On 18-19 January 2022, the EU projects office organised the second edition of the “EU funded projects-demystified!” training.
With 12 participants, the second edition has been a success among the CERN community. Nikolaos Charitonidis, HiRadMat facility coordinator “found the training very useful, giving practical insights on how to prepare and deal with a large-scale EU project”.
Containing six modules, the training “taught […] how to gather and structure the information needed to translate an idea into a proposal” explains Anna Manou, IT-EU assistant. From the proposal phase to the final periodic report, with information about the administrative, legal and financial aspects and communication, the training gives a better knowledge, whether you want to submit a proposal or want to know more about EU projects.
“The practical details or the hints that the trainers provided on how these proposals are seen from the other side of the table were extremely useful.”, illustrates Nikolaos Charitonidis. More than a training, you will learn tips and hints on how to submit a successful project and how to handle it better when funded.
Another edition will take place at the end of summer; stay tuned for more information by registering to the EU newsletter.
Over one hundred Horizon Europe 2021-2022 calls have been identified by CERN’s EU Projects Office as of potential interest for the organisation. In order to give you a flavour of what’s in there for you, the Office has handpicked a selection of interesting ones for 2022 as outlined below.
From quantum-resistant cryptography to advanced robotics, from two-dimensional materials to extreme data mining, the highlighted calls carry opportunities for CERN, for your research and for your career. Furthermore, they display the full diversity of what can be the purpose of an EU project: fundamental research of course, but also societal applications and market opportunities.
If your research topic is not covered in the table below,
check the full list curated by the CERN’s EU Projects Office here;
and/or browse the European Commission portal for an overview of all the calls.
Applying to a call is a specific art to achieve success and for this reason, the Office has set up a training to help CERN personnel understand what is an EU Project, how they work and, more especially, how to apply to one. This training also provides information about the structure, content and novelties of Horizon Europe, the new EU framework programme for research and innovation.
Topic
Title
Opening date
Deadline date
HORIZON-CL4-2022-RESILIENCE-01-10
Innovative materials for advanced (nano)electronic components and systems
In November 2021, CERN hosted the laureates of the 31st EU Contest for Young Scientists (EUCYS) – the biggest science fair for young students in the European Union – for a visit of its facilities and experiments. The contest, funded under Horizon 2020, aims to attract young people to a career in science and research.
The 2019 winners, a team of three Polish students based in the Netherlands, designed a drone that could return from the lower layers of the stratosphere with a scientific payload to the launch location and were rewarded with a week-long visit of CERN for their efforts. Unfortunately, due to restrictions related to the pandemic, CERN has had to postpone the visit, initially planned for 2020, to 2021.
Two of the winners, Lukasz and Mateusz, could eventually make it to CERN, where they visited the laboratory’s many facilities and experiments, from CERN’s Synchrocyclotron to ATLAS, and IdeaSquare. As part of their visit, they were invited to print metal objects on the Organization’s metal 3D-printers. Mateusz designed a piece inspired by cave paintings left behind by early humans while Lukasz created a replica of an octupole magnet inspired by their visit to the Antiproton Decelerator.
Lukasz and Mateusz expressed their deep gratitude for an experience which they said strengthened their resolve to continue their academic studies. They voiced interest in applying for student internships at CERN to further explore the many facets of engineering.
The young scientists earned the week-long discovery visit of CERN after designing and prototyping a High-Altitude Micro Air Vehicle
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Cristina Bahamonde - Nuclear and Chemical engineer working in the LHC collimation system. Collimators protect the machine’s most sensitive components against beam losses during operation. The pictures were taken during a collimator installation and hardware check as a part of the HL-LHC upgrade
(Image: CERN)
CERN Gender Equality Plan
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Gender Equality Plan (GEP) at CERN
Diversity is a core value at CERN. Our rich, collaborative environment features a diverse pool of talented individuals from all over the world, working together towards a common goal. Incorporating this value across all aspects of our work is key for CERN as an international organisation, both towards its Member States and the wider community.
