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From EuCARD-2 to ARIES

Sabrina El Yacoubi — Mon, 03 Jul 2017 14:29:31 +0000

From EuCARD-2 to ARIES
Jennifer Toes (CERN)

ARIES project members attend the kick-off meeting talks at CERN, 4-5^th May 2017 (Image: CERN)

As the particle accelerator R&D project EuCARD-2 comes to an end, its entrepreneurial and collaborative spirit lives on in ARIES, Accelerator Research and Innovation for European Science and Society, which kicked off at CERN in May 2017.

EuCARD-2 officially ended its activity in April 2017, after four years of international collaboration between academics and members of industry. The project aimed to connect different European actors in accelerator science, enhance collaboration and concentrate common resources on shared goals.

Mobilising more than 350 people, EuCARD-2 produced a wealth of novel ideas for future accelerators and their energy management and applications. Highlights of the final results include patents and crucial advances in four fields: high-temperature superconductivity, materials for accelerators, superconducting coatings, and high-quality plasma-accelerated beams.

EuCARD-2 results in numbers (Image: CERN)

Building on the knowledge, technology and partnerships established under EuCARD-2, ARIES will bring together 41 participants from 18 European countries, including 7 industrial partners. The project officially launched its four-year activity programme as of 1^st May 2017 and gathered at CERN over 4-5^th May for a kick-off meeting. The project is co-funded via a contribution of €10 million from the European Commission under the Horizon 2020 programme.

The project participants include major European accelerator laboratories, universities, scientific and technical institutes, and industrial partners. This consortium increases the opportunities for international collaboration, knowledge and technology transfer across different fields of scientific research and to society, and puts particular focus on innovation of new technology, with a view to maximising its attractiveness to industry.

This effort ultimately aims to upgrade and enhance current accelerator infrastructures and their related technology, secure the sustainability of accelerator science for the future, and further integrate the accelerator research community in Europe.

The work programme of the project will pay particular attention to developing new accelerator concepts, creating new technology for superconductors and superconducting coatings, and optimising accelerator energy efficiency and thermal management.

The ARIES Coordinator, Maurizio Vretenar (CERN), said, “ARIES is a new major step in collaborative research for particle accelerator R&D. By integrating more countries and more industry and by enhancing innovation, training, access to test facilities and societal applications, the project will have a strong and long-term impact on European science and society.”

Under the ARIES Transnational Access programme, 14 facilities will be made available to researchers for material, magnet, radio-frequency, plasma acceleration, and electron and proton beam testing.

Transnational Access facilities

Developing partnerships with industry and understanding areas of common interest is crucial for transferring knowledge and technology between fields, and ensuring future technologies are viable in the market.

As such, ARIES will organise a series of “Academia meets Industry” events, and will provide of a “Proof of Concept” innovation fund, which will offer researchers the opportunity to develop spin-off technology with societal applications.

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issue 21

HL-LHC project stimulates new collaboration

Panagiotis Charitos — Mon, 06 Mar 2017 13:04:27 +0000

HL-LHC project stimulates new collaboration
by Carsten Welsch (University of Liverpool)

View from the LHC tunnel (Credit: CERN)

A new multi-million-pound project between CERN, the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) and six other UK institutions has been launched to contribute to the upgrade of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN in Geneva. The world’s highest energy particle collider shall be upgraded to the High Luminosity LHC (HL-LHC) in the 2020s through international collaboration.

The challenges of this project are best tackled with input from the project partners from around the world. Several partnerships have already been established with the HL-LHC project and there is room for more potential partnerships in the future. It has now been announced that the UK will make contributions in four areas across the new HL-LHC-UK project among other contributions from UK universities¹.

The full exploitation of the LHC is the highest priority in the European Strategy for Particle Physics, adopted by the CERN Council and integrated into the ESFRI Roadmap. The full HL-LHC project funding was approved by the CERN Council in June 2016. To extend its discovery potential, the LHC will need a major upgrade around 2025 to increase its luminosity (rate of collisions) by a factor of 10 beyond the original design value (from 300 to 3,000 fb-1). This will enable scientists to look for new, very rare fundamental particles, and to measure known particles such as the Higgs boson with unprecedented accuracy.

Upgrading the LHC calls for technology breakthroughs in areas already under study, and requires about 10 years of research to implement. HL-LHC relies on a number of key innovative technologies, representing exceptional technological challenges. Led by experts from the Cockcroft Institute, the HL-LHC-UK project has now been established to address these challenges.

Within HL-LHC-UK, the partner institutions will perform cutting-edge research and deliver hardware for the LHC upgrade in four areas: 1) proton beam collimation to remove stray halo protons, 2) the development and test of transverse deflecting cavities (“crab cavities”), 3) new methods to diagnose the stored beams including gas jet-based beam profile monitors and, 4) novel beam position monitors, as well as sophisticated cold powering technology needed for the cryogenic systems.

