ann23012 — Announcement
ESO and SKAO sign cooperation agreement
24 July 2023: ESO and the Square Kilometre Array Observatory (SKAO) have signed a cooperation agreement, covering areas such as strategy and governance, communications, international relations, scientific coordination and sustainability, diversity and inclusion. It was signed today at ESO’s Headquarters in Garching, Germany, by SKAO Director General Phil Diamond and ESO Director General Xavier Barcons. SKAO is an intergovernmental organisation that aims to build and operate cutting-edge radio telescopes to transform our understanding of the Universe. There is, therefore, considerable overlap between the interests of SKAO and ESO, whose mission is to design, build and operate advanced ground-based observatories and to foster international collaboration for astronomy. In fact, ESO and SKAO have had close-cooperation links since the establishment of SKAO, with scientists, engineers and administrators of both organisations collaborating on a regular basis. For example, ESO and SKAO have worked together to raise awareness about the need to protect the dark and quiet ...