Minutes of the 101st Meeting of the ISOLDE Collaboration Committee
held on November 6th 2024
Present: T. Bjørnstad (replacing S. Siem), J. Cederkäll, L.M. Fraile, S. Freeman, H. Fynbo, S. Gilardoni, A. Herzan, H. Heylen, M. Kowalska, R. Lica (replacing C. Mihai), K. Lynch, D. Naidoo (via Zoom) A. Nannini, W. Nörtershäuser, J. Pakarinen, M. Pfützner, I. Martel, G. Rainovski, J.A. Rodríguez, N. Severijns, E. Siesling, N. van der Meulen, J. Vollaire, D. Yordanov (replacing G. Georgiev)
Excused: G. Georgiev, C. Mihai, S. Siem
Absent: A. Lagoyannis
Invited:
The meeting starts at 14:50 h
1. Introductory remarks
The ISCC Chairperson, L.M. Fraile, opens the 101st meeting of the committee and welcomes the participants. T. Bjørnstad is replacing S. Siem at this meeting, while R. Lica replaces C. Mihai and D Yordanov replaces G. Georgiev. The committee welcomes W. Nörtershäuser as the new German representative.
2. Approval of the Minutes of the last meeting of June 21st 2024 and the meeting agenda
The agenda of the meeting and the minutes from the previous meeting are approved.
3. Collaboration Matters – S. Freeman
S. Freeman informs the committee that LS3 has been delayed until September 2026 and the 5th November 2024 version of the long-term schedule for the accelerator complex is presented. As the PSB will now be down from 1st September 2026 until Q2 2028 and the ISOLDE Beam Dump Replacement project should run for a period 2 years, it has to be decided how best to align these two periods. Five different scenarios are presented along with their advantages and disadvantages as well as the estimated amount of beamtime that would be available in the period 2026 to 2028. At present there are uncertainties about the operation of the cryo-plant during YETS 25/26 and the refurbishment of CM1 in 2026. Hence, at this time, the decision has to be made to either maximise physics but carry cryomodule issues forward without a clear solution or to comprise slightly on physics but allow CM1 refurbishment and help other technical risks such as the BTY line and the beam dumps.
A possible strategy is presented to the committee. Plan A would be to prioritise Scenario 5 that would mean stop running at the end of 2025 to allow the refurbishment of CM1 and then be back running with protons in Q2 2028. Plan B, that would follow Scenario 4, would keep the cryo-plant cold during YETS 2025/2026 allowing low and high energy physics to run from early 2026 until August of that year; normal running would resume in 2029. The committee are informed that ATS management are supportive of this approach although final schedules still need confirming with them in mid-November and any remaining uncertainties will have to be carried as risk. It is clarified that no major intervention is planned for the PSB during LS3, unlike in LS2, and that, as discussed during the user workshops in 2019 and 2020, a two-year shutdown for ISOLDE is acceptable but a three year period would cause problems for the physics community. It was also noted that J. Mnich had asked for input concerning the physics impact of the delay of LS3 over the summer. The ISCC gives positive and strong support to the suggested plans, particularly emphasising the need for action to ensure that the HIE-ISOLDE operates to the design specifications. S. Freeman will keep the committee members updated via email although he may need to react on their behalf, within these priorities, to a fast-changing situation.
In order to complete the annual update of the ISOLDE MoU annexes, the committee is shown a couple of corrections received since the updates were circulated to committee members. All changes are approved by the ISCC. It is suggested that the list of researchers that makes up Annex 4 could be replaced by a link to the CERN Greybook although this would lose a small number of people as it only contains those who are actually registered as CERN users; this issue will be revisited in the future as it is thought that some funding agencies use the Annex 4 list.
The committee agrees to delete Greece from the MoU and to recommend to the FRC that the Greek debts are written off.
