Meddelande

Andreas Kaufer tillträder som ny generaldirektör för ESO

1 september 2026

I dag, den 1 september 2026, tillträdde Andreas Kaufer sin mandatperiod som ESO: generaldirektör. Kaufer tillträder rollen när byggandet av ESO:s Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) närmar sig sitt slutskede, ALMA genomgår en större uppgradering och ESO inleder sökandet efter sitt nästa program. Han efterträder Xavier Barcons, som har varit ESO:s generaldirektör från 2017 till slutet av sin mandatperiod den 31 augusti 2026.

 

 

Kaufer säger: ”Mina prioriteringar för de kommande fem åren är mycket tydliga. Först kommer vi att fokusera på att framgångsrikt färdigställa och driftsätta ELT. Men för mig är ELT inte slutet på en resa, det är början på ett nytt kapitel. Det kommer att utlösa en revolution inom den observationella astrofysiken, och vi kan inte ens förutse vad vi kommer att upptäcka. Parallellt kommer vi att arbeta för att maximera den vetenskapliga avkastningen från alla våra ESO-anläggningar på ett säkert, effektivt och ändamålsenligt sätt, för att säkerställa att de förblir i drift i många decennier framöver. Mitt mål är att förbereda ESO för framtiden bortom starten för ELT. Detta kommer vi att uppnå genom att investera i våra anställda och i ny teknik, såväl som genom att planera nästa generations vetenskapliga möjligheter.”

 

Kaufer, ESO:s nionde generaldirektör, har stor erfarenhet av astronomisk forskning, instrumentering och operativ ledning. Han tog en doktorsexamen i astronomi från Heidelbergs universitet 1996 och arbetade därefter vid Heidelbergs statsobservatorium, där han forskade om massiva stjärnors atmosfärer och galaxers kemiska utveckling, samtidigt som han utvecklade och byggde astronomiska instrument. Kaufer började på ESO 1999 som en del av den vetenskapliga verksamhetsgruppen och bidrog till att det nybyggda Very Large Telescope togs i bruk. Han blev chef för La Silla Paranal-observatoriet 2006 och utsågs till ESO:s första verksamhetschef 2008.

 

I rollen som generaldirektör avser Kaufer att fortsätta möjliggöra vetenskap av högsta kvalitet med ESO:s personal, teleskop och instrument, vilket möjliggör bästa möjliga astronomiska observationer.

 

"Det som gör ESO verkligt speciellt för mig är dess förmåga att sammanföra länder, människor och en extraordinär bredd av expertis. Tillsammans uppnår vi saker som inget enskilt land skulle kunna åstadkomma. Det är en unik kombination av vetenskaplig ambition, ingenjörskonst, operativ expertis och långsiktig vision", säger Kaufer. ”Detta är endast möjligt tack vare det fortsatta stödet från våra 16 medlemsstater och vårt värdland Chile. Jag ser fram emot att arbeta med dem, och med hela ESO-gemenskapen, när vi tar oss an de spännande utmaningar och möjligheter som ligger framför oss.”

Länkar

Om meddelandet

ID:ann26006

Bilder

Andreas Kaufer at ESO’s office in Vitacura, Chile
Andreas Kaufer at ESO’s office in Vitacura, Chile
text på engelska
This image in portrait shows a man standing with his hands clasped in front of him. He is wearing a red hard hat and fluorescent yellow vest on top of a black jacket. Behind him is some scaffolding and a large blue sign with the ESO logo on it.
Andreas Kaufer at the ELT
text på engelska
Andreas Kaufer during a visit to the ELT
Andreas Kaufer during a visit to the ELT
text på engelska
Andreas Kaufer at the CTAO-South site
Andreas Kaufer at the CTAO-South site
text på engelska

Videor

Introducing ESO's new Director General Andreas Kaufer
Introducing ESO's new Director General Andreas Kaufer
text på engelska

Our use of Cookies

We use cookies that are essential for accessing our websites and using our services. We also use cookies to analyse, measure and improve our websites’ performance, to enable content sharing via social media and to display media content hosted on third-party platforms.

You can manage your cookie preferences and find out more by visiting 'Cookie Settings and Policy'.

ESO Cookies Policy


The European Organisation for Astronomical Research in the Southern Hemisphere (ESO) is the pre-eminent intergovernmental science and technology organisation in astronomy. It carries out an ambitious programme focused on the design, construction and operation of powerful ground-based observing facilities for astronomy.

This Cookies Policy is intended to provide clarity by outlining the cookies used on the ESO public websites, their functions, the options you have for controlling them, and the ways you can contact us for additional details.

What are cookies?

Cookies are small pieces of data stored on your device by websites you visit. They serve various purposes, such as remembering login credentials and preferences and enhance your browsing experience.

