oPAC and LA3NET fellows research highlights on Youtube

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LHC Upgrades

And the Oscar goes to...

Particle accelerators are a key technology for many different research areas: they enable scientific discoveries through ‘particle smashers’ such as the Large Hadron Collider at CERN, new ways to beat cancer through ion beam cancer therapy, and are the basis for the most advanced light sources in the world, namely Free Electron Lasers.

The oPAC and LA³NET networks are coordinated by the QUASAR Group from the Cockcroft Institute and carry out R&D into the optimization of accelerators and light sources. More than 40 Fellows that are employed within these networks have now produced short videos about their research that present the challenges and impact of their work. Prof. Carsten Welsch, coordinator of the networks, says: “I believe that our Fellows have done an excellent job in presenting their work through these short videos. They have taken different approaches, ranging from narrated PowerPoint presentations and interviews, all the way to Hollywood style animated masterpieces. Their videos will be a lasting output of the R&D carried out within our networks and an excellent resource for anyone interested in accelerator science.”

A few examples are listed below and many more can be found at the QUASAR Group’s YouTube channel.

The Large Hadron Collider is the highest energy accelerator in the world. oPAC Fellow Emilia Cruz from the Cockcroft Institute is studying upgrade options of this unique machine through beam dynamics simulations. Her video explains the goals of the LHC and what the future might bring.

Dr. Alessandra Valloni is based at CERN and also a Fellow within the oPAC project. She looks into the challenges associated to a future electron-proton collider, the LHeC. Her video gives a motivation for this demanding machine and explains the research she has been doing.

Pavel Maslov is based at the Slovenian company COSYLAB where he is developing advanced accelerator control systems. His video explains how a centralized data base approach can help these important systems to become more powerful, versatile and user friendly.