Flemish roadshow with Einstein Telescope exhibition visits universities

Starting in November, the Einstein Telescope Roadshow will visit six universities in Flanders and Brussels. With this travelling exhibition, FWO, the Flemish partner of the Einstein Telescope, wants to introduce Flemish people to the world of gravitational waves and the Einstein Telescope. Hasselt University will kick off the roadshow and be the first to welcome the exhibition to its campus in Diepenbeek. Enthusiasm is high: a number of sessions aimed at schoolchildren are already fully booked.

Travelling to six universities

After Hasselt University, the roadshow will travel to the University of Antwerp in February 2026, followed by Ghent University at the end of February and beginning of March. In March, it will also visit KU Leuven Kulak in Kortrijk and KU Leuven in Leuven. The tour will end in April and May at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel. Each location offers its own programme, with interactive exhibitions, VR experiences, lectures, debates and activities for school pupils.

Opening programme

On Friday 7 November, the official opening will take place on the Diepenbeek campus in the presence of Flemish Minister-President Matthias Diependaele, Governor of Belgian Limburg Jos Lantmeeters, Rector Bernard Vanheusden and Director of Einstein Telescope Flanders Hans Plets. The exhibition at Hasselt University runs until 27 November and is free for everyone to visit.

Lectures, stargazing and science shows

During the interactive exhibition, Hasselt University is organising lectures, workshops, a science show, a VR journey through the Einstein Telescope or a neutron star, and a literary evening on Wednesdays, during which author Govert Derix will present his novel “Liefde in het licht van de Einsteintelescoop” (Love in the light of the Einstein Telescope). On Friday 14 November, the university is organising an evening programme and the ET exhibition can be visited after dark. During Science Day on 23 November, the exhibition will be open exceptionally on a Sunday.

Great interest from schools

To engage pupils in the story of the Einstein Telescope, schools can participate in a free programme with a lecture, a visit to the interactive exhibition and a workshop or quiz. Even before the exhibition starts, there is already great interest. Three of the four sessions on 13 and 17 November are already fully booked.

Pupils: the target group of the future

With the school sessions, FWO wants to encourage schoolchildren to choose courses from the STEM palette. The letters in STEM stand for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. ‘Not only because it is extremely interesting, but also because schoolchildren are literally the generation that will build and use this telescope,’ says Daniel Mayerson, who is active in the Einstein Telescope project as part of the Flemish FWO team.

“We also want to make it clear that the Einstein Telescope is not something that is far removed from everyday life. The project touches on a wide range of disciplines: from physics, geology and chemistry to electronics and materials science. The technical disciplines within STEM are central, but the story is broader than that. In addition to the scientific challenges, it is also a textbook example of what groundbreaking collaboration looks like: legally, economically, socially and sustainably.”

According to Daniel Mayerson, the Einstein Telescope is a particularly fascinating and rewarding subject. ‘The telescope represents a major step forward in our understanding of the universe. It appeals to us as human beings at the core of who we are and what our place in the universe is. We want to show young people that what they are learning at school now is really relevant. When they suddenly say, “Hey, I already understand this!” during our experiments and explanations, then you have set something wonderful in motion.’

Getting Flemish people excited

With this travelling exhibition, the Research Foundation – Flanders (FWO) and the five Flemish universities want to introduce visitors to the science behind gravitational waves and get Flemish people excited about the possible construction of the underground telescope at the tri-border area between Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany.

More info and registration

More information and the full programme of the Roadshow can be found at etroadshow.be. You can register for one of the activities at Hasselt University via the website uhasselt.be/etroadshow.