Success in Funding Program for the Future Einstein Telescope

15 July 2026

Photo: MPI für Gravitationsphysik/NIKHEF

The planned Einstein Telescope is set to become the world's most advanced gravitational-wave observatory. To measure tiny ripples in spacetime, local seismic noise must be perfectly understood and filtered out. This is where the expertise of our institute comes in: Prof. Dr. Céline Hadziioannou and Prof. Dr. Conny Hammer have successfully secured funding in the preparatory program for this large-scale project.

The Einstein Telescope will consist of three nested detectors, each with ten-kilometer-long arms, built deep underground. It aims to detect gravitational waves—such as those from merging black holes—with unprecedented precision. The final location decision is expected in 2027. Regardless of the site, reaching this level of precision requires mitigating "Newtonian noise." These are minute fluctuations in the local gravitational field caused by seismic waves and subsurface density changes.

Seismic "Headphones" for the Universe

This challenge is the focus of the project "ET-RD-C-PREDICT-NN: Newtonian Noise Cancelling Headphones," led by Prof. Dr. Céline Hadziioannou and Prof. Dr. Conny Hammer from our department. Much like noise-canceling headphones neutralize ambient sound, our geophysicists aim to measure and model seismic noise so it can be subtracted from the telescope's data. Approximately 1.65 million euros in funding has been allocated for this collaborative project, which involves five German universities. The dense seismic network of the WAVE Initiative in Science City Hamburg Bahrenfeld will play a crucial role in this research (https://wave-hamburg.eu).

Interdisciplinary Strength in Hamburg

This project is part of a broader success for the University of Hamburg, which has secured a total of 5.6 million euros over the next three years to prepare for the Einstein Telescope. Alongside our geophysics team, colleagues from the physics department (Quantum Universe Cluster)—Prof. Dr. Oliver Gerberding, Dr. Mikhail Korobko, and Prof. Dr. Roman Schnabel—also received funding for collaborative projects focusing on interferometer technology.

This joint funding highlights the excellent interdisciplinary collaboration at the University of Hamburg and proves once again that groundbreaking astrophysics relies heavily on high-precision geophysical methods.