UK Accelerator Research Receives a Boost

(PhysOrg.com) -- Research into accelerator science and technology in the UK has received a boost with the announcement of nearly £20m of funding by the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) to The Cockcroft and John Adams Institutes.

The grants will see The Cockcroft Institute of Accelerator Science and Technology, awarded £16.4m to run to 2017 and the John Adams Institute for Accelerator Science awarded a £3.4m grant to run to 2012.

The funding, which will benefit particle, nuclear, atomic and molecular physics research, has been awarded to the two Institutes to enable them to continue building upon the UK's academic expertise and strong research base in accelerator R&D.

Accelerator science underpins a wide range of scientific disciplines and plays a key role in the advancement of research to further understanding of the Universe and in the global challenge areas of energy, security, health and the environment.

The Cockcroft and John Adams Institutes place academics, scientists and engineers at the forefront of developing the next generation of particle accelerators that will meet physicists' demands for more energised and intense particle beams to carry out fundamental research. Both Institutes are heavily involved in the research and development towards future global particle physics accelerators based on linear collider technology and for the study of neutrinos*. The institutes are involved in ongoing activities in next generation light sources and emerging activities in high current proton accelerators for various sciences using hadron and electron-hadron colliders, neutrons and muons and their applications to energy and health. They are also enabling strong links to be built between the research community and high technology industry to ensure that the UK can get the maximum benefit from its science.

Professor Keith Mason, Chief Executive of STFC said: "Both the Cockcroft and John Adams Institutes are recognised as international centres of excellence and have played a fundamental role in re-establishing accelerator science capabilities in the UK and enabling the country to compete at a global level. The awarding of these grants by STFC will support both Institutes to develop their existing programmes and continue making significant scientific and technological contributions to the next generation of frontline accelerators worldwide."

Professor Swapan Chattopadhyay, Director of the Cockcroft Institute and concurrently holding the Sir John Cockcroft Chair of Physics jointly at the Universities of Lancaster, Liverpool and Manchester, welcomed the award. He said: "I am delighted at the stability and exciting opportunities for growth now secured for the Cockcroft Institute by this award till 2017. In my privileged position as the Director of the Cockcroft Institute, it will be one of my highest priorities to share our efforts with and add value to the particle physics, nuclear and photon sciences scientific fields in the most optimised fashion achievable, working synergistically and respectfully with mutual counsel from our colleagues in institutions across UK and abroad, including the John Adams Institute".

Professor Peach, from the Departments of Physics at the University of Oxford and Royal Holloway, University of London and Director of the John Adams Institute added: "This is excellent news for the John Adams Institute. This covers the handover period to Professor Seryi, and will allow him to develop the future programme of the Institute and to bid for further funding from 2012." The new Director of the John Adams Institute Professor Seryi, who will take up post in August 2010 continued: "I look forward to working with STFC, Professor Peach and our colleagues in the Cockcroft Institute to develop the next stage of the UK's accelerator science programme".

The Cockcroft Institute is based at the Daresbury Science and Innovation Campus and is a partnership between STFC Daresbury Laboratory and the Universities of Lancaster, Liverpool and Manchester, with support from the Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA). The John Adams Institute is a collaboration between the Universities of Oxford and Royal Holloway, London and has facilities on both sites.

STFC will work with the Cockcroft and John Adams Institutes to develop their research programmes as part of its national strategy for accelerator R&D.

The announcement of funding to the two Institutes follows a review of both institutes earlier this year by a panel of international experts. Both grants will be backdated to April 2009.

Notes to editors:

*A linear collider will collide electrons and positrons at high energy, shedding light on the physics that takes place at and beyond this energy frontier. UK scientists are focusing on developing the polarised positron beams, the damping rings that will generate bright cold beams, the linear accelerator structures and the beam delivery system, which will take the accelerated particles to the collision point.

UK scientists are spearheading the scoping and technical design studies of Neutrino Factories as well as the fundamental research and development in the production of cold muon beams and rapid acceleration via innovative Fixed Field Alternate Gradient (FFAG) synchrotrons.

Provided by Science and Technology Facilities Council