Stanford to host new institute for particle astrophysics and cosmology
Physicist Fred Kavli and the Kavli Foundation have pledged $7.5 million (€6.9 million) to establish a new institute on the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC) site that will focus on recent developments in astrophysics, high-energy physics and cosmology. The Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology will foster collaboration between faculty from Stanford's physics and applied physics departments, and SLAC. Astrophysicist Roger Blandford will be the director of the institute, and the first holder of the Pehong and Adele Chen Chair of Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology. Steven Kahn of Columbia University will move to Stanford to be the institute's deputy director, and will serve as assistant director of research at SLAC. The institute's focal point will be a new building, which will be completed in 2005. "The Kavli Institute will add new scope to SLAC's internationally recognized research programmes," said SLAC's director, Jonathan Dorfan. Kavli is the founder, former chairman and chief executive officer of the Kavlico Corporation, one of the world's largest suppliers of sensors for aeronautics, automotive and industrial applications. The Kavli Foundation sponsors research in cosmology, nanoscience and brain science.
New international lab takes root in Jordan
The formal establishment of SESAME (Synchrotron Radiation Light for Experimental Science and Applications in the Middle East) took place on 6 January at the Al-Balqa' Applied University at Allan in Jordan, the site of the new facility (CERN Courier November 2002). The ceremony, attended by the Jordanian King HM Abdullah II and the director-general of UNESCO, Koïchiro Matsuura, established SESAME as an independent international laboratory, with founding members Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Israel, Jordan, Palestine and Turkey. At the same time, SESAME's Interim Council was transformed into the definite Council, with Herwig Schopper re-elected as president, and the two vice-presidents, Khaled Toukan of Jordan and Dinçer Ulkü of Turkey, also re-elected. King Abdullah also presented Schopper with a medal in appreciation of his efforts in setting up SESAME.