Thanks to recent technological advances, over the past few years Very Long Baseline Interferometry observations have achieved outstanding milestones in fields ranging from relativistic astrophysics to fundamental physics, with the imaging of the supermassive black holes at event horizon resolution, the formation of relativistic jets following a neutron star merger, the localisation of fast radio bursts, and more. These have been the results of huge technological progress on the VLBI instrumentation (receivers, backends, correlator facilities) and of a blossoming multi-messenger landscape. 

The broadening of VLBI arrays operating from the few hundred MHz of LOFAR-VLBI, to the few hundred GHz of EHT – now allows unprecedented synergies among the existing facilities.

The current and forthcoming generation of ground and space observatories working across and beyond the electromagnetic spectrum are considerably expanding the role VLBI can play in the multi-messenger context. Particularly relevant are the synergies with ALMA, JWST, Gaia, ELT, and CTA, with neutrino (IceCube) and the new gravitational wave detectors, such as the Einstein Telescope, and between maser VLBI and sub-mm astrophysics.

In such a fertile environment, a number of scientific areas novel to VLBI, as for instance cosmology – through probes such as FRBs and gravitational lensing – and extreme transients, are promising major advances.

Last but not least, the radio astronomical future is sparkling, and VLBI will be crucial to complete the scientific discovery potential of the SKA and ngVLA. 

 

The goal of this conference is to assess and discuss the present and future role of VLBI, with a focus on:

• the scientific relevance of VLBI in the light of the present framework of multi-messenger facilities and of the current VLBI capabilities in frequency, time and dynamic range domains;
• the potentials and the synergies between different VLBI arrays throughout the world;
• new developments in technology and methods;
• the future of VLBI beyond the present decade.

 

In addition to scientific and technological sessions, the conference will include a session on the Global VLBI Alliance.

The SOC firmly condemns the Russian attack on Ukraine. We express our strongest support for Ukraine and its scientific community. In spite of the long tradition of cooperation between countries inherent in the nature of VLBI, we feel that on this occasion we have to suspend the participation of all the researchers affiliated to the institutions located in the Russian Federation. We regret that such a severe decision affects collaborators and colleagues as individuals.