ESO DOI Service

• Cioni, Maria-Rosa L. [Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam, Germany]

The Users Committee (UC) was introduced at ESO in 1978 and since its first meeting in September of that year it has assisted the Director General and the ESO management in improving the performance of the Organisation, including scientific access, operations and data management facilities, and other services related to the scientific products. The UC is an advisory body that represents European users of both La Silla Paranal observatory, including the Atacama Pathfinder EXperiment (APEX), and the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA). It is the main channel of communication between the users and ESO. UC members’ engagement with specific activities has evolved over time in line with the development of ESO’s facilities and the expansion of the ESO community. This article provides information on the composition of the UC and details of its main activities, and highlights topics that have been discussed over the last decade.