPPELIJK ONDERZOEK TNO

Netherlands

EU Contribution

€ 89 533,75

INSTITUTO DE ASTROFISICA DE CANARIAS

Spain

EU Contribution

€ 285 745

MAGYAR TUDOMANYOS AKADEMIA CSILLAGASZATI ES FOLDTUDOMANYI KUTATOKOZPONT

Hungary

EU Contribution

€ 144 325

UNIWERSYTET WARSZAWSKI

Poland

EU Contribution

€ 210 000

NATIONAL OBSERVATORY OF ATHENS

Greece

EU Contribution

€ 17 850

NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF IRELAND GALWAY

Ireland

EU Contribution

€ 213 017,50

KOBENHAVNS UNIVERSITET

Denmark

EU Contribution

€ 429 527,50

UNIVERSITE DE LIEGE

Belgium

EU Contribution

€ 172 500

UNIVERSIDADE DO PORTO

Portugal

EU Contribution

€ 203 750

LEIBNIZ-INSTITUT FUR ASTROPHYSIK POTSDAM (AIP)

Germany

EU Contribution

€ 146 793,75

POLITECNICO DI MILANO

Italy

EU Contribution

€ 133 750

NORDIC OPTICAL TELESCOPE SCIENTIFIC ASSOCIATION

Sweden

EU Contribution

€ 221 953

DEPARTMENT OF INDUSTRY

Australia

EU Contribution

€ 295 244

HERIOT-WATT UNIVERSITY

United Kingdom

EU Contribution

€ 126 187,50

THE UNIVERSITY COURT OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ST ANDREWS

United Kingdom

EU Contribution

€ 125 212

LIVERPOOL JOHN MOORES UNIVERSITY

United Kingdom

EU Contribution

€ 306 980

UNIVERSITY OF DURHAM

United Kingdom

EU Contribution

€ 244 957,50

THE UNIVERSITY OF EXETER

United Kingdom

EU Contribution

€ 75 000

UNIVERSITY OF BATH

United Kingdom

EU Contribution

€ 141 250

THE CHANCELLOR, MASTERS AND SCHOLARS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD

United Kingdom

EU Contribution

€ 186 982,50

THE UNIVERSITY OF SHEFFIELD

United Kingdom

EU Contribution

€ 200 987,50

INSTITUT D'OPTIQUE THEORIQUE ET APPLIQUEE IOTA - SUPOPTIQUE

France

EU Contribution

€ 100 000

Project information

OPTICON

Grant agreement ID: 730890

Project website

Status

Ongoing project

Start date

1 January 2017
End date

31 December 2020

Funded under:

H2020-EU.1.4.1.2.

Overall budget:

€ 10 011 619,61
EU contribution

€ 10 000 000

Coordinated by:

THE CHANCELLOR MASTERS AND SCHOLARS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE

United Kingdom

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - OPTICON (Optical Infrared Coordination Network for Astronomy)

Reporting period: 2017-01-01 to 2018-06-30

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

Astronomical research, in what is still a discovery-led subject, is limited largely by technology. OPTICON’s JRA activities push the boundaries of potentially disruptive technologies in photosensitive materials and in novel manufacturing processes. OPTICON aspires to deliver the fastest high-efficiency CMOS camera, for scientific real-time control systems, and with knowledge transfer to an SME to ensure wider applications. OPTICON plans to advance the TRL of critical path technologies identified from our earlier technology planning, as crucial for next generational capabilities, particularly in photosensitive materials and in innovative manufacturing processes. In all cases we emphasise knowledge transfer and training of a new generation of technologists. Summer schools, more specialist subject schools organised through the JRA activities, and expert visiting/transfer programmes ensure diffusion of knowledge. One major challenge is to ensure the breadth, the depth and the viability of the broader communities outside one-off project-specific partnerships. Ambitious scientific objectives clearly increase the complexity of future instruments, which in turn will require further development of critical technologies, and also elaboration of new system concepts, new control strategies and new data reconstruction methods.
OPTICON’s Trans National Access (TNA) ambitions are twofold. The first is to deliver open access to the most appropriate facilities for cutting edge research on Europe’s medium sized telescopes, through the highly-regarded CTAC Calls for Observing proposals. The second TNA ambition is completely new, and visionary. Time Domain astronomy (TDA), the study of variable sources, is the fastest growing branch of astronomy. The community ranges from enthusiastic amateur astronomers to major collaborations. We coordinate and where necessary train these communities, providing the crucial common software and prototype hardware systems needed to deliver characterised science quality data, and to implement effective facility integration. We work to provide a central data resource with global open access ensuring added value, data preservation and maximal utility.
To achieve these ambitions OPTICON includes 16 Work Packages, with 8 focussed on technology development, 4 networking, 2 on future strategy (technical and managerial) and two on project delivery (management and TNA). All 16 are active and productive.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

Fraction of the NEON Observing School alumni who are still in astronomy.

Project information

OPTICON

Grant agreement ID: 730890

Project website

Status

Ongoing project

Start date

1 January 2017
End date

31 December 2020

Funded under:

H2020-EU.1.4.1.2.

Overall budget:

€ 10 011 619,61
EU contribution

€ 10 000 000

Coordinated by:

THE CHANCELLOR MASTERS AND SCHOLARS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE

Project information

OPTICON

Grant agreement ID: 730890

Project website

Status

Ongoing project

Start date

1 January 2017
End date

31 December 2020

Funded under:

H2020-EU.1.4.1.2.

Overall budget:

€ 10 011 619,61
EU contribution

€ 10 000 000

Coordinated by:

THE CHANCELLOR MASTERS AND SCHOLARS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE

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Last update: 22 August 2017

Record number: 207431

CORDIS

Objective

Coordinator

Participants (32)

Project information

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - OPTICON (Optical Infrared Coordination Network for Astronomy)

Project information

Deliverables

Publications

Project information

Project information

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CORDIS

Objective

Coordinator

Participants (32)

Project information

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - OPTICON (Optical Infrared Coordination Network for Astronomy)

Project information

Deliverables

Publications

Project information

Project information

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