There is a need at ISOLDE to better understand the consequences, requirements and resources for new initiatives and large changes to existing installations to enable better project management, better space management and better use of resources. Hence, an approval process for new initiatives or large changes in the ISOLDE hall is being developed. The zeroth draft of the document has already been circulated to the ISCC members who are asked to send any substantive comments, changes or suggestions to S. Freeman after this meeting. After engagement with other CERN stakeholders, this document will be developed further over the coming weeks and then returned to the ISCC for approval. It is stressed that the document should be finalised as soon as possible as planning for activities during LS3 is already underway. If something needs to be considered before the document is finalised, it will be treated in the spirit of this document. It is clarified that this procedure is directed at instrument upgrades or other changes that affect space use in the ISOLDE Hall; major facility upgrades would require a different route and would involve a resurrected SGUI, as had been done for the beam-dump replacement and 2-GeV delivery following the EPIC Workshops.
S. Freeman reminds the committee that ISOLDE needs to submit content for the new European Strategy for Particle Physics by March 2025. The strategy can be seen as a plan for CERN so it is important that it also emphasises how CERN infrastructure can be used to do other exciting types of physics. The zeroth draft of the ISOLDE input document, that has already been circulated to committee members, was based on the ISOLDE NuPECC LRP submission. It needs to be modified to reflect the mid-term strategy to exploit improvements done during LS3, plans for new improvements on the timescale of LS4 and the need to secure a longer-term future for radioactive beams at CERN. Careful comments about the ISOLDE competitiveness in the light of other new facilities should also be included.
S. Freeman will continue to develop the document and then send it to the ISCC for detailed comments so that it can be approved at the next ISCC meeting. It is stressed that it is important that there is a coherent message from the ISOLDE contribution to the strategy and any national contribution that mentions ISOLDE. After a request from A. Nannini, S. Freeman will send a high-level summary of the future ISOLDE submission to committee members (note added to minutes: this action was completed soon after the meeting).
The CERN Detector Research and Development (DRD) initiatives are briefly discussed. The 2020 update of the European Particle Physics Strategy highlighted the need for a global roadmap for detector R&D that led to the creation of the eight DRD initiatives. While the focus is mainly on particle physics detector technologies, the initiatives will permeate to other fields such as astrophysics and nuclear physics. Hence some of the initiatives are relevant for the ISOLDE facility and the ISOLDE Collaboration. At CERN the Detector R&D Committee (DRDC) https://committees.web.cern.ch/drdc has been revived at the same level as the INTC and receives proposals for new “detector R&D experiments”, evaluates them and those recommended for approval are submitted to the Research Board. Endorsement from the DRDC could help funding applications at a national level. A summary document has already been circulated to the ISCC members.
The committee is told that the AGATA Collaboration has decided to extend the period that their detector is stationed at LNL by one and a half years until mid-2027. Then it will probably be moved to GANIL until 2030.
S. Freeman summarises the status of GLM/GHM collections which were paused in June after three incidents associated with Cd collections together raised EP management concerns. Incident analysis has shown the need for several improvements around sample tracking and transport, more specific procedures for each experiment and the raising of safety awareness with users of GLM/GHM. Clearly the situation is disappointing for the solid-state community, but work is underway on the implementation of these requirements and a report is being written for EP management to enable collections during the next running period.
The committee is informed that four topical groups are being formed at CERN to look at different areas of science applications at the FCC-ee. One of these groups “Neutron science (based on the injector e-linac) and radionuclide production (exploiting the collider bremstrahlung)” is being coordinated by M. Calviani (SY-STI) with whom communication is on-going.
S. Freeman explains that the COLLAPS, CRIS and ISOLTRAP collaborations are looking at the rationalisation of the low-energy area of the ISOLDE hall with regards to improvements in experiments, space use and safety, etc. This will require careful integration studies and should follow the process for new initiatives and large changes. It is hoped to invite someone to present details of this initiative at the next ISCC meeting.
L. Fraile is congratulated on being selected as the committee’s preferred candidate for the post of ISOLDE Physics Section leader and Collaboration Spokesperson.
4. News from the ISOLDE group – S. Freeman
The present manpower situation in the ISOLDE Physics Group is summarised:
• Research Fellows = “Senior Research Fellows Experimental and Theoretical Physics (Category 1)”: Simon Lechner – MIRACLS/PUMA (Nov. 2022 – Nov. 2024), Jessica Warbinek – CRIS (January 2024 – December 2026), Monika Piersa-Silkowska - VITO (February 2024 – January 2025 (Previously Marie-Curie Fellow Feb. 2022 – Jan. 2024)), Peter Plattner – COLLAPS (November 2024 – December 2026).
