As part of the "VLT beyond 2030" process, ESO is issuing a call for white papers for new instruments for VLT/I, with a deadline of 15 January 2027. The process, which began with a conference for which the slides are now available, aims to keep the VLT/I at the forefront of astrophysical research in the coming decades. This is distinct from the Expanding Horizons effort, whose goal is to select the next facility after the ELT.

ALMA is pleased to announce that, for the Cycle 13 Call for Proposals, a web-based interface of the ALMA Observing Tool (OT) will replace the previously used desktop-based OT. The web-based OT offers the same functionality as the desktop-based OT. The new interface offers a modernized and optimized view while retaining the same familiar workflow and structure. Proposal drafts will now be automatically saved within the system, without the need to save local files.

The first data release of Band 2 Science Verification data observed on November 2025 are now available on the ALMA Science Portal. The data release consists of the following targets: G31.41+0.31 (spectral scan in Band 2), SPT 0027-50 (spectral scan in Band 2), HR 5907 (full polarization in Band 2).

ESO's Expanding Horizons process aims to identify the main scientific challenges that will face European astronomers in the 2040s, and the type of transformational ground-based facility that will be required to address these fundamental questions. Following the call for Scientific White Papers in late 2025 -an initiative designed to galvanise the European astronomical community to engage in the Expanding Horizons process- ESO is organizing a community-wide workshop on 13-17 July 2026 at ESO's Headquarters in Garching bei München that will bring together astronomers from a wide range of research backgrounds to present their vision of what the key scientific questions will be 2040s. It will also be a platform to investigate the potential synergies between the different scientific themes, the required facilities and the key enabling technologies needed for the 2040s and beyond.

The Users Committee (UC) represents ESO's astronomical community at large and acts as an advisory body to the ESO Director General on matters related to the performance, scientific access, operation and data management facilities to the La Silla Paranal Observatory and ALMA. The 50th annual meeting of the UC is scheduled on 27 and 28 April 2026. During the UC meeting updates from ESO and feedback from the user community are exchanged and openly discussed. Each year one topic is explored in more detail and this year the Special Topic session is dedicated to Time Domain: Target of Opportunity and Rapid Response Mode Observations.