Astrocent

13/08/2026

An important step forward for particle astrophysics in Poland: KM3NeT , one of the world’s most advanced next‑generation neutrino telescope projects, has been officially added to The Polish Roadmap for Research Infrastructure (Polska Mapa Infrastruktury Badawczej Ministerstwo Nauki i Szkolnictwa Wyższego ).

We are proud that Astrocent contributes to this international effort, with two of our scientists - Piotr Kalaczyński and Mariusz Suchenek - actively engaged in the KM3NeT project. Their involvement strengthens Astrocent’s role in global particle astrophysics and highlights the growing impact of our research community.

KM3NeT is a research infrastructure housing the next generation neutrino telescopes. Once completed, the telescopes will have detector volumes between megaton and several cubic kilometres of clear sea water. Located in the deepest seas of the Mediterranean, KM3NeT opens a new window on our Universe, but also contributes to the research of the properties of the elusive neutrino particles. With the ARCA telescope, KM3NeT scientists search for neutrinos from distant astrophysical sources such as supernovae, gamma ray bursters or colliding stars. The ORCA telescope is the instrument for KM3NeT scientists studying neutrino properties exploiting neutrinos generated in the Earth's atmosphere. Arrays of thousands of optical sensors detect the faint light in the deep sea from charged particles originating from collisions of the neutrinos and the Earth. The facility also houses instrumentation for Earth and Sea sciences for long-term and on-line monitoring of the deep sea environment and the sea bottom at depth of several kilometers.

KM3NeT’s inclusion on the Polish Research Infrastructure Map is a recognition of its scientific excellence and strategic importance for both national and international research.

15/07/2026

We are happy that Astrocent was proudly represented at the 17th Quark Confinement & Hadron Spectrum conference at the University of Wrocław (Uniwersytet Wrocławski, June 29 – July 4, 2026).

- Prof. Masayuki Wada shared fresh insights from the DarkSide‑20k experiment, sparking discussions across the community.

- our PhD student, Aheesh Hegde, presented his poster on Geant4 simulation related to NEMESIS and dived into sessions on deconfinement, quark physics, dark matter, machine learning, quantum computing, and strongly‑coupled theories.

Since its first edition in 1994 in Como, this meeting has grown into a vibrant hub for researchers exploring the many faces of strong interactions - where theorists, experimentalists, and everyone in between meet to exchange ideas. With topics ranging from lattice and perturbative QCD to effective theories and physics beyond the Standard Model, the conference brought together an exciting mix of approaches and perspectives.

A full week of inspiring talks, new collaborations, and cutting‑edge research — we’re thrilled to see Astrocent contributing to this dynamic scientific community.

13/07/2026

We were delighted to take part in the 29th Science Picnic in Warsaw last month! Our colleague, Dr. Azam Zabihi, joined the Centrum Astronomiczne im. M. Kopernika PAN team to celebrate this year’s theme "Lifelike" - showing how science grows out of everyday questions and curiosity. We’re happy Astrocent could be part of this vibrant celebration of learning and discovery. Thank you to the organisers Polskie Radio and Centrum Nauki Kopernik for this inspiring day!

Read more: https://archive.astrocent.edu.pl/?event=astrocent-celebrating-science-at-29th-science-picnic

08/07/2026

As the 8th DRD1 Collaboration Meeting comes to a close in Coimbra, Portugal (29 June – 3 July), it’s a great moment to reflect on the value of bringing together the CERN detector R&D community to help shape the future of instrumentation. Meetings like DRD1 are where ideas become collaborations, and collaborations become the technologies that will enable the next generation of discoveries.

Throughout this week-long meeting, ASTROCENT was represented by Dr. André Cortez’s group, Dr. Pedro Silva, Dr. Kris Haverson, and Diego Rodas Rodríguez, whose work spans novel approaches to Migdal effect detection in gases relevant to the DarkSide collaboration, innovative optical MPGDs, and simulation frameworks designed to benefit the wider community.

This year’s meeting gave us many reasons to celebrate. We remain as committed and passionate as ever to supporting this growing community, and we’re honoured by the trust placed in us through the appointment of Dr. André Cortez to the DRD1 Collaboration Resources Board.

We’re equally proud of the recognition received by our team, with Kristian C. Z. Haverson receiving the Best Poster Award for presenting our work on novel MPGD-based approaches to studying the Migdal effect. This recognition reflects the dedication, creativity, and collaborative spirit of everyone involved, including APC (France), INFN LNS (Italy), and LIP - Laboratório de Instrumentação e Física Experimental de Partículas (Portugal).

Finally, a heartfelt thank you to the entire organizing committee for delivering such an outstanding meeting.

We look forward to continuing our collaborative projects, strengthening our partnerships, and supporting you in the exciting work ahead.

See you at the next DRD1 meeting!