Demonstrating its early commitment to nurturing a diverse working environment, CERN appointed its first Equal Opportunities Officer in 1996, and in 2011 the Organization established the Diversity and Inclusion programme. Since that time, CERN has seen many actions and initiatives to promote gender equality and inclusion (See: Other GEP-related actions and activities, below).
In March 2021, CERN’s Senior Management (the “Enlarged Directorate”) endorsed a new D&I strategy called, “25 by ’25”. The 25 by '25 strategy is a CERN-wide aspirational target to boosting gender and nationality diversity within the employed members of personnel (MPE) population. The strategy aims to reinforce efforts and advancements already in place through a leadership-led and collaborative approach and is the Organization’s flagship D&I action towards improving gender representation at CERN.
GEP “or equivalent” requirements
Given its long-standing commitment towards gender and diversity objectives, CERN is well in line with the European Commission’s (“EC”) reinforced commitment toward gender equality in European research organizations.
As set out in the EC’s Gender Equality Strategy 2020-2025, the following declaration underpins the European Union’s gender goals: “In all its activities, the Union shall aim to eliminate inequalities, and to promote equality, between men and women.” In this spirit, as of January 2022 all public bodies, research organisations or higher education institutions established in an EU Member State must have in place a Gender Equality Plan (“GEP”) “or equivalent” to be eligible for participation in Horizon Europe projects. This requirement applies to all Horizon Europe calls with a deadline in 2022, and beyond.
The European Commission defines a GEP as: “a set of commitments and actions that aim to promote gender equality in an organisation through a process of structural change”.
The EC has set out four mandatory requirements (or building blocks) which must be fulfilled (Ref. Gender equality in research and innovation) to satisfy Horizon Europe / GEP eligibility requirements.
Through its past and ongoing actions and initiatives, including the “25 by ‘25” strategy (detailed below), CERN fully meets the GEP criteria, making CERN eligible for participation in Horizon Europe project proposals within this time frame.
Below are the four Gender Equality Plan mandatory requirements and a summary of the actions and activities CERN has in place to satisfy these requirements:
1. Public document: "The GEP should be a formal document signed by the top management, and disseminated within the institution. It should demonstrate a commitment to gender equality, set clear goals and detailed actions and measures to achieve them."
Public commitment to gender equality @CERN
A consolidation and presentation of CERN’s GEP-related processes and actions was endorsed by the Organization’s senior management - the “Enlarged Directorate” - in July 2022.
Previously, in March 2021, the Enlarged Directorate also endorsed the 25 by´25 strategy, the Organization’s flagship strategic action toward improving the gender representation at CERN.
The gender aspirational objective under 25 by ’25 is to increase the percentage of women across the employed members of personnel to 25% by the end of 2025. The Diversity & Inclusion website outlines the initiative and the implementation plan toward a more gender diverse and inclusive workplace, especially in the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Maths) fields.
An article announcing the launch of the strategy and the senior management’s endorsement of it was published in the CERN Bulletin on 12 April 2021 here.
2. Dedicated resources: "Resources for the design, implementation, and monitoring of GEPs may include funding for specific positions such as Equality Officers or Gender Equality Teams as well as earmarked working time for academic, management and administrative staff."
Dedicated Resources @CERN
The current Diversity & Inclusion Programme (formerly, “Diversity Office”) was established in 2011. The Programme’s personnel consists of a Programme Leader (Staff) and a Diversity Analyst (Fellow). The Programme has a dedicated annual budget to finance its activities.
The D&I Programme is situated within the Human Resources Department, reporting to the Head of Human Resources. More about the history of the Programme and its activities is available here. The D&I Programme Leader reports annually to the Member State representatives at the Tripartite Employment Forum.
In addition, under the 25 by ’25 initiative, CERN’s Department Heads are appointing Diversity & Inclusion Officers, to be allocated a small percentage of time to handle, promote, and share D&I matters relevant to their respective Department.
In addition, the expertise of the HR Reporting and Analytics team as well as dedicated Focal Points appointed by each Department Head to support the implementation of the 25 by ’25 strategy are working closely with the D&I Programme to monitor the progress under the 25 by ’25 gender target.
