Today, Wednesday, July 1, the President of Sardinia Region Alessandra Todde met at the Regional Government headquarters with Tatsuki Washimi, a scientist from the Gravitational Wave Science Project (GWSP) at the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ). Washimi is currently conducting research activities at the former mining site of Sos Enattos, the candidate location for the future Einstein Telescope (ET), the next-generation gravitational-wave observatory.
Also attending the meeting were Alessandro Cardini, director of the Cagliari Section of the Italian National Institute for Nuclear Physics (INFN); Domenico D’Urso, professor at the University of Sassari and scientific coordinator of ET Italy; and Alberto Masoni, INFN research director and coordinator of the European ET-COMPASS project.
Washimi, who had already carried out a research campaign at the site between June and July 2025, has been working on the installation of magnetometers and on measurements of infrasound and wind conditions both inside the mine and in the surrounding surface area of Sos Enattos. He has also conducted practical assessments related to long-term stays near the site. In addition, the researcher is actively involved in the KAGRA project, Japan’s gravitational-wave interferometer, which is part of the current global network of detectors alongside Virgo in Italy and LIGO in the United States.
During the meeting, participants discussed both ongoing and future collaborations, further strengthening the long-standing partnership with the Japanese scientific community within the framework of the Einstein Telescope project.
In 2025, during Expo Osaka, Nobel Prize-winning physicist Takaaki Kajita, Principal Investigator of KAGRA, took part in an event hosted at the Italy Pavilion, where he highlighted the outstanding characteristics of the Sos Enattos candidate site and emphasized the valuable experience gained through KAGRA, the world’s only underground gravitational-wave detector currently in operation – a key feature that will also characterize the Einstein Telescope.
On the same occasion, in collaboration with Takayuki Tomaru, a physicist at the GWSP and another leading member of the KAGRA project, an event was organized by Italy’s Ministry of Enterprises and Made in Italy (MIMIT) and the Sardinia Region to present collaboration opportunities for Japanese companies within the Einstein Telescope project.
The long-standing collaboration between Kajita and the University of Perugia and its local INFN section was also highlighted, particularly in the context of the recently inaugurated CAOS Laboratory, which will develop cutting-edge technologies for the Einstein Telescope.