Lucio Rossi, Head of the High-Luminosity LHC project, commented: “In order to make the project a success we have to innovate in many fields, developing cutting-edge technologies for magnets, the optics of the accelerator, superconducting radiofrequency cavities, and superconducting links. We are very excited for the UK to be making key contributions and using their expertise to help deliver this upgrade.”

The HL-LHC-UK project comprises the University of Manchester (Cockcroft Institute), Lancaster University (Cockcroft Institute), the University of Liverpool (Cockcroft Institute), the University of Huddersfield (International Institute of Accelerator Applications), Royal Holloway University of London (John Adams Institute), the University of Southampton and the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC). The spokesperson is Rob Appleby (Manchester) and the project manager is Graeme Burt (Lancaster).

More information about the High Luminosity LHC project, its technology and design as well as the challenges ahead can be found in the recently released open access HiLumi LHC book “The High Luminosity Large Hadron Collider. The New Machine for Illuminating the Mysteries of the Universe”.

1. UK is currently also contributing with the technology for surface modification of metals in a collaboration between CERN, the University of Dundee and the Science and Technology Facilities Council.

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ARIES approved by European Commission

Jennifer Toes — Fri, 16 Sep 2016 10:04:03 +0000

ARIES approved by European Commission
by Jennifer Toes (CERN)

The ARIES project has been approved by the European Commission under the Horizon 2020 Framework Programme for Research and Innovation and will receive €10M in EU funding as requested in its proposal.

The full title of the project is Accelerator Research and Innovation for European Science and Society. It will serve as the spiritual successor to the EuCARD-2 Integrating Activity project, which is due to end in April 2017. The start date for ARIES is yet to be agreed upon, but is foreseen for May 2017, to allow a smooth transition between the two projects.

The total budget of the project will be €24.8M over the four-year study period, which includes the EU contribution and €14.8 M from the involved beneficiaries. The overall evaluation score of ARIES was 14.5 out of 15. This is the highest score compared with previous EU funded accelerator R&D projects such as CARE, EuCARD and EuCARD-2.

ARIES aims to develop novel concepts and improve existing accelerator technologies; to provide access to top-class accelerator research and test infrastructures to European researchers and industry; to further integrate the European accelerator community; and to develop a joint strategy towards sustainable accelerator S&T.

ARIES will bring together 41 beneficiaries from 18 different European countries, one International European Interest Organization (CERN) and one European Research Infrastructure Consortium (ESS). The beneficiaries are based in the following 18 countries: Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.

The evaluators of the project highlighted the clarity of the project’s innovation strategy, the integration such a large variety of partners, the extent of the Transnational Access programme, the intended creation of an e-learning course, the proof-of-concept fund, and the development of compact accelerators as particular areas of interest within the proposal.

During its grant preparation, the Project Coordinator, Maurizio Vretenar (CERN), will agree on a start date for the project with the European Commission and a kick-off meeting for all project collaborators will be arranged.

Universities and Laboratories for a common goal

Margarita Synanidi — Tue, 25 Nov 2014 13:48:07 +0000

Universities and Laboratories for a common goal
by Giuliano Franchetti (GSI) and Frank Zimmermann (CERN)

Some of the ULA2014 participants in front of the Institute of Applied Physics, Goethe-University Frankfurt am Main. Image credit: Fips Schneider, IAP, U. Frankfurt

“Universities meet Laboratories” (ULA2014) workshop was a pioneering attempt to bring together representatives of the academic world and of laboratories to resolve differences and discuss synergies for working toward a common goal. Amongst many, this included topics like research evaluation and how to make accelerator science an attractive career choice. The event was attended by over 40 key players from all over Europe.

The workshop revealed a unanimous consensus among the participants from universities across Europe that the field of accelerator physics and technology appears to be often disadvantaged by an inadequate standing in the academic environment.

A very critical observation and issue is that students across European universities do not choose accelerator physics as a study topic and most importantly, many of them are not even aware of accelerator physics as a possible career path. For that reason greater efforts should be made for attracting students in the first stage of their studies. Another issue that was raised is that joint PhD supervision has become a difficult process because the needs of the laboratories do not always match the university research interest.

In terms of research assessments the workshop has evidenced a distinct difference of the research evaluation at universities and laboratories. This difference does not only prevent some laboratory staff from competing for job posts at universities, but it also renders collaboration with laboratories less attractive for the university staff. One reason is that laboratories traditionally disseminate their work in conference proceedings (if at all), while the universities consider only the publications in peer-reviewed journals. Moreover, given the strict metric evaluation the universities apply like the h-factor that disregards other relevant scientific outputs, it occurs that accelerator physics journals are suffering from a low impact factor, which is becoming a discriminating element in the research evaluation.

