H2020 Opticon RadioNet Pilot (ORP)

The European astronomy community has been granted 15 M€ to improve how radio and optical telescopes across the continent work together. The OPTICON-RadioNet PILOT (ORP) brings experts from the ground-based astronomy community to support improved access to a wider range of facilities, enabling the fastest-growing type of astronomy – including as many wavelengths as possible in a single study – and in doing so hopefully yield more discoveries. Astronomers from 15 European countries, Australia and South Africa and 37 institutions have joined the ORP consortium, funded by the EU H2020 programme.

Two astronomy networks are coming together to form Europe’s largest ground-based astronomy collaborative network, the ORP, supported by €15 million of funding from the H2020 programme. The ORP will provide scientists with access to a wide range of instruments, promote training for young astronomers, and open the way to new discoveries. The project will, among others, facilitate access to the European VLBI Network (EVN) and the Joint Institute for VLBI ERIC (JIVE), develop tools to improve this access, and help develop models for long term sustainability of these research infrastructures.