One way that CERN collaborates with academia and industry is through projects co-funded by the European Commission, under programmes such as Horizon 2020 (H2020). This month, all five CERN-coordinated project proposals submitted to H2020 Research Infrastructure calls were approved for funding, a first for the Organization.
“These results demonstrate CERN’s outstanding success rate in Research Infrastructure projects,” says Svet Stavrev, head of the EU Projects Management and Operational Support section at CERN. “Since the beginning of the programme, Horizon 2020 has provided valuable support to major projects, studies and initiatives for accelerator and detector R&D in the particle physics community.”
The five projects range from future accelerators (I.FAST) and detectors (AIDAinnova) to radiation testing facilities (RADNEXT), medical isotopes (PRISMAP) and the next generation of detection and imaging technologies (ATTRACT Phase 2).
The I.FAST (Innovation Fostering in Accelerator Science and Technology) project tackles challenges faced by future accelerators. With 49 partners, including 17 industrial companies, the project will help to develop breakthrough technologies common to multiple accelerator platforms.
AIDAinnova (Advancement and Innovation for Detectors at Accelerators) will bring together nine industrial companies, three research and technology organisations and 34 academic institutions in 15 countries to collaborate on common detector projects in line with the European Strategy update.
Discoveries in particle physics are technology-driven; AIDAinnova will provide state-of-the-art upgrades to research infrastructures, such as test beams, in order to unfold the scientific potential of detector technologies. Due to the need for highly specialised detector equipment, often in industrial-scale numbers, the project will involve nine industrial companies, three RTOs (Research and Technology Organisations) and 34 academic institutions in 15 countries, in co-innovation for common detector projects, strengthening the competence and competitiveness of the industrial partners in other markets. The project has a focus on near- and medium-term future projects, as outlined in the European Strategy Update, published in May 2020.
RADNEXT (RADiation facility Network for the EXploration of effects for indusTry and research) will provide a network of irradiation facilities to test state-of-the-art microelectronics to develop areas such as aerospace, automobiles, the Internet of Things, nuclear dismantling and medicine.
PRISMAP (The European medical isotope programme) will bring together key European intense neutron sources, isotope mass separation facilities, and high-power accelerators and cyclotrons with leading biomedical research institutes and hospitals. Together they will create a sustainable source of high purity new radionuclides to advance early-phase research into radiopharmaceuticals, targeted drugs for cancer, theranostics, and personalised medicine in Europe.
ATTRACT Phase 2 brings Europe’s fundamental research institutions and industrial communities together to lead the next generation of detection and imaging technologies. Building on the success of Phase 1, when 170 breakthrough ideas received funding, Phase 2 will fund the most promising technology concepts for scientific, industrial and societal applications. It will also scale up its support to young innovators, offering 400 the opportunity to prototype their solutions.
The five projects are part of the group of seven approved in the latest Research Infrastructure calls of Horizon 2020. The two other projects, HITRIplus (ion therapy research) and BICIKL (biodiversity knowledge library), involve CERN’s participation, strengthening the Organization’s activities in various application areas. To date, CERN has participated in 93 Horizon 2020 projects, some still ongoing, of which 32 were or are coordinated by CERN. To find out more, visit CERN’s European Union projects office website.