CERN Courier April 2012 Faces & Places J APAN IPMU joins the Kavli family of institutes The University of Tokyo has announced the establishment of an endowment by the Kavli Foundation for the Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe (IPMU). The institute, which will now be known as the Kavli IPMU, probes the mysteries of modern cosmology through collaborative research conducted by a range of scientists, including mathematicians, theoretical physicists, experimental physicists and astronomers. Together they focus on topics such as dark matter, dark energy and the possibility of a single unified theory that can explain the cosmos at the smallest and largest scales. The Kavli Foundation, based in The Kavli IPMU building, left, and director Hitoshi Murayama, who is delighted that the Southern California, sponsors research in endowment will help sustain the research programme. (Image credit: Kavli IPMU.) astrophysics, nanoscience, neuroscience and theoretical physics at institutes in theory and models of physics beyond the was one of six research proposals around countries across the globe, including China, standard explanation for the nature of the the country to win sponsorship from the the Netherlands, Norway, the UK and the universe. Deputy directors include Hiroaki ministry of education, culture, sports, US. Kavli IPMU is the foundation’s 16th Aihara, a particle physicist who is working science and technology. Other WPI institutes institute, its sixth in astrophysics, third on a new survey of distant galaxies to are involved in materials research, cell in theoretical physics and the first to be learn about the nature of dark energy, and biology, immunology, nanotechnology and established in Japan. Yoichiro Suzuki, who is heavily involved in alternative-energy development. The Kavli IPMU, housed on the an underground experiment to detect dark Although it receives funding support from Kashiwa campus, outside Tokyo in the matter. the government and the university, IPMU Chiba prefecture, has a team of around IPMU was established in 2007 as part must eventually identify other sources 200 researchers from 15 fields, with of the World Premier International (WPI) of support for it to become a permanent almost half coming from outside Japan. Research Center Initiative, a programme research centre. “The endowment income The director is Hitoshi Murayama, a by the Japanese government to promote will help sustain the research programme at particle physicist from the University of interdisciplinary science in Japan, its the Kavli IPMU beyond the current initiative California, Berkeley, who works on subjects international visibility and the globalization by the Japanese government,” Murayama ranging from developing strategies for new of Japanese universities. Proposed as part said. “Now we can press on to attack the most particle-collider experiments to dark-matter of the University of Tokyo, the IPMU basic and biggest mysteries of the universe.” A PPOINTMENT Rossi named deputy associate director for nuclear physics at Jefferson Lab Patrizia Rossi will become the deputy Jefferson Lab and laboratories in Italy, Rossi associate director for experimental nuclear also has conducted experiments at DESY physics at Thomas Jefferson National and the European Synchrotron Radiation Accelerator Facility in May. Facility in Grenoble. Rossi received a degree from the Since 2003 she has served as University of Rome in 1986 and a fellowship co-spokesperson and LNF co-ordinator from INFN in 1988, before joining of Italian participation at Jefferson Lab the Laboratori Nazionali di Frascati and became a member of the laboratory’s (LNF-INFN) as a staff researcher in 1990. Program Advisory Committee in March Her research has focused on studying the 2010. She has collaborated on more than structure of the nucleon and the strong 160 refereed journal papers and has served force, which are areas of major emphasis as a member of numerous conferences and Patrizia Rossi to become deputy associate at Jefferson Lab. In addition to working at workshops. director. (Image credit: Jefferson Lab.) 40 CCApr12-FacesPlaces.indd 40 14/03/2012 12:19 CERN Courier April 2012 Faces & Places A WARDS O UTREACH French Physical All you need to know in three minutes Society honours Boris Lemmer, a PhD student at the Georg-August-Universität Göttingen on Daniel Fournier the ATLAS experiment, has moved a step nearer to international fame by winning the Geneva semi-final of the Swiss FameLab, Daniel Fournier, of the Laboratoire de following his victory in a recent “science l'Accélérateur Linéaire, has been awarded slam” in Hanover (CERN Courier December the Jean Ricard prize by the French Physical 2011 p46). Twenty-two young scientists Society (SFP). He was presented with the participated in the FameLab semi-final at award by Martial Ducloy, president of the CERN’s Globe of Science and Innovation on SFP, in a ceremony at Orsay on 17 February, 4 February, supported by a large audience attended by many of his friends and and by more than 100 fans following via colleagues. Fournier worked on the CELLO webcast. A panel