ESO's Organisational Structure

ESO, the European Southern Observatory (or formally the European Organisation for Astronomical Research in the Southern Hemisphere), is an intergovernmental organisation with 16 Member States along with the host state of Chile and with Australia as a strategic partner.

The organisation is led by the Director General who is appointed by the ESO Council. The current Director General is Prof. Xavier Barcons.

The main organisational and managerial units of ESO are the Directorates. The Directorates are: Directorate of Programmes, Directorate of Operations, Directorate for Science, Directorate of Administration and Directorate of Engineering. They are organised either in Programmes, in Divisions and/or Departments, some of which consist of two or more Groups.

For an overview of ESO's organisational structure, please consult the organigram of ESO (PDF) or the ESO High Level Organisational Structure PDF file.