Categories of cookies we use

Essential cookies (always active): These cookies are strictly necessary for the proper functioning of our website. Without these cookies, the website cannot operate correctly, and certain services, such as logging in or accessing secure areas, may not be available; because they are essential for the website’s operation, they cannot be disabled.

Cookie ID/Name
Description/Purpose
Provider (1st party or 3rd party)
Browser session cookie or Stored cookie?
Duration
csrftoken
XSRF protection token. We use this cookie to protect against cross-site request forgery attacks.
1st party
Stored
1 year
user_privacy
Your privacy choices. We use this cookie to save your privacy preferences.
1st party
Stored
6 months
_grecaptcha
We use reCAPTCHA to protect our forms against spam and abuse. reCAPTCHA sets a necessary cookie when executed for the purpose of providing its risk analysis. We use www.recaptcha.net instead of www.google.com in order to avoid unnecessary cookies from Google.
3rd party
Stored
6 months

Functional Cookies: These cookies enhance your browsing experience by enabling additional features and personalization, such as remembering your preferences and settings. While not strictly necessary for the website to function, they improve usability and convenience; these cookies are only placed if you provide your consent.

Cookie ID/Name
Description/Purpose
Provider (1st party or 3rd party)
Browser session cookie or Stored cookie?
Duration
Settings
preferred_language
Language settings. We use this cookie to remember your preferred language settings.
1st party
Stored
1 year
ON | OFF
sessionid
ESO Shop. We use this cookie to store your session information on the ESO Shop. This is just an identifier which is used on the server in order to allow you to purchase items in our shop.
1st party
Stored
2 weeks
ON | OFF

Analytics cookies: These cookies collect information about how visitors interact with our website, such as which pages are visited most often and how users navigate the site. This data helps us improve website performance, optimize content, and enhance the user experience; these cookies are only placed if you provide your consent. We use the following analytics cookies.

Matomo Cookies:

This website uses Matomo (formerly Piwik), an open source software which enables the statistical analysis of website visits. Matomo uses cookies (text files) which are saved on your computer and which allow us to analyze how you use our website. The website user information generated by the cookies will only be saved on the servers of our IT Department. We use this information to analyze www.eso.org visits and to prepare reports on website activities. These data will not be disclosed to third parties.

On behalf of ESO, Matomo will use this information for the purpose of evaluating your use of the website, compiling reports on website activity and providing other services relating to website activity and internet usage.

ON | OFF

Matomo cookies settings:

Cookie ID/Name
Description/Purpose
Provider (1st party or 3rd party)
Browser session cookie or Stored cookie?
Duration
Settings
_pk_id
Stores a unique visitor ID.
1st party
Stored
13 months
_pk_ses
Session cookie temporarily stores data for the visit.
1st party
Stored
30 minutes
_pk_ref
Stores attribution information (the referrer that brought the visitor to the website).
1st party
Stored
6 months
_pk_testcookie
Temporary cookie to check if a visitor’s browser supports cookies (set in Internet Explorer only).
1st party
Stored
Temporary cookie that expires almost immediately after being set.

Additional Third-party cookies on ESO websites: some of our pages display content from external providers, e.g. YouTube.

Such third-party services are outside of ESO control and may, at any time, change their terms of service, use of cookies, etc.

YouTube: Some videos on the ESO website are embedded from ESO’s official YouTube channel. We have enabled YouTube’s privacy-enhanced mode, meaning that no cookies are set unless the user actively clicks on the video to play it. Additionally, in this mode, YouTube does not store any personally identifiable cookie data for embedded video playbacks. For more details, please refer to YouTube’s embedding videos information page.

Cookies can also be classified based on the following elements.

Regarding the domain, there are:

  • First-party cookies, set by the website you are currently visiting. They are stored by the same domain that you are browsing and are used to enhance your experience on that site;
  • Third-party cookies, set by a domain other than the one you are currently visiting.

As for their duration, cookies can be:

  • Browser-session cookies, which are deleted when the user closes the browser;
  • Stored cookies, which stay on the user's device for a predetermined period of time.

How to manage cookies

Cookie settings: You can modify your cookie choices for the ESO webpages at any time by clicking on the link Cookie settings at the bottom of any page.

In your browser: If you wish to delete cookies or instruct your browser to delete or block cookies by default, please visit the help pages of your browser:

Please be aware that if you delete or decline cookies, certain functionalities of our website may be not be available and your browsing experience may be affected.

You can set most browsers to prevent any cookies being placed on your device, but you may then have to manually adjust some preferences every time you visit a site/page. And some services and functionalities may not work properly at all (e.g. profile logging-in, shop check out).

Updates to the ESO Cookies Policy

The ESO Cookies Policy may be subject to future updates, which will be made available on this page.

Additional information

For any queries related to cookies, please contact: pdprATesoDOTorg.

As ESO public webpages are managed by our Department of Communication, your questions will be dealt with the support of the said Department.