• Applied Fellows = “Research Fellowship In Applied Physics And Engineering (Category 2)”: Carlotta Porzio – MINIBALL (March 2024 – February 2026), Patrick Macgregor – HIE-ISOLDE (Nov. 2022 to Oct. 2025), Michael Pesek - VITO (November 2022 – November 2025), Lukas Nies – MR-TOFs/PUMA (Sept. 2023 – Aug. 2025), Nikolay Azaryan – VITO/ATLAS (December 2023 – November 2025).
• QUEST Fellows = like an Applied Fellow – “project graduate”: Amy Sparks – VITO/medical imaging (May. 2023 – Dec. 2025),
• Scientific Associates: Joakim Cederkäll (Oct 2024 – Sept 2025)
• Corresponding Associate: None
• Project Associate: Deyan Yordanov (COLLAPS via MPIK Heidelberg)
• Doctoral Students: Ilaria Michelon (CERN via VITO EU+EP Quota) (April 2023 – February 2026), Daniel Paulitsch (CERN via Gentner Doctoral Program) (August 2023 – July 2026), Edward Matthews (COLLAPS via TU Darmstadt) (December 2023 - November 2026), Anu Nagpal (VITO via University of York) (April 2024 – September 2025)
• Staff Members: Sean Freeman (Physics Group Leader) (August 2021 to July 2025), Magdalena Kowalska (CERN staff member- Senior Research Physicist) (January 2020 -), Mark Bissell (Research Physicist LD)(September 2022 to August 2025), Hanne Heylen (Physics Coordinator) (September 2023 to August 2026).
• User: Jenny Weterings (User Support) ISOLDE Collaboration & University of Oslo (2002- )
The next deadline for fellows and associates applications is in March 2025 and the exact date will be published on the CERN jobs website.
5. Brief verbal update on MTP planning – J.A. Rodriguez, E. Siesling, J. Vollaire
The status of the main requests for ISOLDE improvements is summarised and an overview of multiple other requests for improvements is presented. Some improvements were already approved in the 2023 and 2024 MTPs, including the beam dump upgrade, while others have been covered by consolidation funds, and amount to around 21 MCHF. The remainder will be included in requests to be submitted to the 2025 MTP, a decision on which is expected at the end of 2024/beginning of 2025.
6. News from the ISOLDE coordinator– H. Heylen
The committee stresses that it is important to raise the level of safety awareness at the facility and to make sure that procedures are followed in order to improve general safety culture.
H. Heylen gives a brief summary of shift statistics at the facility so far this year. It is explained how the “Coordinator’s reserve” is used as well as the difference between counted and delivered shifts.
7. A.O.B.
- D. Yordanov asks if it is foreseen to remove the requirement to wear safety hats and shoes in the experiment hall, as it was introduced during a period of construction work. S. Freeman explains that this is the rule for all experiment halls at CERN so it has to be accepted that PPE must be worn in the ISOLDE hall. However, if the wearing of PPE prevents you from doing a task in the hall, it is possible to request a derogation for this particular task.
- R. Lica request an update on the status of the plan to install a LN2 dewar outside the ISOLDE hall. S. Freeman briefly summarises the work done on this issue, although the plan has proved more difficult than first imagined with very different criteria for the location of the dewar arising from different CERN stakeholders.
- J. Vollaire responds to a question from M. Kowalska about the hall technician by telling the committee that it is hoped to have the technician in place at the beginning of 2025.
- W. Nörtershäuser proposes that the Collaboration award a yearly prize for the best doctoral thesis. The committee agrees this is an excellent idea, but it would first have to be determined if/how a financial prize could be paid.
It is decided that the first ISCC meeting in 2025 will be held via Zoom on Thursday 6th March.
Meeting ends at 17:15.
N.B. The above presentations can be found via https://indico.cern.ch/event/1464861/ .