17th EVN Symposium and Users’ Meeting 2026

About the EVN Symposium and Users’ Meeting

The European VLBI Network Symposium and Users’ Meeting is a specialist radio astronomy meeting for science produced with Very Long Baseline Interferometry and for the technology that makes those observations possible. The seventeenth edition is hosted by Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics at The University of Manchester. Sessions are based in the Schuster Building, including the Ernest Rutherford and Jocelyn Bell Burnell theatres, from 14 to 18 September 2026.

What distinguishes the symposium is the link between astrophysical results and the shared infrastructure of the EVN. Researchers can discuss active galactic nuclei, stellar evolution, transients and pulsars alongside low-frequency VLBI, correlation, instrumentation and next-generation facilities. The users’ meeting gives people who work with the network a direct setting for discussing operational experience and future needs. This combination makes the event both a research conference and a community forum for a distributed European observing facility with global collaborators. It also gives technical teams direct scientific context for the capabilities and constraints users encounter.

Event history and host

The EVN Symposium is a biennial meeting and the 2026 gathering is its seventeenth edition. The recurring format reflects the European VLBI Network’s role as a collaboration of radio telescopes that combine observations to achieve very high angular resolution. Rather than separating science users from technical teams, the symposium has developed as the network’s main forum for both new results and advances in VLBI techniques. The Manchester edition places that tradition within Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics, whose radio astronomy work includes the e-MERLIN/VLBI National Radio Astronomy Facility. Jodrell Bank is the verified host, while a scientific organising committee drawn from EVN, university, observatory and SKA organisations shapes the programme and a local organising committee manages delivery. This distinction matters: the meeting is not organised by the Henry Royce Institute, as an earlier Arc record stated. The University of Manchester and Jodrell Bank relationship is explicit on the official symposium site.

Topics and themes

The published topic list covers scientific discovery, observing technique and the future of VLBI infrastructure. Each strand connects directly to work presented by the network’s research and user communities.

• Stellar evolution, AGN and supermassive black holes: VLBI resolves compact radio structures that help researchers test physical models at otherwise inaccessible scales.
• Transients, pulsars and multi-messenger astrophysics: rapid and precise radio observations support studies of variable sources and events detected across multiple messengers.
• Low-frequency VLBI: sessions address the scientific opportunities and technical demands of combining widely separated telescopes at longer radio wavelengths.
• Techniques and instrumentation: correlation, calibration, receivers, data processing and observing practice connect engineering development with the quality of scientific results.
• Astrometry, geodesy and space applications: precision measurements extend VLBI beyond source imaging into reference frames, Earth science and spacecraft-related applications.
• SKA-VLBI and next-generation facilities: the programme considers how emerging observatories can work with existing long-baseline networks and their users.

Who should attend?

The strongest audience fit is for radio astronomers who use, analyse or plan VLBI observations, whether through the EVN or another long-baseline facility. Instrument scientists, correlator and software teams, astrometry and geodesy researchers, and engineers developing radio astronomy systems can follow the technical programme alongside the science sessions. Facility staff and experienced users have a dedicated reason to attend because the meeting includes the EVN users’ forum. Doctoral candidates and early-career researchers can present results, learn current techniques and meet collaborators across the network, although abstract submission for 2026 has closed. Researchers working on transients, pulsars, active galaxies, stars, multi-messenger astronomy or SKA synergies should find directly relevant sessions.

Practical information

The main venue is the Schuster Building on The University of Manchester campus. The official logistics page covers travel, accommodation, accessibility and local information; registration closes on 1 September 2026.

Accepted contributors should check the programme allocation and presentation instructions. Other delegates should confirm payment, dinner selection and any accessibility or dietary support requirements before arriving in Manchester.