About

GWIC's mission is to facilitate international collaboration and cooperation in the construction, operation and use of the major gravitational wave detection facilities world-wide.

About GWIC

Gravitational Wave International Committee (GWIC) was formed in 1997 to facilitate international collaboration and cooperation in the construction, operation and use of the major gravitational wave detection facilities world-wide. It is associated with the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics as its Working Group WG.11. Through this association, GWIC is connected with the International Society on General Relativity and Gravitation (IUPAP's Affiliated Commission AC.2), its Commission C19 (Astrophysics), and another Working Group, the AstroParticle Physics International Committee (APPIC).

Goals

  • Promote international cooperation in all phases of construction and scientific exploitation of gravitational-wave detectors
  • Coordinate and support long-range planning for new instrument proposals, or proposals for instrument upgrades
  • Promote the development of gravitational-wave detection as an astronomical tool, exploiting especially the potential for multi-messenger astrophysics
  • Organize regular, world-inclusive meetings and workshops for the study of problems related to the development and exploitation of new or enhanced gravitational-wave detectors, and foster research and development of new technology
  • Represent the gravitational-wave detection community internationally, acting as its advocate
  • Provide a forum for project leaders to regularly meet, discuss, and jointly plan the operations and direction of their detectors and experimental gravitational-wave physics generally.

Bylaws

The Bylaws describe operation and governance of GWIC.

Reports to IUPAP

GWIC derives its standing in the international community from its relationship to the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP). In 2011, GWIC was appointed as a Working Group (WG.11) of IUPAP. Since that date GWIC reports directly to the IUPAP council.

Each year, GWIC provides a short report of its activities to the IUPAP Council. An archive of these reports is given below.

Meetings

Gravitational-Wave Field Meeting Calendar

Next meeting of the GWIC Committee

To be announced.

Past meetings

GWIC Roadmap

The direct observation of gravitational waves from a binary black hole merger in 2015 by LIGO and Virgo ushered in the era of gravitational-wave astronomy and has been heralded as a watershed moment in science. Motivated by the rapid growth and evolution of the field in the last five years, GWIC commissioned an update of the 2010 GWIC Roadmap.

Like its 2010 predecessor, the goal of the GWIC Roadmap is to serve the international gravitational wave community and its stakeholders as a tool for the development of capabilities and facilities needed to address the exciting scientific opportunities on the intermediate and long-term horizons. The updated roadmap assesses future developments in ground-based, space-based, and pulsar timing array gravitational-wave detectors, surveys the potential for growth in bandwidth and sensitivity of future gravitational-wave detectors, and highlights the science results anticipated to come from these new instruments.

Image: LIGO/Caltech/MIT/Sonoma State (Aurore Simonnet). Cover design: Charlotte Gurr, Springer Nature Limited.

GWIC Roadmap 2021

GWIC's mission is to facilitate international collaboration and cooperation in the construction, operation and use of the major gravitational wave detection facilities world-wide. It is associated with the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics as its Working Group WG.11. Through this association, GWIC is connected with the International Society on General Relativity and Gravitation (IUPAP's Affiliated Commission AC.2), its Commission C19 (Astrophysics), and another Working Group, the AstroParticle Physics International Committee (APPIC).

Information · Web · Privacy Notice