A collaboration agreement between CERN and the International Science and Technology Centre, finalized in November and worth some 12 million Swiss francs, is a large step forward in CERN-ISTC co-operation. The proposed agreement covers equipment for the big ATLAS and CMS experiments. From 2005 these experiments will use CERN’s new LHC proton collider. The agreement is within the framework of the ISTC Partnership Project (more next month). Contributions to all such ISTC projects had previously amounted to about $14 million and the new CERN projects add some $8 million to this sum.
The lion’s share of this new co-operative effort goes towards the lead tungsten crystals for the CMS experiment’s electromagnetic calorimeter. ISTC scientists will also deliver the huge wheels (24 m in diameter) to support the muon chambers on the outside of the ATLAS experiment. This mutually profitable new avenue for research and development work should lead to fresh proposals and contracts.
