FAIR gets the green light at GSI
In a joint communiqué signed on 7 November, representatives of the partner countries have announced the go-ahead for construction of the international Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research (FAIR) at GSI, Darmstadt. The project can now get underway and should be completed on schedule. Construction work is due to start in the winter of 2008/09, with the project finalized by 2015/16.
FAIR, which will be connected to the existing accelerator facility at GSI, will give researchers an opportunity to carry out new experiments to investigate matter and the nature of the universe. They will not only have the opportunity to investigate antimatter, but also to investigate the processes involved in supernovae and search for new forms of matter to try to resolve the mystery of dark matter in the universe. FAIR will feature an accelerator capable of generating antiproton and ion beams of an unparalleled intensity and quality. There will be a double-ring accelerator at the heart of the facility, 1100 m in circumference, connected to a complex system of storage rings and experimental stations. The current GSI accelerators will serve as preaccelerators for the new facility.
GSI first submitted the proposal for FAIR back in 2001. This was produced in co-operation with 700 scientists from Germany and other countries. The Scientific Council first assessed the project on behalf of Germany's Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), recommending that it should receive funding. The BMBF gave the go-ahead in 2003 on the condition that at least 25 per cent of the costs come from international partners. Since then, more than 2500 researchers worldwide have worked on the development and planning of the new accelerator and experimental facilities, and partner countries have been integrated into the FAIR project via a memorandum of understanding (MOU).
These international preparations led to the communiqué being signed on 7 November. The total costs for the construction of FAIR will amount to €1.2 bn. Germany, the State of Hesse and the remaining 14 partner countries have initially agreed to release funding of €940 m for the initial phase, with Germany bearing 65 per cent of those costs, the State of Hesse 10 per cent and the partner countries jointly 25 per cent. The partner countries are China, Germany (including the State of Hesse), Finland, France, Georgia, the UK, India, Italy, Austria, Poland, Rumania, Russia, Sweden, Slovenia and Spain.
Dapnia changes name to become the IRFU
The Dapnia laboratory at Saclay, outside Paris, has changed its title to the Institute for Research into the Fundamental Laws of the Universe (IRFU). The change of name is the result of a process launched by the director-general of the Commissariat à l'Energie Atomique (CEA), aiming to give the divisions of the CEA more appropriate designations in terms of research, especially in English. To this end, the various departments of the different directorates at the CEA are becoming so-called "institutes".
The new name of IRFU retains the essence of the former description: Laboratoire de recherche sur les lois fondamentales de l'Univers – Laboratory for research into the fundamental laws of the universe.
The name change will have no other consequences for the institute; it affects neither its internal structure nor its operational capabilities. Nor does it efface Dapnia's history since 1991, of which IRFU members will continue to be proud.