CERN Accelerating science

QUACO: QUAdrupoleCOrrector

QUACO is a Pre-Commercial Procurement project for the design, R&D and industrial prototyping of high-tech quadrupole magnets that will be used for focusing the beams for the high luminosity upgrade of the LHC. QUACO is coordinated by CERN and brings together 3 other research infrastructures (CEA, CIEMAT and NCBJ) who will contribute to the magnet development and public procurement.

Coordinator: CERN, Switzerland

Scientist in Charge from CERN:
Marcello Losasso

Full costs of the project: 6.6 M€ 

EU funding: 4.6 M€

EU funding for CERN: 3.9 M€

1 Mar 2016 - 31 Mar 2021

RI-PATHS: Charting Impact Pathways of Investment in Research Infrastructures

The aim of the project is to develop a model describing the socio-economic impact of research infrastructures and of their related financial investments. The model will be developed in a modular manner adapting it to a broad range of scientific domains and types of infrastructures. The project outcomes are expected to contribute to a common approach at international level and facilitate investments in research infrastructures by funding agencies and other stakeholders. 

Coordinator: EFIS Centre, Belgium

Scientist in Charge from CERN:
Johannes Gutleber

Full costs of the project: 1.5 M€ 

EU funding: 1.5 M€

EU funding for CERN: 124 k€

1 Jan 2018 - 30 Jun 2020

Opening Synchrotron Light for Experimental Science and Applications in the Middle East

OPEN SESAME aims to ensure efficient exploitation of the Synchrotron light for Experimental Science and Applications in the Middle East (SESAME) large-scale research infrastructure by researchers across the SESAME Members and further afield in the Middle East. OPEN SESAME has three key objectives: 1) to train SESAME staff in the storage ring and beamline instrumentation technology, research techniques and administration for optimal use of a modern light source facility; 2) to build-up human capacity in SESAME Region researchers to optimally exploit SESAME’s infrastructure; 3) to train SESAME staff and its user community in public outreach and corporate communications, and to support SESAME and its stakeholders in building awareness and demonstrating its socio-economic impact to assure longer term exploitation.

Coordinator: ESRF, France

Scientist in Charge from CERN:
James Gillies

Full costs of the project: 2.1 M€ 

EU funding: 2 M€

EU funding for CERN: 100 k€

1 January 2017 - 31 December 2019

CREMLIN: Connecting Russian and European Measures for Large-scale Research Infrastructures

CREMLIN aims at fostering scientific cooperation between the Russian Federation and the European Union in the development and scientific exploitation of large-scale research infrastructures. It has been triggered by the recent so-called megascience projects initiative launched by and in the Russian Federation which is now very actively seeking European integration. The proposed megascience facilities have an enormous potential for the international scientific communities and represent a unique opportunity for the EU to engage in a strong collaborative framework with the Russian Federation. CREMLIN will effectively contribute to better connect Russian RIs to the European Research Area.

Coordinator: DESY, Germany

Scientist in Charge from CERN:
Lucie Linssen

Full costs of the project: 1.7 M€ 

EU funding: 1.7 M€

EU funding for CERN: 76 k€

1 September 2015 - 31 August 2018

FCCIS: Future Circular Collider Innovation Study

FCCIS will deliver a conceptual design and an implementation plan for a new research infrastructure, consisting of a 100 km long, circular tunnel and a dozen surface sites. It will initially host an electron-positron particle collider. With an energy frontier hadron collider as a second step, it can serve a world-wide community through the end of the 21st century. 
This project will validate the key performance enablers at particle accelerators. Extreme luminosities, a factory producing a million Higgs bosons, luminosities up to 100 times the present world record with parts-per-million energy precision will strengthen Europe’s leadership in excellent science for many decades. This project will attract academic and industrial leaders to develop a feasible and affordable project that incorporates ecodesign and resource efficiency from an early stage onwards. The project includes work with the host states France and Switzerland to ensure that the infrastructure blends in with the territorial boundary conditions. A socio-economic impact analysis will reveal the added value that this infrastructure will generate during its first phase and serve as the basis for developing a funding and implementation plan. This project emphasizes the user capacity building process with theoretical and experimental physicists at an international scale to ensure an exploitation of the facility from the start.

