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HUNDRED AND EIGHTY-SECOND SESSION OF COUNCIL

15-16 September 2016

 

RESTRICTED SESSION

 

DIRECTOR GENERAL’S REPORT

The Director-General gave an oral report on the following matters:

  • Physics Beyond Colliders workshop
  • Update on actions to strengthen relations with the Member States
  • Preparation of a CERN Alumni programme
  • Protocol visits in 2016
  • Death of former CERN Research Director, E. Gabathuler
  • Update on the Test Storage Ring (TSR) at HIE-ISOLDE.

SCIENTIFIC POLICY COMMITTEE

The Council took note of the report by the SPC working group, set out in document CERN/SPC/1071-CERN/3262, which had been prepared in response to the Council’s question concerning R&D activities for a future high-energy frontier machine, and expressed appreciation to the SPC for its detailed and comprehensive analysis of the situation.

 

AGREEMENT BETWEEN CERN AND ITS TWO HOST STATES, FRANCE AND SWITZERLAND, RELATING TO MUTUAL ASSISTANCE BETWEEN THEIR SERVICES FOR EMERGENCY RESCUE OPERATIONS, IN PARTICULAR ON THE CERN SITE

The Council approved an agreement, set out in document CERN/3269/RA, between CERN and its two Host States, France and Switzerland, relating to mutual assistance between their services for emergency rescue operations, in particular on the CERN site.

 

LHC MATTERS

The Council heard oral reports by the Director for Accelerators and Technology, Dr Bordry, and the Director for Research and Computing, Professor Elsen, and congratulated CERN and the collaborations on the superb performance of the accelerator complex and experiments, with important physics results obtained across the whole spectrum of the CERN research programme

 

PROPOSAL FOR A CREDIT FACILITY AGREEMENT WITH THE EUROPEAN INVESTMENT BANK FOR THE HIGH-LUMINOSITY LHC PROJECT

The Council approved the terms and conditions of a credit facility agreement with the European Investment Bank (EIB) aimed at covering the cash shortfalls during the peak years of the High-Luminosity LHC (HL-LHC) construction, and authorised the Management to enter into the agreement.

 

PENSION FUND

Report by the Chair of the Governing Board

The Council heard an oral report by the Chair of the Pension Fund Governing Board (PFGB), Dr Roth, on the Fund’s year-to-date investment return of 0.53% as at 31.8.16, the recent meeting of the Actuarial and Technical Committee, and the appointment of a new ESO representative to serve on the PFGB.

Technical Amendments to the Rules of the Pension Fund 

The Council approved the technical amendments to the Rules of the Pension Fund required for the implementation of the new career structure, as set out in the annex to document CERN/3270/RA.

Actuarial Cost Analysis for Options on the Future of the Fund 

The Council heard a presentation by Mr Hurd of Xerox on the actuarial cost analysis for options on the future of the Pension Fund, and invited the President to come forward at the December 2016 meeting with a proposed outline and schedule of future action.

 

CLOSED SESSION

 

ENLARGEMENT PROCESS

India

The Council decided, by consensus, to approve the Resolution set out in document CERN/3274/RA pertaining to the admission of India as Associate Member State of CERN, in accordance with the provisions of document CERN/2918/Rev., subject to the signature and entry into force of the Agreement annexed to the Resolution.

Lithuania

The Council decided, by consensus, to authorise the Director-General to submit to Lithuania the Model Agreement for the Granting of the Status of Associate Member (CERN/3057/RA) on the understanding that consideration of the admission of Lithuania as an Associate Member would be contingent upon confirmation that a Chair of nuclear and experimental particle physics had been established at Vilnius University.

Recent developments

The Council heard a report by the Director-General on the progress of the applications and expressions of interest from Brazil, Croatia, Ireland, the Russian Federation, Slovenia and Ukraine.

 

COMPOSITION OF THE WORKING GROUP ON THE GOVERNANCE OF THE CERN PENSION FUND

The Council decided to appoint to the working group on the governance of the Pension Fund:

  • Mr P. Pardo, adviser to the Swiss delegation, as chair of the working group,
  • Mr S. Weisz as representative of the CERN/ESO pensioners association (GAC),
  • Ms J. Segars of the Pension & Lifetime Savings Association, as external member with expert knowledge in pension fund governance, and
  • Mr  E.  Mersel, as proposed by SACA.

The Council further took note of the appointments of:

  • Ms L. Comendador Frutos by the ESO Council, and
  • Mr  F. Duval by the CERN and ESO Staff Associations,

and agreed that the composition of the working group was thus finalised.

 

RESTRICTED SESSION ON EUROPEAN STRATEGY MATTERS

 

PRESIDENT’S REPORT

The President gave an oral report on the following matters:

  • FALC meeting in Chicago on 8 August 2016
  • Advance information on the possible timeline for the next Strategy Update.

SCOAP3 PAST AND FUTURE

The Council took note of a presentation by Dr Mele of CERN’s Scientific Information Service and expressed appreciation to everyone involved in the SCOAP3 collaboration for their sustained efforts at bringing science to the world.

 

ECFA AND ICFA MATTERS

The Council heard reports by the ECFA Chair, Professor Abramowicz, on the recent meetings of the European Committee for Future Accelerators, ECFA (CERN/SPC/1072- CERN/3263) and of the International Committee for Future Accelerators, ICFA.

 

REPORT FROM THE EUROPEAN PARTICLE PHYSICS COMMUNICATION NETWORK

The Council heard a  presentation by the Italian representative on the European Particle Physics Communication Network (EPCCN), Ms Cossi, on the recent work of the network, set out in document CERN/SPC/1073-CERN/3264.

 

UPDATE ON CERN COMMUNICATION STRATEGY 

The Council heard a presentation by the Director for International Relations, Ms Warakaulle, on the communication strategy and related implementation measures currently being elaborated by the CERN Management.

 

REPORT FROM THE INTERNATIONAL PARTICLE PHYSICS OUTREACH GROUP (IPPOG)

The Council heard a report by the co-Chair of IPPOG, Dr Beck.

 

STATUS REPORT – TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER NETWORK (HEPTECH)

The Council heard a presentation the HEPTech Coordinator, Dr Tracey, on the recent work of the Technology Transfer Network, set out in document CERN/SPC/1073- CERN/3264.

 

REPORT ON BEAMLINE FOR SCHOOLS (BL4S) COMPETITION

Finally, the Council heard a presentation on the Beamline for Schools competition by the project leader, Mr Joos, and then went to the East Hall to meet the 2016 competition winners from schools in Poland and the United Kingdom.

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