The workshop has also highlighted the positive impact of three major European and American accelerator schools – CERN Accelerator School (CAS), Joint Universities Accelerator School (JUAS), and US Particle Accelerator School (USPAS) – as well as accelerator training at universities, with Germany leading the way. In Japan the combination of the Graduate University for Advanced Studies (SOKENDAI) and the Inter-University Research Institute Corporation has proven effective. A report on the TIARA survey results showed that many ongoing activities require more training in accelerators. In most of the European countries the elevation of the discipline to the same as level as other more established branches of physics is being pursued by self-organization of the community (e.g. KfB in Germany, CONECTA in Spain), and with the support of the EPS-AG. In general a deeper discussion of these subjects is required. Although, good experience with joint research, and including green field academic accelerator studies, has been reported from the UK.

Many ways to attract more students to the accelerator science were discussed. In particular, Philip Bambade, Accelerator Department Head at LAL Orsay, proposed and highlighted several promising approaches.

A key to attractiveness can be the multi/inter-disciplinary character of accelerator science. Another factor can be that compared to fields like HEP or even nuclear physics, accelerator scientists can be both theorists and experimentalists at the same time.

With the evolution towards smaller, very sophisticated, accelerators, another possible path is a closer connection between the accelerator scientists and the users, through approaches integrating these two communities.

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Powering strategy of SESAME magnets

Margarita Synanidi — Tue, 25 Nov 2014 10:05:59 +0000

Powering strategy of SESAME magnets
by Livia Lapadatescu, Agnes Szeberenyi with Miguel Cerqueira Bastos (CERN)

The power converter team with the first of 10 pallets that arrived at CERN with all the quadrupole power supplies (focusing and defocusing) and with the focusing sextupole power supplies. Credits: CERN and SESAME

The magnet system with its power supplies are a major component of the SESAME light source main storage ring. The main objective of the power supplies activity under the collaboration between CERN, European Commission and SESAME is to define the powering strategy and deliver the power converters and corresponding control elements to SESAME. This includes specifications, procurement and testing of all power and control components.

In the last three months, the Magnet Power Supplies activity of the CESSAMag project has seen some major milestones achieved. After reviewing the typical powering requirements of modern light sources and understanding the main differences with respect to high-energy particle accelerators, the CERN and SESAME team devised a powering strategy focused on providing flexibility and performance whilst minimizing machine downtime and facilitating maintenance procedures. This strategy was approved by both CERN and SESAME Technical Committees. It relies on the use of an existing, “proven in use”, control system to run commercial power supplies, which in the case of the quadrupoles are off-the-shelf products. With this strategy SESAME has full control over the performance of the current loop and benefits from the standardization of the control electronics. The use of commercial power supplies, easily and quickly replaceable, also improves maintenance and spare management.

The interface and DAC board, developed by the power converter team. Credits: CERN and SESAME

The control solution described above led to the decision of using the latest power supply controller from the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI). The CESSAMag team is the first to integrate the new generation of the PSI controller in the powering system of another light source.

The powering of the magnets in the SESAME main storage ring will be done in series for the dipole and sextupole magnets and individually for the other magnet types. The individual powering of quadrupoles was not originally foreseen and it was adopted to achieve increased flexibility, following discussions with experts from other light sources. The 8 magnet types (dipole, focusing quadrupole, defocusing quadrupole, focusing sextupole, defocusing sextupole, V-correctors, H-correctors, skew quads) require 6 different types of power supplies.

All the power supplies for the quadrupole and corrector magnets as well as the PSI electronics for the control system and the gateways have been delivered to CERN. Testing of all these elements will now start at CERN and they will be delivered and integrated into the SESAME system mid-2015.

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Beam Dynamics meets Magnets

Margarita Synanidi — Mon, 15 Sep 2014 10:04:36 +0000

Beam Dynamics meets Magnets supported by EuCARD-2
by Giuliano Franchetti (GSI)

                                         Group photo from the recent workshop at the Darmstadtium.
                                                            Image credit: Paul Goergen

An unforeseen collaboration was formed as a result of a workshop last December, which brought together two independent working groups, the beam dynamics and magnets experts.

“EuCARD-2XBEAM-XRING activity makes it possible to think out of the box and to bring experts together to exchange their ideas who would otherwise not collaborate“, says Franchetti, the father of this initiative.
The “Beam Dynamics meets Magnets” workshop has attracted over 80 members of the Particle Accelerator Beam Dynamics and of the Accelerator Magnet communities.. Topics covered ranged from energy frontier to intensity frontier. The meeting has been an unprecedented forum for traditionally independent entities to share experiences accumulated in different laboratories characterized by different traditions, different projects, and different people.

The discussions at the meeting have primarily been center on FAIR project issues. Discussion on inside aspects of LHC, J-PARC, and ATF2, along with ISIS put the FAIR effort into a new and more positive prospective. The open discussions, and information from the workshop contributed to tune the FAIR roadmap for dipoles and quadrupoles procurement, and the strategies of magnet measurements as well as the interplay with beam dynamics to a new and more efficient level. Remarkably, at the end of the workshop, the participants have acknowledged the need to keep the “meeting” going and sharing information.

Given the positive results of the meeting, the next one has already been scheduled for 1-4 December 2014. It will be coordinated by the EuCARD2 XBEAM-XRING Network and hosted by PSI.

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