Coordinator: CERN, Switzerland

Scientist in Charge from CERN: 
Michael Benedikt

Full costs of the project: 7.4 M€ 

EU funding: 3 M€ 

EU funding for CERN: 0 k€

2 November 2020 - 1 November 2024

STRONG-2020: The strong interactions at the frontier of knowledge - fundamental research and applications 

The strong interaction is one of the cornerstones of the Standard Model (SM) of particle physics, and its experimental and theoretical study attracts an active community of about 2500 researchers in Europe. The list of fundamental open questions at the frontier of our current knowledge in the strong interaction is very rich and varied including a full understanding of (i) the partonic structure of hadrons, (ii) exotic hadronic states, properties of (iii) dense quark matter and of (iv) hot and dense quark-gluon plasma, as well as (v) precision tests of the SM. The STRONG-2020 project brings together many of the leading research groups and infrastructures involved today in the study of the strong interaction in Europe, and also exploits the innovation potential in applied research through the development of detector systems with applications beyond fundamental physics, e.g. for medical imaging and information technology. 

More information about the Transnational Access to CERN in the framework of the STRONG-2020 project can be found here. 

Coordinator: CNRS, France

Scientist in Charge from CERN: 
David d'Enterria

Full costs of the project: 10 M€ 

EU funding: 10 M€

EU funding for CERN: 200 k€

1 June 2019 - 31 May 2023

ENSAR2: European Nuclear Science and Applications Research - 2

ENSAR2 is the integrating activity for European nuclear scientists who are performing research in the following subfields: Nuclear Structure and Dynamics, Nuclear Astrophysics and Nuclear Physics Tools and Applications.

As part of ENSAR2, access will be provided to 11 facilities: GANIL-SPIRAL2 (F), joint LNL-LNS (I), CERN-ISOLDE (CH), JYFL (FI),  ALTO (F), GSI (D), KVI-CART (NL), NLC (P), IFIN-HH/ELI-NP (RO) and to the theoretical physics facility: ECT (I). These accelerators provide stable and radioactive ion beams of excellent qualities ranging in energies from tens of keV/u to a few GeV/u.

Coordinator: GANIL, France

Scientist in Charge from CERN: 
Maria Borge

Full costs of the project: 10 M€ 

EU funding: 10 M€

EU funding for CERN: 1 M€

1 March 2016 - 29 February 2020

ARIES: Accelerator Research and Innovation for European Science and Society

The main goals of ARIES are linked to developing and demonstrating novel concepts and further improving existing accelerator technologies, providing European researchers and industry with access to top-class accelerator research and test infrastructures, enlarging and further integrating the accelerator community in Europe, and developing a joint strategy towards sustainable accelerator S&T.

ARIES brings together 41 beneficiaries from 18 countries: accelerator laboratories, technology institutes, universities and industrial partners (7 industrial partners, including two SMEs and one association).

Innovation will be fostered by joint co-development programmes with industry, by supporting innovative technologies with market potential, and by advancing concepts and designs for medical, industrial and environmental applications of accelerators for the wide benefit of European science and society.

Coordinator: CERN, Switzerland

Scientist in Charge from CERN: 
Maurizio Vretenar

Full costs of the project: 24.7 M€ 

EU funding: 10 M€

EU funding for CERN: 2 M€

1 May 2017 - 30 April 2022

AIDA-2020: Advanced European Infrastructures for Detectors at Accelerators

AIDA-2020 brings together 38 partners from 19 countries. The project aims to advance detector technologies beyond current limits for the benefit of thousands of researchers participating in the LHC High-Luminosity Upgrade, linear collider efforts and future neutrino projects, and to enhance the coordination within the European detector community, leveraging EU and national resources. AIDA-2020 will also exploit the innovation potential of detector R&D by engaging with European industry for large-scale production of detector systems and by developing applications outside of particle physics, e.g. for medical imaging. 

Coordinator: CERN, Switzerland

Scientist in Charge from CERN: Konrad Elsener

Full costs of the project: 29 M€ 

EU funding: 10 M€

EU funding for CERN: 2.3 M€

1 May 2015 - 30 April 2020

ICEDIG: Innovation and consolidation for large scale digitisation of natural heritage

Modern science requires digital access to data. European collections account for 55% of the natural sciences collections globally, holding more than 1 billion objects, which represent 80% of the world’s bio- and geo-diversity. Only around 10% of these have been digitally catalogued and 1-2% imaged, rendering their information underused. This challenge is being tackled by the new ESFRI initiative Distributed System of Scientific Collections (DiSSCo). DiSSCo will unify access to collection data in a harmonised and integrated manner across Europe. Building on previous project outputs, community and industrial expertise, the ICEDIG project will design all the technical, financial, policy and governance aspects for developing and operating DiSSCo. The outputs will be prototypes, blueprints, novel workflows, new industry partnerships, and citizen involvement models, paving the way for the successful construction of the DiSSCo research infrastructure.

Coordinator: UEF, Finland

Scientist in Charge from CERN: 
Tim Smith

Full costs of the project: 3 M€ 

EU funding: 3 M€

EU funding for CERN: 30 k€

1 January 2018 - 31 March 2020