News

TWO-HUNDRED-AND-SIXTEENTH SESSION OF THE COUNCIL

21-22 March 2024

 

RESTRICTED COUNCIL

PRESIDENT’S REPORT

The President reported that, since the Council Session in December 2023, he had been given a guided tour of the proposed layout of the FCC ring, had met with Council delegates in London and Bonn, and had consultations with all delegations in advance of the special Session dedicated to the mid-term review of the FCC Feasibility Study on 2 February. He had also travelled to Sinaia, Romania, to prepare the next Council Retreat in August 2024, attended a meeting of the Audit Committee, given a talk at the symposium to mark the 100th birthday of Professor H. Schopper, attended a reception on the occasion of the National Day of the Republic of Bulgaria, and given a keynote talk at a meeting organised by the British Embassy in Tel Aviv on the theme of science diplomacy in times of war. Finally, he had received a message from the ECFA Early Career Researchers Panel, addressed to the Council as a whole, expressing the young researchers' view on the need to accelerate the planning for the next major facility at CERN.

 

UPDATE ON THE FCC FEASIBILITY STUDY

The Council heard a presentation by the FCC Feasibility Study Leader, Dr Benedikt, outlining the planned follow-up to the recommendations made in the context of the 2023-2024 mid-term review of the Feasibility Study, the progress of the ongoing activities across the various work packages, the goals and priorities for the completion of the Study in March 2025 and beyond, and the programme of the next FCC week to be held from 10 to 14 June 2024 in the United States.

 

Timeline for the next update of the European Strategy for Particle Physics

The Council took note of document CERN/SPC/1232/RA-CERN/3802/RA and, on the recommendation of the Scientific Policy Committee, approved the general timeline for the next update of the European Strategy for Particle Physics, proposed by the Director-General, together with the proposed changes to the composition of the European Strategy Group. Input from the community should be submitted by 31 March 2025 and the Strategy update is expected to be concluded in June 2026.

 

CERN PENSION FUND

The Council heard a report by the Chair of the Pension Fund Governing Board (PFGB), Dr Buzatu, notably covering the Fund’s nominal investment performance of -1.10% in 2023 and the five-year annualised return, which stood at +2.86% at the end of February 2024.

 

Experimental programme at the ECN3 facility

The Council heard a presentation by the Director for Research and Computing, Professor Mnich, summarising the HIKE/SHADOWS and SHiP proposals for experiments at the upgraded ECN3 beamline in the North Area, outlining the established CERN procedures for approving experiments at the injectors, and explaining the motivations behind the Management’s decision to approve the SHiP proposal.

 

CERN-US COLLABORATION

The Council heard a presentation by Dr R. Rameika, Associate Director of the Office of Science for High Energy Physics in the United States Department of Energy (DoE), regarding CERN-US collaboration, the recommendations of the 2023 US Particle Physics Project Prioritization Panel (P5) and the DoE’s response to them, DoE’s contributions to the FCC Feasibility Study, and the ongoing preparation of a statement of intent on collaboration with CERN.

 

Presentation of the Circular Electron Positron Collider Project

The Council heard a presentation by the Director of the Institute of High Energy Physics (IHEP) in Beijing, Professor Y. Wang, on the Circular Electron Positron Collider (CEPC) project in China, describing the scientific objectives underpinning the design of the machine, key parameters, ongoing R&D, sustainability considerations, detector design, site selection, civil engineering design and planning, the ideal project schedule, the organisational structure, plans for international collaboration, the estimated project cost, the ongoing preparation of the Engineering Design Report, and the expectation that the government's preliminary decision about the projects to be funded in the context of the 15th five-year plan would be taken around 2026.

 

HL-LHC MATTERS

The Council heard a presentation by the Director for Accelerators and Technology, Dr Lamont, on the status of the High-Luminosity LHC (HL-LHC) project, recalling the goals, timeline, and organisation of the project, and describing the contributions from international partners, the key technology landmarks, the schedule for the third long shutdown (LS3) and the time contingency for installation of the magnets.

The Council then heard a presentation by the Director for Research and Computing, Professor Mnich, covering the progress of the ATLAS and CMS Phase-2 upgrades, notably with respect to the ATLAS inner tracker (ITk) pixel and strip detectors and the CMS high-granularity calorimeter (HGCAL), the status of measures to mitigate the shortfall in funding from the Russian Federation, and the positive impact of the workshops organised with the Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Engineering and Automation (IPA).

 

LHC MATTERS

The Council received an update from Dr Lamont on the status of the accelerator complex, covering the work carried out during the 2023-2024 year-end technical stop, the ongoing recommissioning with beams, the 2024 running schedules and performance outlook, sustainability initiatives and the event to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the CERN Accelerator School.

Professor Mnich then gave a presentation on the status of the experiments and computing, covering highlights of the latest physics results, the repairs carried out on the LHCb VELO detector and other activities undertaken by the collaborations during the 2023-2024 year-end technical stop, preparations for the computing for the 2024 run, and the inauguration of  the Prévessin Data Centre.