3. Arrangements for data collection and monitoring: “GEPs must be evidence-based and founded on sex or gender-disaggregated baseline data collected across all staff categories. This data should inform the GEP’s objectives and targets, indicators, and ongoing evaluation of progress.”
Data Collection and Monitoring @CERN
CERN gender (and other) disaggregated data are consolidated on an annual basis in the Annual Personnel Statistics exercise. The personnel statistics are published by the HR Reporting and Analytics team and are available here: CERN personnel statistics
At 31 Dec 2020, the gender distribution of the CERN Employed Members of the Personnel (Staff and fellows) showed a representation of 21.41% of women across the Organization; at 31 Dec 2021 this figure stands at 21.9%. In the disciplines such as Research physicists, Scientific and engineering work and Technical work, the representation of women is much lower and work is ongoing to improve this figure.
In addition, the Reporting and Analytics team has designed Gender and Nationality dashboards for each Department. The dashboards are a valuable tool to inform the departments in which areas they should make additional efforts, in particular when it comes to recruitment exercises.
4. Training and capacity-building:“Actions may include developing gender competence and tackling unconscious gender bias among staff, leaders and decision-makers, establishing working groups dedicated to specific topics, and raising awareness through workshops and communication activities.”
Learning Hub @CERN
CERN’s Learning Hub includes a number of offers to raise awareness around unconscious bias in relation to gender in recruitment and career progression exercises. Below, a sample of the learning offers (links accessible only by CERN personnel):
3/ Taking the Lead (directed at all senior managers): how to recognise and prevent misconduct in the workplace, with a particular focus on gender-based harassment.
4/ Active Bystander (directed at all members of the personnel): how to respond to, or to call out, misconduct in the workplace.
5/ Respect in the Workplace : online resources for all members of the personnel to support learning on bias, diversity, and inclusion.
Further to the above and in addition to the communication and awareness-raising activities, the D&I programme organises ad-hoc working groups on specific topics, such as during the implementation of “25 by ‘25”.
Other GEP-related Actions and Activities at CERN
Since the establishment of the Diversity and Inclusion programme in 2011, several initiatives have taken place at CERN to promote gender equality and inclusion, including:
Events and Conferences:
A list of past events, conferences, and talks to promote gender equality at CERN are listed here.
Inter-Organizational Networks:
CERN is a member of the Genera Network - a Gender Equality Network in the European Research Area. More information on the Genera Horizon 2020 project can be found here.
CERN Director-General, Fabiola Gianotti is a signatory to the International Gender Champions “panel parity pledge” as well as the “gender-based violence pledge”. Find out more about these commitments here.
Informal Networks:
Informal active networks where exchanges on gender-related discussions take place include: Women in Technology (“WIT”) network and the CERN LGBTQ network.
The Diversity & Inclusion Roundtable:
Established and hosted by the D&I Programme, the Diversity & Inclusion Roundtable convenes every two months to discuss matters of mutual interest, including on gender-related topics. Participants represent a number of formal and informal networks at CERN, including: the Diversity offices of the CERN Experiments, the Theory Department gender & diversity focal point, the WIT, LGBTQ Network, the Disability network, the International Relations taskforce, the Staff Association etc. The D&I Roundtable has produced policy recommendations to the Director-General, such as the revision of the English language version of the Staff Rules and Regulations to render the text gender inclusive (effective July 2021).
5 Yearly Review (“5YR”):
Under a mandatory 5-yearly exercise, CERN conducts a comparative survey on social and diversity measures. This study informs CERN on its performance against a number of comparator international organizations in areas, such as: childcare facilities, flexible work arrangements, and leave for family reasons.
25 by ‘25 initiative
In March 2021, the senior Management endorsed the Diversity and Inclusion Programme’s initiative, “25 by ´25”. The 25 by '25 strategy is a CERN-wide engagement and commitment to improving the diversity within the Members of the Personnel (MPE) in two specific dimensions: gender and nationality.
In addition to the past and current efforts and advancements, the strategy aims to reinforce these efforts through a leadership-led and collaborative CERN-wide approach.
