Project Summary

EURONS is the Integrated Infrastructure Initiative of European nuclear structure scientists from 21 countries (from 27 countries including all participating institutions). The aim is to reflect the community at large within an equal opportunity structure. It is a coherent and complementary ensemble of 8 Transnational Access facilities, 11 Joint Research Activities and 8 Networks underpinning new European large-scale projects and commitments. The level of European integration, made possible by EURONS, will further boost the gain of scientific knowledge expected within the funding period in this field of fundamental science. EURONS follows the lines of two previous contracts between the European nuclear structure community and the European Commission, FINA and FINUPHY. EURONS is complimentary to the EC-funded Integrated Infrastructure Initiative I3 Hadron Physics, which has also roots in FINA and FINUPHY.

EURONS has started 1^st January 2005 and will receive funding from the EC for the duration of 4 years.

It is a fundamental aim of EURONS

• to ensure that the European nuclear structure community concentrates on the most prominent Joint Research Activities, for further improvements and extensions of the infrastructure facilities,
• to promote the most needed Research & Development work, as identified by the community, using as main criterion scientific and technical promise, combined with a rather rapid applicability,
• to focus on activities that are in general relevant to more than one facility,
• to benefit from the Research & Development potential of the European university groups, that are often in leading positions.

Transnational Access

EURONS, representing the nuclear structure physics community, identifies at present 8 research facilities of prime interest for FP6. The access activities to the world-class facilities GSI (D), UCL-CRC (B), GANIL (F), JYU-JYFL (FIN), INFN-LNL (I), ECT* (EUR), RUG-KVI (NL), and CERN-ISOLDE (EUR) constitute the backbone of EURONS. They have been identified by the community as being prominent with regard to accelerator specifications, available instrumentation and the users’ interest in being offered access. Following the highly successful FP5 Infrastructure Cooperation Network FINUPHY, the access activities within EURONS will thus be intensified in order to reach a further level of quality and quantity of access.

The research infrastructures of EURONS allow forefront and worldwide mostly unique research opportunities for nuclear structure studies and also for inter-/multidisciplinary research exploiting nuclear beams.

For example, via EURONS the European physicists have access to the highest energy fragment and post-accelerated beams, the highest intensities for enriched isotope beams, the smallest-emittance proton beams, the largest-range and the most short-lived ISOL beams. Similarly, at all facilities one can single out unique instrumentation for a wide range of experiments with stable and unstable ions beams. Prominent examples are storage-cooler rings (unique in Europe) and high-performance spectrometers for particle and gamma-ray detection.

ECT* is the only center of its kind in Europe, bringing together theorists and experimentalists.

An important goal of EURONS is to identify, realise, and coordinate the improvements and extensions of the instrumentation and the experimental programme of the facilities for increasing the quality and quantity of access. Specific measures for achieving these goals will include:

• mutual information on exchange of best practice, coordination of scientific programmes, training courses, and services offered to users,
• harmonising/coordination of organisational aspects for users (common proposal, procedure, joint deadlines, joint PACs where appropriate, etc.),
• identifying future needs, e.g. by medium-term extensions of the instrumentation offered to users, and also by long-term prospecting of the field and the need for new infrastructures.

Joint Research Activties

Further improvements and extensions of these facilities are the objectives of the 11 Joint Research Activities of EURONS. The most needed R&D has been identified by the community, using as main criterion scientific and technical promise, combined with a rather rapid applicability. These activities are in general relevant to more than one facility and rely on strong participation, often in leading positions, of European university groups.

Networks

EURONS will make large use of the possibilities of networking. The managing network will fulfil the requirements of the EC for the administrative handling of an I3. It will continue the tasks of the FP5 FINUPHY: the coordination of all technical, scientific, financial, administrative, contractual and legal activities of EURONS.

The seven other networking activities have a particular prospective character with an emphasis on

• fostering future cooperations,
• pooling of resources (including human capital),
• stimulating complementarity and also ensuring broad dissemination of results,
• further promotion of the integration of scientists from the new EU members and the candidate countries. This includes also the activities for the integration of east-European scientists from the new EU members and the candidate countries.

Management

EURONS will be run by the Project Coordination Council (PCC, constituted by the activity coordinators and overall management of EURONS). An Executive Board of six PCC members will ensure rapid interaction with the EURONS coordinator and its managing team on pressing issues for efficient project management, both scientifically and administratively. A General Assembly (GA, constituted by one representative of each participating laboratory) will ensure the feedback to the community at large and monitor the overall progress of EURONS.