Formed by 14 members representing 12 European countries, the Board of Directors constitutes a key step towards the realisation of the main goals of the European Solar Telescope preparatory phase.
Virtual meeting of the EST Board of Directors on June 23, 2020
The first meeting of the EST Board of Directors was held on June 23rd 2020. This body —formed by representatives of EST partner institutions, national funding agencies and other entities that provide significant resources to the project— represents a key step for the progress of the preparatory phase and the involvement of national funding authorities in the project. During the meeting, the members aproved the Board Terms of Reference and scheduled a next meeting for September 2020, when the Chair of the group will be elected.
The creation of the Board represents a key step towards the realisation of the main goals of the EST preparatory phase, whose aim is to provide a detailed plan for the implementation of the European Solar Telescope addressing both technical and organisational issues as well as cost and risk analysis. Ultimately, this phase will take the detailed design of EST key elements to the required level of definition for their final implementation.
The progress made so far had been satisfactorily assessed by the European Commission, who declared that the "EST Consortium is demonstrating its relevant role as an essential step towards the realisation of the European Solar Telescope". However, the lack of direct involvement of the potential funding bodies in the governance scheme, at least in an advisory capacity, was considered to be hindering further progress. Thus, larger and permanent involvement of potential funders was deemed important at this juncture. The EST Board of Directors, whose members will make the decisions required to reach the European Solar Telescope project goals, is a key step in this direction.
MEMBERS OF THE EST BOARD OF DIRECTORS
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- Prof. Dr. Arnold Hanslmeier (Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz, Austria)
- Prof. Dr. Stefaan Poedts (Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium)
- Mr. Staša Skenžić (Ministry of Science and Education, Croatia)
- Mr. Marek Vyšinka (Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports, Czech Republic)
- Prof. Dr. Svetlana Berdyugina (Leibniz-Institut für Sonnenphysik, Germany)
- Prof. Dr. Sami Solanki (Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, Germany)
- Dr. Filippo Zerbi (Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica, Italy)
- Prof. Per Lilje (Institute of Theoretical Astrophysics, Oslo University, Norway)
- Dr. Ing. Chiara Manfletti (Portugal Space, Portugal)
- Prof. Elena Domínguez (Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Spain)
- Prof. Rafael Rebolo (Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias, Spain)
- Prof. Jorrit Leenaarts (Stockholm University, Sweden)
- Dr. Benedetto Lepori (Università della Svizzera italiana, Switzerland)
- Dr. Gerry Doyle (Armagh Observatory and Planetarium, United Kingdom)