Before taking up his new role as UK Ambassador to Chile, David Concar visited the UK Astronomy Technology Centre (UK ATC) at the Royal Observatory Edinburgh last month. His visit highlighted the strong scientific partnership between the UK and Chile and the central role Edinburgh plays in world‑leading astronomy.

During the visit, the Ambassador met with senior UK ATC staff to learn more about the centre's contributions to major international observatories based in Chile, including instruments developed for the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope and Extremely Large Telescope​. The discussion covered the UK's long‑standing collaboration with Chilean astronomical facilities and the scientific opportunities enabled by shared access to some of the world's most advanced telescopes.

The Ambassador also toured the Victorian building and the Crawford Collection, learning more about where our teams design, build and test cutting‑edge technology before it heads out to the Atacama Desert.

The visit was a great opportunity to discuss future areas of collaboration and to underline how important international partnerships are for enabling UK science and engineering to thrive on the global stage.​​