ESCAPE - The European Science Cluster of Astronomy & Particle Physics ESFRI Research Infrastructures has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under Grant Agreement no. 824064.
The Joint Institute for VLBI ERIC (JIV-ERIC) is the central node of the European VLBI Network, a distributed array of radio telescopes, in and outside of Europe, offering astronomers the highest resolution view of radio sources. JIVERIC provides the scientific data product and maintains the central EVN archive, as well as supporting and training the astrophysicists using the instrument. In close collaboration with the EVN telescope staff, JIV-ERIC monitors the quality and calibration of the EVN. The institute pioneered e-VLBI by connecting the telescopes through optical fibre networks and enabling real-time science, leading to the development of a unique correlation platform as well. This correlator can also process VLBI observations of spacecraft and determine their precise position in the Solar system. As the only European legal entity in centimetre astronomy, JIVERIC remains actively engaged in discussions on the governance of European radio astronomy.