Progress under 25 by '25 is reported on an annual basis to the CERN the Enlarged Directorate. The departmental nationality and gender dashboards are specifically designed to record progress on a biannual basis and to enhance the departments’ understanding of any gender and nationality disparities.
A schematic overview of the project is here:
The 25 by ‘25 implementation is organised in three main phases:
Phase 1 - Endorsement from the Director-General and Extended Directorate: Completed March 2021
Phase 2 - Department Heads appoint 25 by '25 “Focal Points” to carry out a Departmental D&I Review Exercise (an assessment of the Department’s D&I maturity level across 7 categories (including Recruitment, Promotion, and Leadership): Completed Q1 2022
Phase 3: Establish and implement Department-tailored "Fitness plans" to strengthen existing D&I maturity level and/or move toward the next level: Completion aimed by end Q3 2022
GEP Recommended Content Areas
In addition to the required elements set out above, the EC cites 5 recommended areas research organisations should considere in the context of a robust Gender Equality Plan:
Work-life balance and organisational culture
Gender balance in leadership and decision-making
Gender equality in recruitment and career progression
Integration of the gender dimension into research and teaching content
Measures against gender-based violence, including sexual harassment
CERN’s GEP-related actions and activities in the EC recommended areas:
Work-life balance and organisational culture
25 by’25 Strategy:
The 25 by ’25 Departmental D&I Review Exercise includes an evaluative category on “Work-Life Integration”, and is also included in the departments’ 25 by ‘25 “Fitness Plan” (i.e. commitment to certain actions and/or targets in this area).
5 Yearly Review (5YR):
Under the mandatory 5 yearly review exercise, CERN conducts a comparative survey on social measures at CERN, including a chapter on work-life integration. This study informs CERN on areas where it performs comparatively better than its comparators (e.g. availability of on-site childcare facilities) and on areas where it could improve (e.g. flexible work arrangements).
In CERN’s publication Your Life@CERN, personnel can browse a summary of the various benefits available to foster a balance between professional and personal lives.
Gender balance in leadership and decision-making
25by25 Strategy:
The Departmental D&I Review Exercise includes an evaluative category on “Leadership”. This topic also forms part of the departments’ 25 by ‘25 “Fitness Plan” (i.e. commitment to certain action and/or targets in the leadership area).
Gender equality in recruitment and career progression
2/ A learning offer for new supervisors includes content on managing diverse teams and unconscious bias: Getting to Grips with Supervision
Legal Framework:
1/ Administrative Circular No. 2 on Recruitment provides that the Organization must strive to ensure a representative distribution of genders
2/ Staff Rules and RegulationsStaff Regulation R.II 1.06requires the Organization to ensure that the composition of selection boards and committees is inclusive with respect to gender(subject to availability of qualified persons).
Integration of the gender dimension into research and teaching content
This GEP recommendation applies primarily to University / Teaching institutions and is, therefore, not directly applicable for CERN. However, CERN indirectly contributes to this subject through its Teacher programme, which includes content for teacher participants on gender equality targets.
Academic Training Lecture Programme, and the Summer Student Lecture Programme pay particular attention to invite gender diverse speakers.
Measures against gender-based violence, including sexual harassment
Anti-Harassment Policy | Human Resources (cern.ch)Operational Circular No.9 on the Principles and Procedures Governing Complaints of Harassment contains a statement that, “the Organization does not tolerate harassment”.
EU Projects @ CERN is a group's newsletter.
It provides readers with a quarterly digest of news about European projects in which CERN is involved.
Member states flags for Website
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Welcome to EU Projects @ CERN
The “EU Projects @ CERN” newsletter provides readers with a quarterly digest of news about European projects in which CERN is involved.
The newsletter features news stories to highlight CERN successes in EU projects, articles to provide information on the latest trends in EU research and innovation funding, insights into CERN's EU projects' office, details of the latest calls for proposals relevant to CERN and upcoming interesting events and webinars.
