The CAOS International Laboratory – Centre for Applications on Gravitational Waves and Seismology, a new research infrastructure of the Department of Physics and Geology of the University of Perugia dedicated to the development of advanced technologies for the study of gravitational waves and seismology, was inaugurated on Thursday 14 May 2026 at the Engineering Campus of the University. The initiative took place under the patronage of the Umbria Region.
The Laboratory was established on the initiative of the National Institute for Nuclear Physics (INFN), within the framework of the ETIC – Einstein Telescope Infrastructure Consortium project funded by Mission 4 of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR) coordinated by the Ministry of University and Research (MUR), in close collaboration with the University of Perugia, the Department of Physics and Geology, the INFN Perugia division and the scientific community involved in the Einstein Telescope (ET) project, the major European infrastructure for the study of gravitational waves that Italy is bidding to host in Sardinia, in the Sos Enattos area (Nuoro).
The inaugural ceremony, which opened with a video message from the Minister of University and Research Anna Maria Bernini, in which the Minister underlined how the CAOS Laboratory could contribute to our knowledge of the universe and how it fits into the broader development project of the Einstein Telescope research infrastructure, was attended by the Rector of the University of Perugia Massimiliano Marianelli, the President of the Umbria Region Stefania Proietti, Raffaele Marras, ET Adviser to the Sardinia Region, representing the President of the Sardinia Region Alessandra Todde, the Mayor of Perugia Vittoria Ferdinandi, the President of INFN Antonio Zoccoli and representatives of national and international scientific institutions, including the Physics Nobel Prize winner Takaaki Kajita.
This was followed by a session dedicated to collaborations and prospects, with the participation of Nobel Prize winner Kajita, Massimo Carpinelli, Director of the European Gravitational Observatory EGO, Takayuki Tomaru of the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, Helios Vocca of the University of Perugia, scientific coordinator of the CAOS Laboratory, and Gabriele Capoccia of the INFN Perugia Division.
In addition to the inauguration of the CAOS Laboratory, the city of Perugia is also hosting these days the 14th international workshop of the KAGRA experiment, the Japanese gravitational wave observatory, scheduled at the Hotel Brufani on Friday 16 and Saturday 17 May.
Institutional statements
The Magnificent Rector of the University of Perugia, Massimiliano Marianelli
“The inauguration of the CAOS International Laboratory represents an achievement of extraordinary importance for the University of Perugia, for the research system, for the territory and for the whole country, placing us at the centre of a research infrastructure of the highest profile, closely linked to the European challenge of the Einstein Telescope. CAOS is a tangible sign of a University that is not content merely to inhabit the great challenges of the present and the future, but chooses to be a protagonist in them, directing resources and knowledge towards building results of global significance. It is the result of a demanding journey, begun with my predecessors, which has required tenacity, vision and a profound capacity for collaboration among people, territories, skills and institutions. The project demonstrates in an exemplary way that advanced research grows only when it is both rigorous and open, specialised and interdisciplinary, promoting a vision of science as a shared and generative space. To inaugurate this place today means to inaugurate a hope: that knowledge may still open up new worlds and that science may always remain a common good at the service of the collective good. To the Minister of University and Research Anna Maria Bernini, to the representatives of the institutions present, I extend my most sincere thanks for the precious and practical support shown. To Professor Helios Vocca, the driving force behind this project, to the national and international scientific community present here today in such large numbers and with such distinguished representatives, among them Nobel Prize winner Takaaki Kajita, to the President of INFN Professor Antonio Zoccoli, to the other institutional partners and to all the researchers involved, I express my gratitude and my best wishes for fruitful work”.
The President of the Umbria Region, Stefania Proietti
“The Umbria Region looks with great pride at the inauguration of the CAOS International Laboratory at the Engineering Campus of the University of Perugia, an infrastructure of the highest scientific value that strengthens the role of our territory in the national and international research landscape. This project represents a concrete example of how collaboration between institutions, universities and research centres can generate innovation, attract investment and create new development opportunities. Umbria’s support for Sardinia’s bid for the Einstein Telescope demonstrates our determination to play a leading role in the great global scientific challenges, pooling skills, vision and planning capacity. And we are certain that our strategic infrastructure will prove decisive in the choice that must fall upon Italy. The CAOS Laboratory is not only a centre for advanced research, but also an investment in the future: a place where talent is nurtured, strategic technologies are developed and high-level international relations are built. As a Region, we will continue to strongly support initiatives such as this, which strengthen the competitiveness of the territory and promote growth founded on knowledge and innovation”.
