194

HUNDRED AND NINETY-FOURTH SESSION OF THE COUNCIL

26-27 September 2019


 

RESTRICTED COUNCIL - 26 September 2019

 

DIRECTOR GENERAL’S REPORT

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

  • Latest developments in Japan relating to the International Linear Collider
  • Update on the Science Gateway project
  • Fellows survey
  • CERN Open Days on 14-15 September 2019
  • Recent protocol visits

 

LHC MATTERS

The Council heard a report by the Director for Accelerators and Technology, Dr Bordry, on the progress of LS2 activities especially with respect to the LIU and HL-LHC projects and the development of 11 T magnets, on the latest safety and radiation protection statistics, on CERN’s leadership of the Workshop on Energy for Sustainable Science and on its participation in the “La nuit est belle” initiative of local authorities in the Greater Geneva area on the night of 26-27 September.

The Council also heard a status report by the Director for Research and Computing, Professor Elsen, covering the latest physics results from the four main LHC experiments, the good progress made with the ATLAS and CMS Phase I upgrades during LS2, the latest news on the Phase II upgrades, initial ideas on the long-term upgrade plans for LHCb and ALICE, and a brief update on computing, including details of open data initiatives at CERN.

 

FINANCIAL SCENARIOS FOR A REINFORCED SITE MAINTENANCE AND CONSOLIDATION PROGRAMME

The Council considered a variety of financial scenarios drawn up by the Management for a reinforced site maintenance and consolidation programme, and agreed to return to the matter at its meeting in March 2020 with a view to the 2020 Medium-Term Plan.

 

REPORT ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE RECOMMENDATIONS FROM THE EXTERNAL REVIEW COMMITTEE OF FINANCE AND HUMAN RESOURCES

The Director for Finance and Human Resources, Dr Steinacher, gave a presentation on progress with the implementation of the recommendations by the External Review Committee of Finance and Human Resources in the FAP, HR, IPT and SMB departments. The Council agreed that the external review had been useful in supporting the development and modernisation of the Organization and invited the Management to present a status report in September 2020.

 

PENSION FUND

The Council heard a report by the Chair of the Pension Fund Governing Board, Dr Roth, on the activities of the Governing Board, the Actuarial and Technical Committee and the Investment Committee since June 2019, noting that the Fund’s year-to-date performance had stood at 4.76% at the end of August. The Council expressed sincere appreciation to Dr Roth for his exemplary service to the Pension Fund over his six-year term of office as Chair of the PFGB.

 

RESTRICTED COUNCIL - EUROPEAN STRATEGY MATTERS - 27 September 2019

 

UPDATE OF THE EUROPEAN STRATEGY FOR PARTICLE PHYSICS

The Council decided to hold its Extraordinary Session for the adoption of the updated European Strategy for Particle Physics at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest, in May 2020 (precise date to be determined).

The Council further took note of progress reports on subjects related to the European Strategy for Particle Physics, namely the CERN-EC work plan, ECFA and ICFA matters, technology transfer (HEPTech), education, communications and outreach (EPPCN and IPPOG).

 

CLOSED COUNCIL - 26 September 2019

 

ENLARGEMENT PROCESS

The Council approved the considerations and conclusions of a report by its Working Group on geographical enlargement.

The Council also heard a report by the Director-General on the status of the ongoing applications of Brazil, Croatia, Estonia and on discussions with Latvia and the Russian Federation.

 

APPOINTMENTS

The Council appointed:

  • Professor Leonid Rivkin (CH) Chair of the Scientific Policy Committee, and
  • Dr Laurent Salzarulo (CH) Vice-Chair of the Finance Committee

both for first terms of office of one year with effect from 1 January 2020.

 

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