204

TWO HUNDRED AND FOURTH SESSION OF THE COUNCIL

23-24 September 2021


RESTRICTED COUNCIL

 

DIRECTOR GENERAL’S REPORT

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

  • CERN and COVID-19
  • Recent high-level visits and events
  • Update on the Science Gateway project

CERN’S MAIN OBJECTIVES FOR THE PERIOD 2021-2025

The Council expressed appreciation to the Director-General for her presentation of the main objectives for the Organization for the period 2021-2025, as set out in the publicly available document CERN/SPC/1153/Rev.-CERN/3556/Rev., which takes into account feedback given by the Council on a previous draft presented in March 2021.

REPORT ON NON-LHC EXPERIMENT

The Council heard a presentation by the Director for Research and Computing, Professor Mnich, on the non-LHC experiments, covering the improvements made to the ISOLDE, AD-ELENA and n_TOF facilities during the second long shutdown (LS2), recent results from the NA62 and NA64 experiments, the status of the LBNF/DUNE cryostats and other activities at the Neutrino Platform, progress on the CERN quantum technology initiative, and Member and Associate Member States’ participation in the SCOAP3 open access consortium.

         HL-LHC MATTERS

The Council heard a presentation by the Director for Accelerators and Technology,
Dr Lamont, 
on the intense activities across all the work packages for the High-Luminosity LHC (HL-LHC) project, focussing especially on the interaction region magnets, the crab cavities, collimation and cryogenics, and noting that the next cost and schedule review by the CERN Machine Advisory Committee will take place from 8 to 10 November.

The Council heard a second presentation by Professor Mnich on the Phase II upgrades of the ATLAS and CMS detectors, observing that discussions were in progress with the two collaborations aimed at elaborating a revised consolidated schedule for the start and duration of the third long shutdown (LS3) that would be finalised in meetings with the machine teams, the experiments and the CERN Management after the HL-LHC cost and schedule review.

LHC MATTERS

Finally, the Council received updates from Dr Lamont and Professor Mnich on the status of the accelerator complex and selected physics highlights from the LHC experiments, respectively.

FCC FEASIBILITY STUDY STATUS REPORT

The Council heard a presentation by the FCC Feasibility Study Leader, Dr Benedikt, focussing in particular on the main medium-term objective of the Study, namely confirming the preferred implementation scenario by mid-2022, the financial and human resources assigned to the Study, and the progressive implementation of the organisational structure approved by the Council at its June Session.

         CERN’S COLLABORATION WITH NATIONAL LABORATORIES AND BEYOND (PART 1: ACCELERATOR TECHNOLOGIES)

The Council heard a presentation by Dr Lamont on R&D and projects with institutions in the Member States and beyond benefitting from CERN’s accelerator technologies, and CERN’s contributions to other research facilities and activities with a societal impact.

         CERN’S SECOND ENVIRONMENT REPORT

The Council received a presentaion and commended the Management for the high quality of the second CERN Environment Report for the years 2019 and 2020, set out in document CERN/SPC/1164/RA-CERN/FC/6513/RA-CERN/3593/RA.

* * *

       CLOSED COUNCIL

ENLARGEMENT PROCESS

1. Application for Associate Membership of CERN by the Government of the Federative Republic of Brazil

a. Report by the fact-finding Task Force

b. Council Resolution for the admission of Brazil as an Associate Member State of CERN

The Council noted, with satisfaction, the conclusion of the fact-finding Task Force that Brazil continues to fulfil the criteria for the granting of the status of Associate Member State, and decided, by consensus, to adopt a Resolution admitting the Federative Republic of Brazil to the status of Associate Member State of the Organization, subject to the signature and entry into force of the Agreement annexed to the Resolution, to Brazil’s accession without reservations to the Protocol on the privileges and immunities of the European Organization for Nuclear Research and to the entry into force of the said Protocol in respect of Brazil.

2. Task force appointments

The Council decided, by consensus, to adopt the proposed compositions of the fact-finding task forces to conduct the five-yearly reviews of the Associate Membership statuses of India, Pakistan and Ukraine.

WORKING GROUP ON THE GOVERNANCE OF CERN

1. Report by the Council Working Group on the Governance of CERN: part 1

The Council approved the Working Group’s considerations and recommendations on the topic of “Decision-making and voting within the Council”, on the understanding that the provisions on “Defining the scale and strategic impact of projects requiring separate approval, as well as the appropriate approval procedure” could be reviewed in due course, if necessary, once the section on the governance of future global projects has been compiled.

2. Revised Model Council Resolution for the admission of new Member States

Revised Standard Terms for Agreements granting the status of Associate Member

State in the pre-stage to Membership of CERN

The Council approved the revised Model Resolution

The Council approved the revised Model Resolution for the admission of new Member States and the revised standard terms for agreements granting the status of Associate Member State in the pre-stage to Membership of CERN.

TERMS OF REFERENCE OF A COUNCIL WORKING GROUP TO REVIEW THE PROCEDURE FOR THE SELECTION AND APPOINTMENT OF THE CERN DIRECTOR-GENERAL

        The Council decided to set up a working group to review the procedure for the selection and appointment of the Director-General, and approved its mandate, composition and work schedule.

ELECTIONS AND APPOINTMENTS

1. Appointment of a Vice-Chair of the Audit Committee

The Council appointed Mr G. de Vries as Vice-Chair of the Committee, with immediate effect, until 31 December 2022.

2. Next President of Council

The Council elected Professor Eliezer Rabinovici (Israel) President of the Council for a first term of office of one year, with effect from 1 January 2022.

* * *