The President of the Sardinia Region, Alessandra Todde
“The inauguration of the CAOS scientific laboratory is a practical example of the enormous positive impacts that Italy’s bid to host the Einstein Telescope in Sardinia is capable of generating. A project capable of transforming the territories involved in every respect: scientific, economic and cultural. We believe we have the best site and we are confident about the outcome of the bid, but regardless of whether ET is ultimately built in Italy or not, the CAOS laboratory – just like the ET-SunLab research centre that we are building in the Sos Enattos area and the other infrastructures that will emerge – represents realities that will strengthen the scientific community, create jobs, help our businesses grow and generate economic benefits for the communities hosting them”.
The Mayor of Perugia, Vittoria Ferdinandi
“The inauguration of the CAOS international laboratory represents a source of great pride for Perugia. This project confirms the international value of our University and of the scientific network that, from Perugia, engages with the world’s leading research centres. Investing in research means investing in the future, in knowledge, in opportunities for younger generations and in the ability of territories to play a leading role in the great global challenges. Italy’s bid for the Einstein Telescope is a strategic challenge that must unite institutions, universities and the scientific community, because it can represent an extraordinary opportunity for growth for the country”.
The President of INFN National Institute for Nuclear Physics, Antonio Zoccoli
“The Einstein Telescope gravitational wave research infrastructure is among the most ambitious that will be built in Europe over the coming decades. To support Italy’s bid to host it and contribute to this scientific and technological challenge, we are creating throughout the national territory, thanks to the ETIC project funded by PNRR resources from the Ministry of University and Research, a constellation of cutting-edge laboratories, of which CAOS is one of the flagships. A laboratory strategic to the Italian bid and to the construction of Einstein Telescope: here, in fact, we will build the first prototype of the optical suspension and control systems, among the most complex and decisive elements for the success of one of the greatest scientific enterprises of our time”.
The CAOS Laboratory
The CAOS Laboratory represents a strategic component of Italy’s bid to host Einstein Telescope, a research infrastructure of international scale, comparable in scientific, technological and civic complexity to major European projects such as the CERN accelerators and ITER, and which will apply on a much larger scale the technologies of the current gravitational wave detectors around the world: Virgo in Italy, near Pisa, LIGO in the United States and KAGRA in Japan. Included since 2021 in the ESFRI roadmap, Einstein Telescope is recognised as a strategic priority for European research. The decision on its future location is expected by 2027, and Italy strongly supports the candidacy of the Sos Enattos site in Sardinia, also through a significant scientific, technological, industrial and infrastructural investment, accompanied by strong institutional commitment at the highest levels. It is within this framework that the PNRR ETIC – Einstein Telescope Infrastructure Consortium project operates, serving as the operational arm of the Italian bid. CAOS is therefore not conceived as a local support laboratory, but as a key infrastructure because it is here that the first prototype of the advanced optical suspension and control systems will be built.
The Laboratory was created thanks to the collaboration between the University of Perugia, INFN and EGO, with a total initial investment of more than 10 million euros, of which 7 million came from PNRR funds allocated to the ETIC project, financed within the framework of Mission 4 coordinated by MUR, and the remaining part from MUR Department of Excellence funds, University of Perugia funds and a strategic Italy-Japan MUR project. National scientific coordination of ETIC is entrusted to Michele Punturo, INFN research director and former international coordinator of the Einstein Telescope scientific collaboration; Helios Vocca, Principal Investigator of ETIC for the University of Perugia, coordinates the CAOS Laboratory.
Science for everyone: Saturday evening’s event at the SanFra
As part of the initiatives linked to the inauguration, on Saturday 16 May at 9 p.m., the public event “Einstein’s Music” will take place at the San Francesco al Prato Auditorium, SanFra, in Perugia. Conceived by Psiquadro and INFN, it is organised in collaboration with the University of Perugia and under the patronage of the Municipality of Perugia. The event, with free admission, will be held in Italian and English with simultaneous translation service, and will feature a dialogue between Takaaki Kajita, winner of the 2015 Nobel Prize in Physics and principal investigator of the KAGRA project, and Pia Astone, INFN Rome researcher and member of the Virgo and Einstein Telescope collaborations. Moderating will be Matteo Serra of INFN, science journalist. The evening will be enriched by music from Giovanni Viola, a young violinist from Voghera, who will perform musical interludes with a precious violin once owned by Albert Einstein during the period in which the scientist lived in Italy.
