The equipment needed for research in particle and astroparticle physics is incredibly complex. Because of the pioneering nature of the research and the in-house knowledge and expertise, an institute like Nikhef will have to develop this equipment mainly by itself.
Sometimes, for certain crucial components of the research, Nikhef uses the expertise of outside companies. This business collaboration ensures that Nikhef can make use of external expertise to develop certain elements of the extremely complex equipment for particle and astroparticle research.
An example is the construction of major components of the large Endcap Toroid Magnets in the ATLAS experiment at the LHC at CERN by Schelde Exotech and Brush HMA.
For information about the business network for ‘big science’: see www.bigscience.nl.
Other activities
AMS-IX
Scientists and technicians from Nikhef have been involved in developments of the Internet right from the very start. The motivation behind this has always been the need for scientists to make distributed information and databases accessible in a simple and quick manner. As a result of this involvement, an Internet exchange was started in the mid-1990s at the Amsterdam Science Park in cooperation with SURFnet, CWI and SARA.
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Medipix
In high energy physics special detectors make subatomic particles, that are invisible to the eye, visible. A particle detector can detect, within the measuring range, each proton, electron, neutron, or other exotic particle. Medipix combines this principle with x-ray photography, so that more accurate pictures can be made.
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More information
Would you like more information or would you like to discuss the possibilities for your company to get in touch with Nikhef, please contact the directorate.