“With the revamped publication of our newsletter, we aim to display the diversity of European projects at CERN and to further encourage CERN teams to participate in the European Union's Framework Programme for Research and Innovation,” explains Svetlomir Stavrev, section leader for EU project management and operational support. “The newsletter will also show how European projects contribute to the R&D programmes and objectives of CERN.”
In nuclear medicine, a radioactive substance is introduced into a patient and finds its way to specific biological targets in the body. Depending on the radioactive properties of the radioisotope, it may emit radiation that can be detected with external detectors to visualise the distribution of the isotopes (SPECT, PET imaging); alternatively, it may emit charged particles like α or β- particles which deposit their energy locally (within μm to a few mm, namely from the size of a cell to the size of a metastasis), thereby only destroying cells located nearby, e.g. to treat a cancer with targeted radionuclide therapy (TRNT).
Out of the more than 3,000 different radioisotopes that scientists have synthesized in the laboratory, only a handful are regularly used for medical procedures, mostly for imaging, though the interest in TRNT has been growing in the last few years as illustrated with the marketing of Lutathera® to treat advanced prostate cancer. One of the main limits to the development of novel radio-medicinal products is the access to radionuclides during the development and early biomedical research phases. Within PRISMAP – The European medical radionuclides programme, we aim at enabling this development phase by providing access to novel radioisotopes of high purity grade for medical research.
Production of radioisotopes
The radioactive elements that are used in nuclear medicine are not available naturally and must be synthesised in the laboratory. There are two main paths: neutron irradiation in a nuclear research reactor or proton or alpha irradiation with a particle accelerator. The size and energy of the particle accelerator determines which radioisotope can be produced: small, compact machines are found in many hospitals, providing access to the radioisotopes used today. However, higher-energy machines are needed to produce novel radioisotopes currently not available.
Purification of radioisotopes
When producing those novel radioisotopes, new challenges appear: the co-production of unwanted radioactivity which affects the quality of the medicinal product, may induce adverse effects to a patient, and can cause serious difficulties to waste management in a hospital environment. As such, novel purification techniques are required. Within PRISMAP – The European medical radionuclides programme, we shall develop techniques based on physical mass separation and radiochemistry to achieve high purity radioisotope production that is appropriate for medicinal products.
Access and translational research
In order to support the ongoing research across Europe and beyond, immediate access to novel radioisotopes will be provided by PRISMAP – The European medical radionuclides programme. A single-access platform has been established via our website where the production and support capabilities are presented.
A network of world-leading, European facilities, including nuclear reactors, medium- and high-energy accelerators, and radiochemical laboratories, has been established to offer the broadest catalogue of radioisotopes for medical research. Mass separation is available at the CERN MEDICIS facility to provide the physical separation of isotopes of an element. This is completed by a network of biomedical research facilities who may host external researchers to perform their research close to the production facility when the isotopes are not suitable for long transport to their institution, or when the European licencing for novel radioisotopes has not yet been obtained.
Access to radioisotopes and associated facilities will be granted on an excellence selection basis, by applying for access to radioisotopes and, if necessary, to the complementary biomedical facilities, via our online access platform. A selection panel consisting of experts in the fields of radioisotope production, molecular imaging and radionuclide therapy will select the best projects from the applicants. The first call for proposals will be launched before the end of 2021 for applications in the first quarter of 2022. It will be open to any interested party.
In the fast-evolving landscape around nuclear medicine, PRISMAP – The European medical radionuclides programme is also turned towards the future. The European Commission has expressed its commitment to tackle societal impact on cancer through the Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan, and in particular the SAMIRA Action Plan unveiled earlier this year, including the establishment of a European Radioisotope Valley Initiative. Through the PRISMAP consortium of 23 academic and research institutions across Europe, development towards the upscaling of the production of these novel radioisotopes will be investigated, in the form of novel production technology, new purification methods, and proof-of-concept investigations showing the development of new treatments from test bench to patient care, directly feeding this European-wide plan.
