Lots of travelling and a wonderful dream

When, just over a year and a half ago, I was asked to represent Wallonia in the Einstein Telescope project, I didn’t need to think twice. I was working as Director of the Research and Innovation Department at the French-speaking Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Belgium, also known as Wallonie-Brussels International. Initially, it was thought that I’d be able to juggle both roles, but if I’m going to commit to something, I need to be able to give it my all. I soon realised that’s actually essential for the telescope project, too.

I enjoy the open collaboration every single day. Whilst the world is changing, with more protectionism and borders closing, the Einstein Telescope offers a light at the end of the tunnel (quite literally!). Just as food is important for your physical well-being, working on a positive and promising project such as the Einstein Telescope, which is about collaboration and frontier science, has a very positive impact on the mental well-being. It allows us to move beyond negativity and look towards a bright future.

I was recently told that I do take on quite a lot of roles for Einstein. That’s certainly true, but I always work alongside other colleagues, often far more brilliant ! These different roles also allow me to connect many aspects of the project. Wallonia joined the project office a little later, but is rapidly establishing its place within it. The Walloon taskforce, based in Liège, has delegated me to attend the project office’s management meetings in Maastricht. This is important to ensure that our strategies are aligned. In parallel, I contribute to drafting the bid book.

I was quite surprised by the complex governance structure of the project. Perhaps that’s only logical when you’re working with so many partners, but it can be a bit of a challenge at times. On the other hand, it’s also a strength: certainly, everyone has their own agendas, but these take a back seat to the common goal. It’s energizing to be able to contribute to that in some small way.

I’m someone who loves change. I also love travelling. I have spent the biggest part of my working life abroad, including seven years working in collaboration with CERN in Switzerland. As a knowledge transfer officer for Belgium, I gained specific expertise there that’s coming in very handy now. Within the ET working group on International Partnership Strategy, we organize meetings with scientists, politicians and administrators to showcase the huge added value of this project in the EMR region. We either visit them or invite them here. We are fortunate to have ETpathfinder in Maastricht and ET-CRISTAL in Liège: they give us tangible achievements to showcase already! There is also the education centre in Kerkrade and the ET-ECHO exhibition in Hasselt.

Science and industry are, certainly, very important, but I’m also curious to see what the Einstein Telescope will mean for the region itself. How we’ll be able to build in an environmentally responsible way. How important the Memorandum of Understanding is for universities in terms of education. And the collaboration between eleven universities of applied sciences and five universities across the border. Plans for exhibitions. Perhaps there’ll even be a visitor centre nearby. These are all fantastic opportunities, aren’t they?

I’m on the road a lot, but I try to be at home with my wife and our three children at the weekend and usually on Mondays. That doesn’t always work out in this job. But this job has certainly made a dream come true for me. Our youngest daughter is now two years old. It’ll be a while yet, certainly, but how fantastic it would be if she could work for the Einstein Telescope one day too.”

About Vassil Kolarov

Vassil Kolarov works in various capacities as an attaché for the Einstein Telescope through Wallonie-Brussels International. As a member of the Walloon ET task force, he is part of the POD (project office management committee) and is actively involved in the bid book. As part of the ET working group on International Partnership Strategy, he travels extensively throughout Europe to convince scientists and decision-makers of the EMR bid. Finally, Vassil is a sought-after sparring partner within the Valorization & Impact expert group.