The Italian Government is ready to support the financial commitment required to host the Einstein Telescope (ET), the large research infrastructure dedicated to the study of gravitational waves that Italy has proposed to build in Sardinia, in the area of Sos Enattos, in Lula.
The government has expressed its commitment, both institutional and financial, to strengthen our country’s candidacy for ET in a letter addressed to Antonio Zoccoli, the President of the National Institute for Nuclear Physics (INFN), which is coordinating the Italian candidacy.
“The intention to build the Einstein Telescope in Italy has been strongly supported by the government. It represents a strategic choice for a country aspiring to greater ambition. Italy stands as a leader in physics in Europe, with numerous scientific excellences. We believe that the ET will play a pivotal role in creating an increasingly attractive research and innovation ecosystem,” said the Minister of Universities and Research, Anna Maria Bernini.
In order to secure designation as the European winning site, the government has developed a program of ‘scientific diplomacy’, which will involve our university and research excellences, including Nobel Laureate Giorgio Parisi. Their role will encompass coordination and dissemination, ensuring that the quality of the Italian proposal will be recognized within the EU, along with the reasons why it aligns at its best to the interests of the EU.
The letter from the Undersecretary of State for the Prime Minister’s Office, Alfredo Mantovano, sent to INFN President Zoccoli, certifies the major financial commitment that the government is ready to make for the construction of the infrastructure in Italy. This commitment amounts to about 950 million euros over the planned nine-year construction period (from 2026 to 2035). These funds will specifically be allocated for the construction and acquisition of goods, materials, and technologies. This commitment has also been envisaged considering the expected high employment impact and the payoff in terms of territorial cohesion.
The Einstein Telescope will be a third-generation international observatory at the absolute forefront of physics and astronomy research. Italy officially announced its candidacy last June. The site chosen for the facility, the area of the disused mine at Sos Enattos in Lula (province of Nuoro), is considered optimal due to the excellent geological and environmental conditions it can guarantee.
“We thank Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni for the significant support of our government to the Einstein Telescope project, a fundamental support for the Italian candidacy of Sardinia to host the future great gravitational wave detector", said the INFN president Antonio Zoccoli. "We thank Minister Anna Maria Bernini for the strength with which the Ministry for Universities and Research has supported the project since the very beginning and for her work to promote, both nationally and internationally, this great scientific enterprise, which will revolutionize the study of our universe, allowing us to reach places and times yet unexplored. The pillars of Italy’s candidacy to host the Einstein Telescope in the area of the disused Sos Enattos mine are the ideal site for ensuring the best operating conditions, since it is one of the most seismically silent territories in Europe, a history of success in gravitational wave research, the multidisciplinary excellence of national scientific research, and strong institutional, scientific, and civic support. Einstein Telescope is a unique opportunity not only for science and knowledge, but also for our Country. If we manage to win the tough international competition, and today the Italian candidacy is really the strongest, to realize this great scientific infrastructure in Italy, Sardinia will be at the center of the internationsl research on gravitational waves, and it will be able to attract resources and researchers from all over Europe, with positive outcomes in terms of innovation and industrial, economic, social and cultural growth that will affect the territory and the whole Country. Designing the future takes vision and determination. Einstein Telescope is a strategic investment for the future of Sardinia, of Italy, of all of us and, it is good to say, especially of our youth", Zoccoli said.