As a consortium serving a starting researcher’s community, we are looking to become a more established community and to welcome new facilities to enlarge our capabilities. Novel facilities are on the horizon, such as the Jules Horowitz Reactor in CEA Cadarache (France), the ISOL@MYRRHA mass separator facility at SCK CEN (Belgium), the new SPES accelerator complex in the INFN’s Legnaro National Laboratories (Italy), the European Spallation Source in Lund (Sweden), and finally both the new SPIRAL2 facility at GANIL (France) that has recently accelerated its first beams and the FAIR facility in GSI (Germany) which construction is progressing. Those new facilities will directly benefit from the findings within PRISMAP towards increasing the production capacity across Europe.
New data will be generated and compiled towards the immediate and smooth adoption of the novel radioisotopes in medical environments though collaboration between research hospitals and metrology institutes (e.g. the National Physical Laboratory in Teddington, UK). All the new findings will be used towards creating new teaching material for professionals in the various fields of this multi- disciplinary domain, as well as for training the next generation of professionals and advising the European Commission on these emerging radioisotopes.
Nuclear medicine research is a truly multidisciplinary approach, and to move forward, we need to build bridges between physicists, engineers, radiochemists, inorganic chemists, structural biologists, clinicians, medical physicists, dosimetrists, pharmacologists, and oncologists. PRISMAP – The European medical radionuclides programme, will certainly support the implementation of a multidisciplinary working concept in practice.
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 101008571 (PRISMAP – The European medical radionuclides programme).
The effective development of nuclear therapy and molecular imaging has long been limited by the difficult access to radionuclides not yet commercially available. With PRISMAP – The European medical radionuclides programme, this is about to change.
To uncover what the universe is made of and how it works, the core mission of CERN, is supported by the EU projects it participates to. Amongst them lies AxScale, an EU project aimed at finding dark matter particle candidates by studying axions and their relatives. Concretely, the project collaborates with RADES – the project featured in this article – to search for one particular type of axions, as well as the NA62, another facility at CERN, to study a wider range of axions.
Horizon 2020 was key to properly set up this challenging quest for Dark Matter. It helped hiring several team members (technical student, PhD, fellow) to work on experiment design, data analysis, optimisation studies and much more. It allowed for the procurement of equipment as well as the fabrication of prototypes and actual experimental parts. It ensured the dissemination of the project’s results by enabling the young as well as experienced researchers to part-take in conferences and events with the scientific community as well as the general public.
This article was originally published on home.cern
Long-hypothesised particles called axions could solve two problems in one strike: they could explain the puzzling symmetry properties of the strong force and they could make up the mysterious dark matter that permeates the cosmos. One of the newest detectors of the CAST experiment at CERN, RADES, has now joined the worldwide hunt for axions, searching for axions from the Milky Way’s “halo” of dark matter and setting a limit on the strength of their interaction with photons. The results are described in a paper submitted for publication in the Journal of High Energy Physics.
One way of searching for axions from the Milky Way’s dark-matter halo is to look for their conversion into photons in a “resonating cavity”. If such axions surround and enter a resonating cavity that is placed in a strong magnetic field and resonates at a frequency corresponding to their mass, the chances of detecting them through their conversion into photons are increased.
Many experiments have used this search method and set limits on the interaction strength of axions with two photons in the case of small axion masses, mainly below 25 µeV (for comparison, the proton mass is about 1 GeV). Searching for larger axion masses using this approach requires a smaller cavity resonating at a higher frequency, but the smaller volume of a smaller cavity decreases the chances of spotting the particles.
A workaround involves dividing the cavity into smaller cavities that resonate at a higher frequency and collectively don’t result in a loss of cavity volume. This is exactly the concept behind the RADES detector, which was installed inside one of CAST’s dipole magnet bores in 2018 and can search for axions from the Milky Way’s dark-matter halo that have a mass of around 34.67 µeV.
Researchers are developing complementary approaches to searching for axions, and some have searched for larger-mass axions using new cavity designs and placed limits on their interaction strength with two photons. But the best limit so far for an axion mass of 34.67 µeV was placed by CAST’s previous searches for axions from the Sun.
