Australian Partnership in Advanced LIGO

The aim of this project is to build a facility, Advanced LIGO, which will routinely detect gravitational waves. The significance of this is that it will open a second carrier for observing the universe, with the potential to revolutionise our understanding of the cosmos. Membership in large international scientific collaborations carries a certain price. Over the past decade, Australia has secured its membership in the LIGO Scientific Collaboration (LSC) primarily through its contributions to the R&D program. As the construction of AdvLIGO begins, Australia is expected to make a contribution to AdvLIGO in keeping with its size within the LSC.