On November 25, Dr. Thierry Stolarczyk was appointed as the new Co-Spokesperson of the CTAO Consortium. He succeeds Dr. Rene Ong (UCLA), who was integral to leading the Consortium through significant milestones and pivotal developments over the past decade. We are very grateful to Rene for his long-term dedication and varied contributions to the progress of the project.
Dr. Stolarczyk is Director of Research at the Institute of Research into the Fundamental laws of the Universe (IRFU) at CEA Paris-Saclay. He brings extensive experience in particle physics and astrophysics to his new role. His distinguished career began in the late 1980s with the underground solar neutrino experiment GALLEX, in Italy. In 1993, he joined the NOMAD neutrino oscillation experiment at CERN, where he made substantial contributions to the construction and calibration of the central detector and advanced the understanding of neutrino interactions. In 1998, he joined the Antares neutrino undersea telescope during its early phases, playing a key role in setting up its first software chains as he analyzed the initial data. From 2005 onward, he became the leader of the Antares and KM3NeT projects at CEA, took responsibility in the publication committees of Antares, and led several KM3NeT preparatory phase strategic work packages.
Dr. Stolarczyk’s contributions to the CTAO have been equally impactful on many different fronts. He joined the project in 2012 and took the lead of the site infrastructure work package during the preparatory phase, which culminated in selecting the CTAO’s two array sites in La Palma and Chile. Since 2015, he has made the development of a new data reconstruction pipeline the primary focus of his group at CEA Paris-Saclay. This sub-work package, which he currently leads, will deliver the Observatory’s Data Processing Pipeline System within the Data Processing and Preservation System.
On the scientific front, Dr. Stolarczyk has contributed to numerous publications and supervised multiple PhD students. He served as Coordinator of the Transient and Multi-Wavelength Working Group from 2022 to 2023. Beyond research, throughout his career, he has contributed to the organisation of scientific conferences and demonstrated a deep commitment to education and outreach, actively participating in regional and national initiatives to promote the CTAO and its science to the general public.
As Co-Spokesperson, Dr. Stolarczyk will now steer the CTAO Consortium, a collaboration of 1,500 scientists from more than 150 institutes across 25 countries. The Consortium conceived the Observatory’s concept over a decade ago and the initial definition of its key science goals.
Congratulations, Dr. Stolarczyk, on your new role, and we wish you every success in your next chapter with the CTAO!