29/06/2026

June was a busy month for ASTROCENT researchers, with participation in several major international meetings across Europe.

✨ 1–5 June, Pedro Silva took part in Identification of Dark Matter 2026 ( 2026) in Zaragoza, Spain, where he gave an oral presentation on an ultra-cold argon-based Time Projection Chamber demonstrator.

✨ 15–19 June, Marcin Kuzniak, Rita Antonietti and Maciej Kuźwa participated in the DarkSide Collaboration Meeting in Santa Margherita, Sardinia, contributing to the work of the DarkSide-20k collaboration on behalf of Astrocent.

✨ 16–19 June, Sebastian Trojanowski gave an invited plenary talk at in Rome, Italy, on novel astroparticle and collider probes of lepton flavor violation. Later in the month, from 21–26 June, he also delivered an invited plenary talk at 2026 in Sheffield, UK, on cosmological probes of neutrino–dark matter interactions.

Great work, team! Let’s keep up the momentum!

26/06/2026

From 15 to 19 June, the international Einstein Telescope community met in Aachen for the XVI Einstein Telescope Symposium, hosted by RWTH Aachen University.

Astrocent was represented in both the scientific and communication parts of the programme.

✨ Mariusz Suchenek contributed with the talk “Infrasound Newtonian Noise Estimation at the Einstein Telescope Candidate Site Sos Enattos”, prepared in collaboration with colleagues from the University of Warsaw.

✨ Yuliya Hoika contributed as a member of the Einstein Telescope Organisation Communication Office with a plenary overview talk titled "Communicating the Einstein Telescope across Europe". This involvement is possible thanks to Astrocent’s delegation and is supported within the Astrocent Plus project.

One of the parallel sessions during the Symposium was dedicated to the recently awarded Horizon Europe project , which will support ETO in delivering key elements for the early implementation phase of the ET project. Astrocent is one of the European partners in the consortium and will contribute to international strategic communication.

Many thanks to the local organisers at RWTH Aachen University and to all colleagues involved.

18/06/2026

Astrocent at the 19th PACTT Conference!

On 23–24 April 2026, our Expert in Commercialization and Intellectual Property Management, Adam Kaźmierczak, was representing Astrocent at the 19th National PACTT Conference, an event bringing together representatives of universities, technology transfer centres, public institutions and industry.

This year’s conference focused on key topics such as commercialization of research results, intellectual property protection, and the development of the innovation ecosystem in Poland and Europe. It was an inspiring and valuable meeting, offering a great opportunity to exchange experiences and connect with others.

PACTT - the Polish Association of Centers for Technology Transfer - is the country’s largest network supporting research commercialization and collaboration between science and business. Becoming part of the PACTT community is an important step for Astrocent in building stronger links between science and industry, advancing research commercialization, and creating new opportunities for technology transfer and innovation partnerships.

17/06/2026

Great news from Astrocent and Centrum Astronomiczne im. M. Kopernika PAN!

Dr. Miroslav Macko has been awarded a SONATA‑21 grant from the National Science Centre (Narodowe Centrum Nauki) for his project "STAR: Scalable Tracking for Advanced Rare‑event detection", which will develop cutting‑edge detector technology for the search for neutrinoless double beta decay - one of the most important open questions in particle physics.

The project will explore a powerful combination of dual‑phase liquid‑argon TPCs and Timepix4 readout to push the limits of rare‑event detection. Dr. Macko brings over a decade of experience in 0νββ research, detector instrumentation, and including work with pixellated detectors at the Czech Technical University in Prague and within the SuperNEMO collaboration.

Warm congratulations to Dr. Macko!

More info: https://archive.astrocent.edu.pl/?p=8874

17 June 2026 Dr. Miroslav Macko awarded a SONATA‑21 grant from the National Science Centre We are pleased to announce that our postdoctoral researcher, Dr. Miroslav Macko from Astrocent and the Nicolaus Copernicus Astronomical Center of the Polish Academy of Sciences (CAMK PAN) has been awarded a ...

12/06/2026

What an exciting event it was! Our researchers Dr. Rita Antonietti and Dr. Azam Zabihi represented Astrocent as part of the Centrum Astronomiczne im. M. Kopernika PAN (NCAC PAS) team at the “Magiczny Płońsk” Astronomical Picnic on 30 May.

The event, hosted by the Planetarium and Astronomical Observatory in Płońsk, brought together local residents and visitors for a full day of astronomy, science, and hands‑on exploration.

At the CAMK stand, guests observed sunspots through a telescope, explored basic spectroscopy, travelled through space in VR, and learned about gravitational waves. Children also enjoyed creative workshops prepared for the youngest space enthusiasts.

Throughout the day, Rita and Azam engaged with visitors of all ages -answering questions, sharing their passion for astrophysics, and helping spark curiosity about the Universe.

We are proud that Astrocent could contribute to this vibrant celebration of science and community!