LHC detector upgrade en KM3Net op Nationale roadmap

2 maart 2012

 27 grote onderzoeksprojecten hebben een plaats gekregen op de nieuwe Nationale roadmap voor grootschalige onderzoeksfaciliteiten. Alleen de allerbeste projecten met de grootste potentie voor de wetenschap konden worden geselecteerd.

De twee aanvragen die door Nikhef-onderzoekers ingediend zijn Dutch contributions to the detector upgrades of the Large Hadron Collider experiments at CERN en KM3NeT: the next generation neutrino telescope zijn allebei opgenomen in de Nationale roadmap 2012. Dat hebben het ministerie van OCW en de Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (NWO) vrijdag 2 maart bekendgemaakt.

De Roadmap is gebaseerd op een advies dat de Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (NWO) heeft laten opstellen door de commissie Meijer. De commissie was zeer te spreken over de door Nikhef ingediende aanvragen, in het bijzonder over de leiderschap en de cruciale coordinatierol die Nikhef vervult in de Nederlandse bijdrage aan deze projecten: 

“The position of the Netherlands in this field is strong, despite the high level of competition. Thanks to Nikhef, the participation in the project is well organized.” (uit de reactie van de commissie op het LHC-voorstel) 

The Committee considers that the institutes involved in KM3Net, in particular Nikhef, have demonstrated leadership in both the precursor experiment ANTARES and in the design and development of KM3NeT.” (uit de reactie van de commissie op het KM3NeT-voorstel)

Contact

Prof.dr. Frank Linde

Prof.dr. Maarten de Jong

Vanessa Mexner, wetenschapsvoorlichting

Over de Nationale Roadmap

http://www.nwo.nl/nwohome.nsf/pages/NWOP_8RYJT5


More information about the proposals:

"Dutch contributions to the detector upgrades of the Large Hadron Collider experiments at CERN" 

Summary of the research proposal

The LHC is the world’s most powerful particle accelerator. The LHC experiments are expected to clarify some of mankind’s most intriguing mysteries:

♦♦ What is the Universe made of?

♦♦ How does it work?

Anticipated breakthroughs are: elementary-particle masses (Higgs); matter-antimatter asymmetry (CP-violation); and dark matter (supersymmetry).

This proposal aims to get LHC-detector upgrades (including the Dutch grid-compute centre NL/Tier-1) on the National Roadmap, thereby securing the present excellent position of Dutch physicists to exploit the LHC discovery potential.

Extract from the committee’s motivation

This project represents a great technological challenge. The update of the LHC, leading to a ten-fold increase of the luminosity, requires better detectors (electronics, alignment) and increased capacity on the e-GRID. Both the development of the new detectors and the expansion of the e-GRID are technologically complex but essential to cope with the expected huge increase in the amount of data generated by the detectors.
The position of the Netherlands in this field is strong, despite the high level of competition. Thanks to NIKHEF, the participation in the project is well organized. The social aspect of the proposal is excellent, in terms of cooperation as well as in terms of possible spin-offs. The strong link with technology and with computing fits well in the current priorities of the top sectors. Overall, the Committee judges this proposal as excellent. The Committee considers the participation in this project of vital importance for the Netherlands: it will strengthen the leading role of the Netherlands in this field and secure access of Dutch researchers to the LHC for the coming ten years.
No funding is requested in this round. The figures in the business case seem realistic, although additional details will be necessary if funding (about 16M€) is requested in future. 

Committee’s advice

The Committee advises including the Dutch contributions to the detector upgrades of the Large Hadron Collider experiments at CERN initiative in the National Roadmap 2012.

"KM3NeT: the next generation neutrino telescope"

Summary of the research proposal

The prime objective of this proposal is the scientific capitalization of the next generation neutrino telescope: KM3NeT. Unlike traditional telescopes, KM3NeT will detect neutrinos and not light. 
The detection of neutrinos from the cosmos will break new grounds in the study of various frontier questions in science such as those related to the origin of cosmic rays, the mechanism of astrophysical particle acceleration and the birth of relativistic jets in the Universe.

Extract from the committee’s motivation

The Committee judges the KM3NET progress report as being of very good quality and is of the opinion that significant progress has been made in the project. KM3NeT is an extremely interesting scientific project. With its predecessor ANTARES, important scientific and technical input has been obtained, which contribute to the viability and the organizational robustness of this KM3NeT proposal.
The Committee considers that the institutes involved in KM3Net, in particular NIKHEF, have demonstrated leadership in both the precursor experiment ANTARES and in the design and development of KM3NeT. The project is well embedded in both the national (as part of the Dutch scientific focus Astroparticle Physics) and international agenda, as it is on the European roadmaps (ESFRI and ASPERA).
The initiative is based on large scale international collaboration, for which an ERIC status is considered. The leading role of the Netherlands in this initiative is demonstrated by the fact that the headquarters of KM3NeT will move to the Netherlands.
The Committee considers the Dutch technological contribution to KM3NeT as innovative and significant. Moreover, this facility fits well with the top sector policy, since high-end technology is involved in all aspects of the project.
The KM3NeT initiative does not request funds for this round.

Committee’s advice

The Committee advises including KM3NeT in the National Roadmap 2012.