This future-oriented symposium aims to foster a forward-looking dialogue on how Europe can maintain and strengthen its leadership in astronomy. Europe stands at a pivotal moment in astronomy. Over the coming decades, scientific breakthroughs will increasingly depend on coordinated decisions about major infrastructures, mission portfolios, and long term strategic priorities. This symposium invites the European astronomy community to jointly explore how we can secure ? and strengthen ? Europe?s scientific leadership by connecting transformative science goals with coherent infrastructure planning.

We focus on the scientific opportunities in the future decades, as well as the challenges arising from changing national and international policy decisions and funding landscapes. We will address both transformative future science and research infrastructures covering all of European astronomy. It will discuss how big changes in the landscape will impact European astronomy, and how Europe needs to act from a science, research infrastructure, and policy perspective. As boundaries between research domains continue to blur, we will also highlight the growing importance of collaboration with neighbouring fields.

Different aspects will be addressed, including: - Increased collaboration with astroparticle physics, including gravitational waves, time-domain astronomy, and multi-messenger approaches; - Transformative science cases and instrumentation needed to drive European astronomy beyond 2050; - Building resilience through coordinated European approaches and sustainable infrastructure strategies.

The symposium will consider the context of long-term developments discussed in the plenary session: ESO?s exploration of its next flagship facility, ESA?s implementation of Voyage 2050, and the soon to be fully operational observatories SKAO and CTAO.

We invite contributions both focused on transformative science and instrumentation/infrastructure with a forward-looking perspective. The symposium is designed to be interactive, and we encourage participants to share their views, engage in the discussion, and help shape the collective vision for the future of European astronomy. We welcome the active participation of researchers at all career stages, including early- and mid career researchers, whose perspectives are essential for shaping Europe?s long term scientific future.

Programme

1. Collaboration with astroparticle physics

• Explore how deeper collaboration between astronomy and astroparticle physics can unlock new scientific breakthroughs
• Shared research infrastructure relevant to both communities, from ground-based facilities to space missions.
• The future of gravitational-wave astronomy, highlighting the scientific potential of LISA and the Einstein Telescope for astrophysics.
• Next-generation time-domain and multi-messenger astronomy, including the challenges of coordinating data streams, alerts, and rapid follow-up across diverse facilities and research communities.

• Present a broad, forward-looking perspective on the long-term evolution of European astronomy, encompassing the full spectrum of scientific fields and facilities.
• The session welcomes contributions on transformative scientific opportunities as well as revolutionary technologies and instrumentation.

• Conditions for securing long-term access to data and archives
• Preservation of Dark and Quiet Skies, and coordinated action at the European level to mitigate the impacts of satellite constellations and ground-based interference.
• Strategic approaches aimed at a sustainable research infrastructure for European Astronomy. When and where should Europe cooperate internationally?

Invited speakers

To be announced soon

Scientific organisers

Saskia Matheussen (ASTRONET, chair), Sven Wedemeyer (EAS, co-chair), Lex Kaper (EAS), Jarle Brinchmann (ESO), Gaitee Hussain (ESA), Naomi McClure-Griffiths (SKAO), Martin Giard (ASTRONET), Stuart McMuldroch (CTAO)

Contact

Saskia Matheussen: s.matheussen @ nwo.nl