In its latest paper, the CAST team describes the results of the first RADES search for axions. Sifting through data taken for more than 100 hours within a period of 20 days in 2018, the team saw no signs of axions. However, the data places a limit on the interaction strength of axions with two photons in the case of axions with a mass of or close to 34.67 µeV – a limit that is more than 100 times more stringent than CAST’s previous best limit for this mass.
“This result is a significant first step in the direct search for axions using dipole magnets,” says RADES scientist Sergio Arguedas Cuendis. “And as far as axion searches go, it’s one of the most stringent limits ever set for axions with masses above 25 µeV.”
This project has received funding through the European Research Council under Grant Agreement No 802836. AxScale revolves around the search for axions and relatives in the aim of understanding dark matter. Two instruments are used for this purpose: the NA62 experiment, which is sensitive to a vast mass range of axions produced in decays; and the RADES project for the search of QCD axions as a Dark Matter particle. Within CERN, the project is coordinated by the EU Projects Office.
Researcher Sergio Arguedas Cuendis checking the RADES detector set-up at the CAST experiment.
(Image: CERN)
Strap
One of the latest additions to the CAST experiment has set a new limit on the strength of the interaction between photons and hypothetical dark-matter particles called axions
It is worth noting that QUACO is a particular type of EU project known as PCP (Pre-Commercial-Procurement), which has been introduced by the European Commission with the aim of supporting and reinforcing innovative procurement by establishing links with European companies, and especially startups and SMEs.
The scope of PCP actions is to facilitate access to procurement markets for SMEs, by gradually increasing contract sizes, tasks, required manpower and by avoiding stringent financial guarantee/qualification requirements.
This has been the case for QUACO where several European SMEs, engaged to develop superconducting quadrupole magnets for the HL-LHC, have increased their know-how during the project implementation and this has allowed them to access successfully to new procurements and to win the competition for awards of new contracts outside of the project.
If the High-Luminosity Large Hadron Collider (HL-LHC) project were a big tree, the QUACO (QUAdrupole Corrector) project would be one of its branches. The project aimed to produce two first-of-a-kind quadrupoles magnets (MQYY) for the HL-LHC upgrades. Coordinated by Marcello Losasso, physicist working for the Knowledge Transfer Group at CERN, and launched in 2016, QUACO is part of the HL-LHC Insertion Region (IR) Magnets work package, being co-funded by the European Commission under Grant Agreement No. 689359.
Quadrupole magnets in the LHC are used to focus the beam at key points in the tunnel. Both dipole and quadrupole magnets need to match the increased beam luminosity in the LHC. The MQYY is a 90-mm-aperture quadrupole magnet with a magnetic length of 3.67 metres and an operating gradient of 120 T/m at 1.9K. In the context of QUACO, innovative techniques were investigated for the design and manufacturing of these magnets. Among them are robotised winding, design parametrisation, Bladder and Keys (B&K) and special shrink-fitted collars. These techniques were employed to achieve the proper level of pre-stress at the winding packs, while maintaining the magnetic field quality as required by the LHC specifications. In one of the last HL-LHC reviews, the collaboration removed the magnets from the project for budget reasons. Nevertheless, they could still end up in the tunnel one day.
QUACO was the first Pre-Commercial Procurement (PCP) scheme adopted in the accelerator sector, entailing a gradual and collaborative approach to procurement in accelerator research and development. The collaborative aspect means it was a joint effort of different European laboratories (CERN, CEA, CIEMAT and NCBJ); the gradual aspect means its development took place in three successive phases: defining the conceptual solution, producing the engineering design, and the manufacturing of a prototype. The passage from one stage to the next was a competitive exercise, curtailing the number of companies initially engaged to the two remaining in the last phase of the project: Elytt and SigmaPhi.
Arrival of the SigmaPhi magnet at CERN (Image: I. Garcia Obrero) (Image: CERN)
The Elytt magnet arrived at CERN in early March 2021; soon after, magnetic measurements were performed to characterise the magnetic field quality, led by the Magnets, Superconductors and Cryogenics (MSC) group within the Technology (TE) department at CERN. The SigmaPhi magnet has arrived at CERN as recently as June, in time for some field characterisation to be performed before the official end of the project on 30 June 2021. Out of the scope of QUACO, both the Elytt and SigmaPhi magnets will be shipped to CEA for cryogenic tests during the summer of 2021.
