During the Einstein Telescope meeting in Maastricht, UM and the other partner universities signed: RWTH Aachen, UCL Louvain, Hasselt, Ghent, Antwerp, VUB Brussels, ULB Brussels, Liege, Radboud University Nijmegen, TU Eindhoven and Hamburg.

To position the region as a candidate for the construction of the Einstein Telescope, a state-of-the-art prototype, the ET Pathfinder, is being developed in an international context in South Limburg. The ET Pathfinder is a valuable infrastructure for further research into gravitational waves and the technology for detecting them. An Interreg subsidy has been awarded supporting the ET Pathfinder; the Province of Limburg has also decided to make a contribution.

"These developments are a huge stimulus for our Faculty of Science and Engineering. In this faculty, we want to further expand our STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) activities and thereby further develop our research group on fundamental physics, which researches gravitational waves, among other things," says Martin Paul. "Our Faculty of Science and Engineering will, through the research group on fundamental physics, contribute to the establishment of an Institute for Gravitational Research in the coming years. This institute will be open to Nikhef partners and other stakeholders. A fantastic opportunity for the Netherlands, Limburg, Maastricht and UM."