The Einstein Telescope never quite lets you go

For more than two months, I have now been on board as general manager of the Einstein Telescope EMR project office. Unbelievable, what a project! There are so many aspects to it: the scientific complexity, the technical challenges, the different countries and cultures. And, of course, the huge number of enthusiastic people,  who all have the same goal: to install the most innovative detector in this region, enabling us to see further into the universe than ever before.

I’ve already led quite a few complex projects involving an enormous number of different stakeholders, but the Einstein Telescope is in a league of its own.

Physics teacher

While studying integrated water management at Wageningen University, I took a module on Einstein’s theory of relativity. It was one of my favourite subjects, and I immediately regretted not having chosen to study physics. Apart from a brief stint as a physics teacher at a secondary school, I’ve never done anything with my studies since. Until I came across our telescope. That’s not the only connection: my daughter is studying astronomy and, as part of her Master’s research, is working on LISA (Laser Interferometer Space Antenna), a project run by the European Space Agency (ESA). So you can imagine that we often talk about gravitational waves and the Einstein Telescope at home. I’ve already asked my daughter to help me out once to explain how something works.

So many opportunities

Before I started, there was a huge pile of reports for me to delve into. What particularly captured my imagination was the report by the Flemish research agency Econopolis. Commissioned by the Flemish Government, they carried out a study last year to investigate what else the Einstein Telescope has to offer apart from pure scientific knowledge.

Econopolis concludes that the Einstein Telescope offers opportunities on a scale that Flanders has never seen before and is unlikely to see again in the future. And that doesn’t just apply to Flanders. There are so many opportunities and possibilities if we work together effectively. Cross-border thinking and action as a formula. In this project, there is no Netherlands, no Flanders, no Wallonia and no North Rhine-Westphalia. Together, we are Einstein Euregio Meuse-Rhine!

I must admit that things are sometimes a bit trickier in practice. It’s not quite as straightforward or obvious as it might seem to get everyone thinking along the same lines every time, and certainly not when it comes to making decisions together.

What are we going to discover?

I also find it exciting that we don’t yet know what we’re going to discover. We will learn more about the origins of galaxies, matter and possibly even the first moments after the Big Bang. But we are also likely to discover new physical phenomena that are as yet unknown. Added to this is the spin-off from the technologies currently being developed, which can undoubtedly be used in other fields as well. What exactly? We’ll have to wait and see. After all, we don’t know what we don’t yet know.

Here at the project office, we are well on the way to completing the feasibility phase and, in the meantime, we are already working on the bid book. For some areas, this is not easy because a considerable number of decisions still need to be taken at European level.

The finish line in the distance

When I look at the people in the project office, I see colleagues who are incredibly dedicated and work very hard. Who don’t give up when things get tough, because that, too, is only to be expected and part and parcel of a project that has never been undertaken before. It doesn’t happen by itself, but step by step we’re getting there and we can see the finish line in the distance.

Before that happens, most of our colleagues will be closing the door behind them for a couple of weeks’ holiday. Much needed and well deserved. My personal advice, therefore, is to put the project out of their mind for the time being. Perhaps against my better judgement, because I’ve come to realise it myself: the Einstein Telescope never quite lets you go.

Over Anne Ubbels

Anne Ubbels took up her post as general manager of the Einstein Telescope EMR project office in April. She is an experienced manager who has worked on complex projects in the physical domain. Anne held various positions in the public sector. She then worked at Berenschot consultancy firm as a managing consultant and later as a managing director. In 2017, she set up her own freelance business under the name Ubbels+Langerak.