The teams at CERN and other laboratories are now busy completing the documentation and finalising the reports for the final project review, which will assess the results of the PCP.
According to the project coordinator Marcello Losasso, QUACO project paved the way for academia-industry partnerships by engaging small companies in complex and risky R&D projects, deploying an effective Technology Transfer methodology, from different laboratories to industry, therefore enlarging the European industrial capacity in the accelerator sector.
To know more about the MQYY, find the paper on the ‘Development of MQYY’ here.
This project has received funding from the European Commission under Grant Agreement No 689359. CERN and the European Commission have established collaboration activities in areas such as research and e-infrastructures, international cooperation, careers and mobility of researchers, knowledge transfer and open access. Cooperation with the EU is coordinated by the CERN EU Projects Office.
The first QUACO magnet, developed by the Spanish company Elytt Energy, arrives at CERN. This magnet is called MQYY, and it is the 90 mm option for the double aperture Nb-Ti quadrupoles Q4 (the baseline is the 70 mm aperture LHC quadrupole MQY). The QUACO project is a part of the IR magnets in HL-LHC and has as an objective the production of the fir
(Image: CERN)
Strap
Two 90-mm Niobium-titanium (NbTi) double-aperture quadrupole magnets, also called MQYY in the LHC vernacular, have been developed and manufactured by the companies Elytt Energy and SigmaPhi under the QUACO project for the High-Luminosity LHC upgrades
“With 110 projects and 74 M€ of corresponding funding from the European Commission (EC), CERN has been one of the most successful international organisations in Horizon 2020 (H2020)”, says Svet Stavrev, Section Leader for EU Project Management and Operational Support in the IPT Department. “H2020 was the previous EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation, which ran from 2014 to 2020. It is followed by Horizon Europe which started in 2021”.
Which were the most successful programmes for CERN in H2020?
80% of the projects and 85% of the EC funding for CERN in H2020 came from its Excellence Science pillar. Under this pillar, CERN had a very strong track record with grants coming from the different programmes:
The European Research Council (ERC), which provided support for top-level CERN researchers to perform frontier research;
Marie-Sklodowska-Curie actions, which provided valuable training and work experience for 100 young scientists and engineers in different fields of science and technology;
E-infrastructure projects, which provided support for grid and cloud computing and related IT services and platforms;
Research infrastructure projects, which provided support for accelerator and detector R&D, innovation actions, and future projects in Particle Physics.
Apart from receiving funds, how does CERN benefit from its participation in EU projects?
EU projects provide complementary support to the main R&D programmes of the Organisation, and to other activities such as innovation and technology transfer for industrial and societal applications (e.g. medical technologies and use of accelerators outside of Particle Physics). They also allow CERN to recruit and boost the careers of a large number of young scientists and engineers, from technical student to post-doc and early career level, most of whom leave CERN afterwards and pursue a career in industry or research.
EU projects provide a collaborative framework for strengthening and developing new links with academic and industrial partners from the CERN Member States and beyond: in total, CERN collaborated with 800 partners from 57 countries through H2020 projects, out of which 487 were academic organisations and 223 industrial companies.
What can CERN expect from Horizon Europe, the new EU Framework for Research and Innovation?
All programmes in which CERN has had a traditional strong participation, will be continued and/or expanded in the new Framework Programme. Horizon Europe will be a very competitive programme, but we expect CERN to continue to have high success rates with ERC Grants, Marie-Curie actions, e-infrastructure and research infrastructure projects.
We can expect support for breakthrough research, innovative detector and accelerator technologies, knowledge transfer projects for development of applications outside of particle physics, and continued EC support for accelerator and detector collaborative programmes, as well as for new projects such as the Future Circular Collider (FCC).
In order to continue this successful streak, we need a constant inflow of people with new ideas: if you are considering EU funding for your R&D projects, please do not hesitate to contact the EU Projects Office for advice and support with your proposals.
