Surveying European Astronomy

Towards a coordination of astrophysical research across Europe: an analysis of the management of the main astrophysics research institutions.

Co-operation has been the key to the successes of European Astronomy in the past decades. Ground and space-based facilities have been conceived, developed and managed by European organisations like ESA and ESO or by collaborative efforts among several European countries, making European astronomers leaders in the field. Co-operation will be even more important in the near future, since the new generation of infrastructures required to address the major scientific challenges are feasible only at the European or global level.

The goal of ASTRONET is to pave the way to a permanent and structured co-ordination among the key European players in this field, i.e. the national and trans-national research funding agencies and international organisations.

To achieve this goal, ASTRONET will establish a comprehensive, consensus-based, coordinated strategy for developing European Astronomy at all wavelengths, in all countries, on the ground and in space. In parallel, ASTRONET will establish an exchange of information and co-ordination of best practices between agencies and initiate joint research programme, transforming European Astronomy into a true European Research Area.

To build such an ambitious permanent coordination framework, a deep knowledge of the management of Astronomy in the European countries is needed. The present report provides an analysis of the organisation of the astronomical research systems in the main participating European countries. For each country, a description of the main Agencies and Research Institutes are presented, together with their managing rules, quantitative research data and financial resources involved.

The information provided has been assembled with a close co-operation among the Agencies involved in ASTRONET, which are responsible for the content of their relevant country.