The United Kingdom Astronomy Technology Centre

Working together we can reach for the stars

"No man is an island, entire of itself", said John Donne in the 17th Century - and this applies just as well in the 21st Century to organisations like the UK ATC! We not only need talented people within our organisation, but also strong links and connections with outside organisations - locally and globally; in academia and industry; within the astronomy community and outside it.

The list of our customers is a veritable who's-who in international astronomy: European Southern Observatory (ESO), Gemini Observatories (North & South), European Space Agency (ESA), Joint Astronomy Centre (JAC), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Isaac Newton Group of Telescopes (ING), and many others - including those outside of the conventional astronomy areas.

Delivering the current range of complex systems needed by these customers requires large international collaborations. The list of current collaborators is extensive - including universities, national institutes, research centres, and industry. With dedicated project management and systems engineering professionals, the UK ATC has extensive experience in successfully leading and participating in many such large projects.

Within our local area the UK ATC is part of the Edinburgh Research Partnership in Engineering & Mathematics (ERP) and the Scottish Universities Physics Alliance (SUPA) through the TEOPS initiative. Further afield we are founding members of both the Photonics Knowledge Transfer Network (PKTN) and the European Network of Optical Clusters (ENOC). We also have close links with many other organisations, networks and research groups globally.

To find out more about our work and connections outside of astronomy, see the Innovation Group area.