Director Jessica Dempsey of the Dutch Institute for Radio Astronomy, ASTRON, in Drenthe is leaving. In 2026 she will exchange the office in Dwingeloo for a new position as director of the international SKA Observatory in Manchester.
“I am very sad to leave ASTRON and Drenthe,” she says. “Unfortunately, these types of opportunities only come once and they never come at the right time.”
The Australian Dempsey came to work at ASTRON in May 2022. She previously worked as director at the East Asian Observatory in Hawaii. She was also the first female scientist from Australia to work at the South Pole.
She will start her new job at the SKA Observatory in July 2026. SKA (Square Kilometer Array) is currently building the largest telescope in the world in the desert of Western Australia and South Africa. The headquarters where the information comes in is also in Manchester. Before construction started three years ago, preparations took thirty years to complete. The project is considered one of the largest scientific efforts in history.
According to Dempsey, that is also the reason why she seizes the opportunity with both hands. “I’m leaving to help an emerging project that’s taking on a challenge across three continents on a scale never seen before,” she says. “I hope to contribute to its success, with care and attention to our people, our impact on the world and science.”
The SKA project currently involves organizations from 16 countries, including ASTRON in the Netherlands. The telescope is built with antennas that are very similar to the antennas of the Drenthe LOFAR telescope. For example, ASTRON also supplies electronics that are built into the antennas to transmit the signals.
Her new job means that Dempsey will say goodbye to ASTRON. “We will of course miss her very much,” says an ASTRON spokesperson. “It is a nice step for her, with a telescope in her home country, among other places.”
“Manchester cannot possibly offer what Dwingeloo has, so I will miss it very much,” says Dempsey. “But the weather in Manchester is almost the same, so I’m bringing my clogs!”
The Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) will look for a successor.