 

Proposal to appoint students from non-Member States for the Next-Generation Triggers project

The Council took note of document CERN/FC/6809/RA-CERN/3817/RA and, on the recommendation of the Finance Committee, approved the Management's proposal that a limited number of doctoral and technical students from non-Member States be eligible to be selected for positions in ATLAS and CMS for the Next-Generation Triggers project, on the understanding that the total number of positions filled by non-Member State nationals in all personnel categories (students, graduates and staff) would be limited to 15 over the project’s five-year duration, and that the present Council decision did not establish any quota or precedent for the future.

 

REPORT ON COLLABORATION BETWEEN THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION AND CERN

The Council heard a presentation by the Head of the Industry, Procurement and Knowledge Transfer department, Mr Hartley, on the 2023 highlights of collaboration in the various areas covered by the CERN-EC Memorandum of Understanding, details of CERN’s participation in proposals and projects under the EC Horizon Europe programme of funding for research and innovation, and the topics discussed at the annual CERN-EC meeting held on 17 October 2023.

 

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       closed COUNCIL

 

THE FINANCIAL CONTRIBUTION OF UKRAINE TO CERN FOR 2024

The Council took note of document CERN/FC/6783/RA-CERN/3808/C and, on the recommendation of the Finance Committee, adopted the Resolution set out in the annex, thereby waiving the financial contribution of Ukraine to CERN for 2024 in its entirety, it being understood that the resulting shortfall would be covered by the Member States in proportion to their share of the Budget.

 

ENLARGEMENT PROCESS

a) Council Resolution for the Admission of the Republic of Estonia as a Member State of CERN

   The Council took note of document CERN/3809/C and adopted the Resolution set out therein, thereby admitting Estonia as a Member State of the Organization, subject to:

  • deposit of its instrument of accession, without reservations, to the Convention, including its Financial Protocol, and to the Protocol on the Privileges and Immunities of the European Organization for Nuclear Research;
  • fulfilment by Estonia of the financial obligations resulting from its status as an Associate Member State in the pre-stage to Membership of CERN.

 

b) Institutional participation of the Republic of Cyprus

    The Council took note of document CERN/3810/C and decided to:

  • approve the request by Cyprus to transition from Associate Membership in the pre-stage to Membership to regular Associate Membership;
  • authorise the Director-General to submit the Standard Terms for Associate Membership to Cyprus and to negotiate the corresponding Agreement, which should include, inter alia, a provision indicating that, upon entry into force, it would cancel and replace the 5 October 2012 Agreement between CERN and Cyprus granting the latter the Status of Associate Membership as the Pre-Stage to Membership at CERN.

 

c) Update on the application for Associate Membership of the Federative Republic of Brazil

The Council took note of document CERN/3818/C/Rev. and decided to retroactively approve an extension until 13 March 2024 of the deadline for the notification by Brazil of the completion of its internal approval procedures relating to the Agreement between CERN and the Federative Republic of Brazil concerning the granting of the status of Associate Member State of CERN and to the Protocol on the privileges and immunities of the European Organization for Nuclear Research, thereby permitting Brazil to accede to Associate Membership as of that date.

 

ELECTIONS AND APPOINTMENTS

a) Senior staff appointment: proposal by the Director-General

The Council took note of document CERN/3813/C and decided to extend the contract of employment of Dr M. Lamont beyond the usual retirement age, until 31 December 2025, thereby allowing him to complete his mandate as Director for Accelerators and Technology under the current Director-General.

 

b) Audit Committee: extension of the term of office of a Council member of the Audit Committee

The Council took note of document CERN/3814/C and decided to extend the term of office of Professor K. Fountas (GR) as Council member of the Audit Committee for an additional two-year period, from 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2026.

 

c) CERN Pension Fund: appointment of the Vice-Chair of the Pension Fund Governing Board

The Council took note of document CERN/3815/C and decided to appoint Ms O. Capatina as Vice-Chair of the PFGB for a first term of office of three years, as of 1 May 2024.

 

PROCEDURE FOR SELECTING AND APPOINTING THE DIRECTOR-GENERAL OF CERN: INITIATION OF THE SELECTION PROCEDURE

Pursuant to the Procedure for Selecting and Appointing the Director-General of CERN (CERN/2329/C/Rev.5), the Council took a series of decisions thereby initiating the selection procedure for the appointment of the next Director-General of CERN.

         The Council instituted the Search Committee, with the following composition:

Ex officio members

- Professor Eliezer Rabinovici, Council President;

- Professor Eric Laenen, Council Vice-President;

- Professor Konstantinos Fountas, Council Vice-President;

- Dr Laurent Salzarulo, Finance Committee Chair;

- Dr Hugh Montgomery, Scientific Policy Committee Chair;

 

SPC-appointed members

- Professor Klaus Blaum, Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics;

- Professor Marumi Kado, Max Planck Institute for Physics;

- Professor Jocelyn Monroe, University of Oxford, Department of Physics;

- Professor Marie-Hélène Schune, Université Paris-Saclay, CNRS/IN2P3, IJCLab;

 

Council-appointed external members

- Professor Paula Eerola;

- Professor Helmut Schober.

 

External HR expert (non-voting member)

- Ms Fiona Brazil, Head of HR, ESO.

 

The Council also approved the detailed qualification profile, the text of the advertisement and the channels for publication of the vacancy notice.

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