EPS Large Facilities Technical Network

Many fields of physics require large-scale facilities for their research, like astrophysics, geophysics, high-energy physics, fusion, and areas where brilliant sources of neutrons, ions or photon are required. Europe is in the prominent position to be equipped with a chain of excellent facilities and has recently started to build the first experimental fusion reactor, ITER. With LMJ, XFEL, FAIR, HYPER, W7-X… further large devices are being built or planned to go into operation in the next decade.

In many of these cases, scientists – often physicists – take over project management responsibility because the scientific background and the membership in an international science community outweigh other qualifications like experience in technology or management capabilities.

It is the plan of the European Physical Society to found a Large Facility Technology Network (LFTN) with members working at the interface of physics, technology and project management. The network should bring together the practitioners, the project managers and chief engineers and it should organise and allow for the exchange of ideas, problems, solutions, and expertise of the engineering and managerial development of major physics facilities.