On 15 September, the Centre for High-Energy Physics (CHEP) in Korea was formally inaugurated at Kyungpook National University, Taegu. Last June the CHEP, in which most Korean high-energy physicists participate, was finally approved as one of the designated Excellent Research Centers supported by the Korean Ministry of Science and Technology through its Korea Science and Engineering Foundation. It was a significant occasion, since Korean high-energy physicists have waited a long time for such a centre to focus and coordinate their research.
To mark the ceremony, Samuel C C Ting, 1976 Nobel Laureate in Physics, delivered a special lecture on “Research directions of high-energy physics in the 21st century”. The ceremony also included congratulatory addresses from Han Jung-Kil, vice-minister of Science and Technology, and Rhee Shang-Hi, chairperson of the Science, Technology, Information and Telecommunication Committee of the National Assembly. Representatives of the CMS (CERN) and CDF (Fermilab) collaborations also attended the ceremony.
The CHEP, under director Dongchul Son, consists of 22 faculties, 28 physicists and about 120 graduate students from 12 institutions in Korea, and will be supported at least for the next nine years. The centre will initially focus activities on several experiments, including AMS, CMS, CDF and BELLE, in which the Koreans are currently participating. In coming years it will concentrate on fewer experiments while exploiting domestic ones, and aims to play a more visible role in the world high-energy physics community.
