Switzerland joined the SKA Observatory (SKAO) as a member in January 2022, a next-generation radio astronomy-driven Big Data facility that will revolutionise our understanding of the Universe and the laws of fundamental physics. Enabled by cutting-edge technology, it promises to have a major impact on society, in science and beyond.
At a glance
- The SKA Switzerland Consortium (SKACH) manages Switzerland's contributions to the SKAO
- About 100 team members are organized across five programs: Science, Data Science and Simulations, Instrumentation, Computing Platforms and Infrastructure, and Outreach.
- Members actively participate in several radio astronomy precursor instruments including MeerKAT, MWA, and HIRAX.
- Swiss industry has been awarded three SKAO contracts with a value of almost 5.5 million Euros.
National involvement
Led by its Board of Directors, SKACH manages Switzerland's contributions to the SKAO with support from the State Secretariat of Science, Innovation, Research, and Education (SERI). The Consortium’s nine institutional members are: Fachhochschule Nordwestschweiz (FHNW), Universität Zürich (UZH), Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich (ETHZ), École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Zürcher Hochschule für Angewandte Wissenschaften (ZHAW), Universität Basel (UniBas), Université de Genève (UniGE), Haute École spécialisée de Suisse Occidentale (HES-SO), Centro Svizzero di Calcolo Scientifico (CSCS).
Switzerland has committed more than 33-million CHF to 2030 towards the construction and early operation of the Array, which will collect unprecedented amounts of data, requiring the world’s fastest supercomputers to process this in near real time. Swiss researchers will be fundamental in this work processing around ~650 PBytes/year in areas such as cosmology, dark energy and astrobiology.
SKACH computer scientists are already working directly with astrophysicists to create scalable simulations, novel imaging techniques, automated scheduling, eco-computing, and HPC capabilities using research in high performance computing, artificial intelligence, and machine learning. Much of this is happening at the Swiss National Supercomputing Center (CSCS), which provides an integrated infrastructure for data access and analytical tools accessible to Swiss scientists and the international community.
In addition, SKACH has already formed partnerships between academic, industrial and technical partners to provide expertise in the development of advanced receivers for dish antennas, precision timing, automation, signal processing and Big Data.
Science interests
The Swiss scientific community is driven by a wide range of astrophysics research including: cosmology, the cosmic dawn and the epoch of reionization, large scale structures, galaxy evolution, gravitational waves, cosmic magnetic fields, tests of gravity, solar physics and gravitational wave research. This includes HI galaxy studies with MeerKAT, and the epoch of reionisation through Switzerland's institutional partnership with the MWA consortium. Observational efforts are complemented by world-leading simulations of cosmological structures and astrophysical processes at all scales. SKACH has grown with a strong computing component and synergies between astrophysicists and data scientists are spawning novel approaches for interferometric imaging, RFI excision and object classification, with computer scientists contributing cutting-edge solutions in exa-scale and green computing, needed to handle the large dataset of the SKAO. The SKACH community participates in seven SKAO Science Working Groups, with SKACH researchers having recently led those for cosmology, cradle of life, extragalactic continuum and solar, heliospheric and ionospheric physics. SKACH researchers have led more than 26 peer-reviewed publications in the last 4 years.
Industrial participation
Switzerland has secured industrial contracts for software integration as well as providing state-of-the-art atomic clocks and engineering parts. The SKAO has purchased four units of the iM3000, SAFRAN Active Hydrogen MASER –integrating intelligent functionality with a field lifetime of more than 30 years. Made by the Neuchâtel division of Safran Electronics and Defense, one Swiss MASER will be deployed in South Africa and three will be shipped to Australia. In 2022, the Swiss company Cosylab joined other developers working on the SKA telescopes’ Observatory Management Control software. The company’s key focus is the development of the Central Signal Processor Local Monitoring and Control component, crucial for processing digitized data and providing astronomical outputs. And MECHA AG, a mechanical engineering company based in Bern is working on a unique ‘horn’ project for the SKAO. The company is producing 2-thousand fine machined mechanical parts required to build the 133 SKA Mid Band horns.
Wider impact
Investing in the future, SKACH member institutions host more than 10 PhD students and in 2024, welcomed 80 young career researchers and experts in the field to the inaugural Cosmology in the Alps. Since 2016, the annual Swiss SKA Days brings together the entire Swiss team and visitors from other SKA partner countries. Switzerland has invested heavily in an SKAO Regional Centre. SKACH delivers impactful outreach and public engagement activities, regularly attending large festivals in Switzerland focused on science and STEM – directly reaching tens of thousands of people. From January 2025, SKACH broadcast the first season of its French language podcast series Radio Cosmos.