Astron, a radio astronomy institute in the town of Dwingeloo in Drenthe, is set to hear in the coming months whether they will take part in the international Square Kilometre Array (SKA) project. The province of Drenthe is calling for the Dutch government to invest in the ambitious initiative.
Dagblad van het Noorden reports that SKA will consist of hundreds of satellites and hundreds of thousands of antennae in the deserts of South Africa and Australia. The goal of the project is to improve our understanding of the universe and provide answers to fundamental physics questions.
Jobs in Drenthe
The province of Drenthe is appealing to the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science to approve of Astron’s participation in the project, which research suggests could mean 100 to 200 new jobs and a boost to the economy to the tune of 100 to 200 million euros.
Drenthe would like to see a portion of the 100 million euros set aside by the governing coalition for research infrastructure applied to SKA at Astron. A decision on Astron’s participation should be made in September.
