Download Slide 1 - CERN Indico

THE ATTRACT
INITIATIVE
Marzio Nessi, Markus Nordberg
CERN
What is ATTRACT?
• ATTRACT (breAkThrough innovaTion pRogrAmme for deteCtor /
inrAstructure eCosysTem)
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
A proposal for a dedicated EU-funded program to co-develop together with
industry new radiation sensor & imaging technologies for scientific purposes
In parallel, addressing societal challenges in the domains of health, sustainable
materials and information and communication technologies (ICT)
Involving detector R&D communities from the fields of physics, astronomy, space
exploration, nuclear engineering, and medical imaging
Co-developing detectors together with (mostly) Small and Medium sized
Enterprises (SME)
Part of the Horizon2020-programme, cutting across several EU Directorate
domains (research, energy, connect, sanco, enterprise)
An ambitious idea for scaling current EU-funded activities by an order of
magnitude
Note: This is not an ATLAS initiative, rather a collective initiative launched by
members of detector R&D communities, also outside HEP
Why ATTRACT?
•
•
•
•
•
The radiation sensor R&D community or communities have found it difficult to find a
suitable platform within the Framework (7) programme that facilitates the specific use of
radiation detectors & imaging for addressing societal challenges
The detector R&D community in e.g. HEP has many ideas of suitability of their
technologies in other fields, but few contacts and mechanisms available to reach out
Arguments for demonstrated use of developed technologies outside HEP are also being
asked by national funding agencies funding detector upgrades and R&D
Developing new technologies for improved physics research programs or new initiatives
(e.g. LHC at CERN, CLIC) could make good use of complementary (pre) R&D funding
possibilities offered by H2020 programme
The European industry, in particular SMEs, do not have available the necessary
supporting (scientific) infrastructure to support advanced technological innovation efforts.
HEP community has the experience and expertise to help
How ATTRACT?
•
•
•
•
ATTRACT would consist of a number of radiation sensor & imaging related calls that the
(extended) detector R&D community would manage, together with industry
As a rough estimate, some 200 funded projects over seven to ten years
Calls would be competitive, reviewed and assessed based on highest selection criteria
CERN could play an administrative role if asked (taking care of the admin, project
management, financial reporting etc. – but *not* deciding on the allocation of funding)
–
CERN does have a mechanism in place for high level interactions with the Commission. Could this be used?
Will ATTRACT?
•
•
•
•
The EU intends to externalize 75% of the financial and project management of the H2020
programme - but does that mean it can or needs to extend beyond its present Executive
Agency arrangements? Is there a time line?
What does EC mean by “co-funding schemes”? New dedicated structures our community
could be part of? What order of magnitude in funding?
Cross-disciplinary programs or calls across the different EU Directorates – are there any
such plans or priorities?
An effort of this magnitude will require the different radiation sensor & imaging R&D
communities to come together – is this realistic and worth the effort?
– ATLAB, CMS…
– ERDIT (https://indico.cern.ch/conferenceDisplay.py?confId=244890)
•
Note: these efforts do not (yet) go as far as to manage the entire program or calls…
Summary
•
•
•
•
•
ATTRACT is an initiative to keep our R&D engine running over the next ten years
(~DRDC2?)
It is as a proposal to bring together the detector R&D communities from the fields of
physics, research, astronomy, space exploration, nuclear engineering, and medical
imaging within the scope of the Horizon 2020 programme
It is about co-development together with industry (mostly SMEs)
It is about demonstrating the use and benefit of large-scale physics R&D projects as a
platform of innovation
Our community needs now to decide whether this type of approach is worth while
seriously exploring with the EU, within – or even beyond – the H2020 programme