Thinking out of the box
On May 24th and 25th the Geneva Observatory will have the honour to host the 2nd PlanetS site visit. I expect this event to be again an occasion to share the outcomes of PlanetS’ exciting activities with SNSF representatives and the world-renowned members of the Review Panel.
The site visit will coincide with another exceptional moment: the end of construction of the new building and assembly hall AstroTec. This infrastructure has been conceived by the Geneva University to be a structuring contribution to PlanetS. It aims at enhancing Swiss capabilities in participating at large projects in astronomical instrumentation. It is also a recognition of the role that technology development had and has for observational astronomy, and for fundamental research in general.
As an instrumentalist I do particularly appreciate the commitment of the Universities and the funding bodies to invest in infrastructures. While I think that technology development must always be driven by science objectives, I’m also convinced that advancement in science is made possible by advances in technology. The search for extra-solar planets is a glaring example for this link.
PlanetS convincingly promotes interactions between science and technology, universities and industry. The Technology Platform, which I’m responsible of, organizes activities for the development of entrepreneurship and to ease knowledge and technology transfer with industry. It’s my mission to encourage young people to think out of the box and export their ideas into areas that are not directly related to their main work.
Francesco Pepe
Platform Leader Technology Transfer/Leader Project 3
