| Description: | The European football championship (2008) may be over, but for the Radio Observatory the further internationalisation of LOFAR is just beginning. To kick-off the process, the first LOFAR internationalisation workshop was held in Dwingeloo at the end of May. The meeting was chaired and refereed by Rene Vermeulen, with many key issues being discussed. The status of LOFAR in the Netherlands and across Europe was presented - funding is now secured for 8 European stations in Germany, Sweden, France, and the UK. Austria/Ukraine, Poland and Italy are seriously looking into purchasing additional stations, along with other countries. Rene led the discussion of some thorny problems e.g. the time allocation policy for LOFAR and rewards for significant contributions to the project. These issues were addressed openly and constructively by all the participants. After many great moves and chances, planning for a possible extension of LOFAR beyond the current Dutch and European effort (known as E-LOFAR) brought the meeting into extra-time, but a penalty shoot out was luckily avoided! |
