RUTGERS University in the USA has announced its participation in the South African Large Telescope (SALT) project that will create the second largest telescope in the world. The university has committed to participating at the level of a 10% partnership with a pledge of $2.4-million plus an additional $1-million toward operations during the first 10 years. “Rutgers is the first partner to come into SALT,” said Dr Bob Stobie, Director of the South African Astronomical Observatory (SAAO) and chairman of the SALT board. The SAAO is a national research facility managed by South Africa’s National Research Foundation. According to Stobie the project has a construction time scale of five years. Theodore Williams, professor of physics and astronomy and Rutgers’ liaison to the SALT board, predicts that the telescope will be the prototype for all large telescopes of the future.