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About us Faculty of Science and Engineering Data Science & Systems Complexity (DSSC) Research Advanced Instrumentation & Big Data

Advanced Instrumentation & Big Data

Metis Cold Chopper. A fast movable and very accurate positioned mirror working in cryo-vacuum conditions. Collaboration RUG, JPE, NOVA, ASTRON, TNO.
Metis Cold Chopper. A fast movable and very accurate positioned mirror working in cryo-vacuum conditions. Collaboration RUG, JPE, NOVA, ASTRON, TNO.

Over the last 20 years it has become clear that progress in astronomy is directly linked to the development and construction of novel instrumentation for ground based and space-borne telescopes. For example, NOVA, the collaboration of the 4 universities in astronomy (Amsterdam, Groningen, Leiden and Nijmegen) has spent about half the budget of the top research school on astronomical instrumentation. With this investment, NOVA has achieved an excellent reputation in the development of complex instruments in several wavelength regions. With the efforts of the NOVA Optical-Infrared and (sub-) millimeter groups, Dutch astronomy has been involved in/led 7 out of 18 VLT instruments, 2 out of 9 ALMA instruments, and 4 out of the 8 feasibility studies for the E-ELT. NOVA has built up a strong reputation for delivering instruments on time, within specification, and within budget.

To be able to handle the extremely faint signals from astronomical images, high precision and stability has to go hand-in-hand with cryogenic temperatures, high data volumes and high data transmission speeds. More and more this has to be done with other partners, in particular in the areas of active control, lightweighted structures, high-precision engineering, and information technology.

In particle physics too the information density in events has been increasing at a very high rate in the last decades. This very high information density is required to identify without doubt very weak signals in a huge background. Dedicated intelligence at the front-end of the detector systems is required to cope with this information density. The very same techniques are being used in hospital-based setups to enhance images for diagnostic or treatment purposes.

Advanced Instrumentation, particularly concerning the design of complex instruments such as ground- or space-based telescopes, adaptive optics, and mechatronic systems design, is a major topic for researchers at the DSSC. This topic has a strong link with the research line Complex systems & engineering. In development and operation of instrumentation for astronomy and particle physics, the collaboration of astronomers, physicists, and instrumentalists is fundamental, since it allows researchers to define the functionality of instruments and optimizing the capabilities to their own science.

Within the area of Advanced Instrumentation, research at the DSSC focuses on:
Relevant projects in this area can be found here.

Last modified:19 January 2022 2.47 p.m.