of judges chose Lemmer experiment at DESY and on NA31 and and four other candidates to join five other ATLAS at CERN, where he designed the semi-finalists at the national finals in Zurich “accordion” liquid-argon electromagnetic on 30 March. calorimeter for ATLAS. FameLab is an international competition The Jean Ricard prize is the SFP’s most to find the new voices of science and Boris Lemmer wins the Geneva semi-final of prestigious award and has been awarded engineering. It was started in 2005 by the the inaugural Swiss FameLab. to an experimental high-energy physicist Cheltenham Science Festival in partnership only a few times since its creation in 1970. with the National Endowment for Science, and original way, understandable to a broad The former recipients in experimental Technology and the Arts, and has grown to audience. Switzerland is participating this high-energy physics are Georges Charpak, include 20 countries. In the competition, year for the first time. Paul Musset, Marcel Banner, Yves Declais young scientists have three minutes to ● For a video of the Geneva semi-final, see and Alain Blondel. present their research in an entertaining http://cdsweb.cern.ch/record/1421673. Fabiola Gianotti, spokesperson of the ATLAS collaboration, was awarded the degree of Doctor Honoris Causa at Uppsala University on 27 January. She received the degree, which was conferred by Tord Ekelöf, for her distinguished research career in experimental elementary-particle physics research at CERN’s particle colliders and for her outstanding scientific leadership. Gianotti has conducted research at CERN at the Super Proton Synchrotron running as a proton–antiproton collider and at the Large Electron–Positron collider. She is now with the ATLAS experiment at the LHC. Researchers at Uppsala University form one of the 167 groups around the world that are Daniel Fournier, middle, with Ken Peach, members of the ATLAS collaboration. former chair of CERN’s scientific policy (Image credit: Uppsala University.) committee, left, and Martial Ducloy, president of the SFP, right. www.lesker.com [email protected] 12-012 41 CCApr12-FacesPlaces.indd 41 14/03/2012 12:20 CERN Courier April 2012 Faces & Places S CHOOLS Singapore and CERN collaborate in winter school A three-week school on Particle Physics, Chang, Xiangdong Ji and Josef Nir. Cosmology and Implications for Technology Two public talks were also organized took place in January, organized by the during the school. Ellis gave an evening Institute of Advanced Studies (IAS) at lecture to a packed audience on “The Large Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Hadron Collider: answering Gauguin’s in Singapore, with the participation of questions about the universe”; and Fritzsch CERN. The participants ranged from delivered an interesting lecture on his undergraduates to graduates, postdocs and autobiography, “Escape from Leipzig”. research faculty. More than 90 students Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn of attended, including 59 overseas and 33 local Thailand agreed to act as the patron for the participants; of these, 18 were female school, which was opened by Singapore’s students. Among the overseas participants, Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean in a 27% came from mainland China and ceremony on 9 January. Teo is confident that Taiwan, 20% from India, 12% each from the move will boost Singapore’s plans for Thailand and Indonesia, 7% each from science and technology. “The IAS School Iran and Malaysia, and the remainder from takes the collaboration between NTU and Vietnam, the Philippines, Hong Kong, CERN to a higher level, and helps position Russia, Korea and the US. NTU as the Asian research hub in the global The school was designed to fill the need of network of scientific institutions that focus many of the young students and researchers on high-energy physics,” he said. The who have returned to their home countries school was chaired by K K Phua, director to keep up with the latest discoveries and of the IAS, and co-chaired by Ngee Pong advances in the field. Major research centres Chang from City University New York and have traditionally organized summer and Emmanuel Tsesmelis of CERN. winter schools to fill this need – for example, The success of the school has encouraged at Boulder, Colorado, in the US and at the IAS, with participation from CERN, CERN, Les Houches and Erice in Europe. to organize another workshop in 2013 and The winter school in Singapore is the first another school in 2014. such advanced school to be held at the IAS. In addition to lectures, tutorial sessions in the afternoon allowed the students – including undergraduates – to ask probing questions of the experts. The spirit was to reflect the effort at Lindau and the International Science Youth Forum to bring inquiring young minds into contact with frontier scientists. Lecturers included John Ellis, Harald Fritzsch, Ignatios Antoniadis, Serguey Petcov, Albert DeRoek, Barbara Jacak, Philip Burrows, Henry John Ellis, sporting a CERN T-shirt while Tye, Emmanuel Tsesmelis, Ngee Pong he lectures at the school.