Lancaster appointment to Cockcroft Institute
A Lancaster University Engineer has been appointed to a major new international centre dedicated to accelerator science, which is unlocking the structure of matter and the origin of the Universe.
Dr Rebecca Seviour of Lancaster University’s Engineering Department was one of four appointments to the Cockcroft Centre announced this week.
Professor John Dainton has been confirmed as Director of the Cockcroft Institute meanwhile Drs Roger Jones, Rob Appleby, and Rebecca Seviour were appointed as the first new senior staff. Prior to this appointment, Professor Dainton was head of the Particle Physics Group at University of Liverpool. Drs Jones, Appleby and Seviour held research positions at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, Daresbury Laboratory and Lancaster University respectively.
The Cockcroft Institute, based in Daresbury International Science Park, is an international centre for research and development in Accelerator Science and Technology. It is a joint venture involving the Universities of Lancaster, Liverpool, and Manchester, the Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council (PPARC), the Council for the Central Laboratory of the Research Councils (CCLRC), and the Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA).
The NWDA is providing a purpose-built building in the Daresbury International Science Park, and today the final stage, the internal fit-out of the building, began on schedule ready for occupation by Institute staff in spring 2006.
Steven Broomhead, NWDA Chief Executive, said: “The appointment of key academics will ensure the success of Cockcroft Institute and guarantee its position as a leading centre for Accelerator Science. I am delighted to announce that this unique centre will be fully operational by Spring 2006. Progress to date has resulted from a culmination of work by key partners who have secured this project against strong competition. I have no doubt that its presence will cement the Northwest’s impressive reputation as a leading region for scientific research and development.”
The Institute is being put in place with an initial investment of about £27M. £11M comes from core and first project funding by PPARC, CCLRC and EU, £10M comes from NWDA, and £6M comes from the universities.
Cockcroft Institute Director Professor Dainton said: “The Cockcroft Institute is a unique venture involving a breadth of activity across cutting-edge physics and engineering with a major industrial dimension. We are well on the way to having an Institute which will place scientists and engineers from universities, national laboratories and industry at the forefront of the challenges which have to be solved if the next generation of particle accelerators is to be built. It builds on the internationally recognised excellence in fundamental physics and in engineering to be found in NW England in the three research-led universities together with CCLRC at the Daresbury Laboratory, and secures the continuation of this excellence for the foreseeable future."
Professor Dainton said that he was particularly pleased with the first new appointments. "They are all young and enthusiastic with an international outlook and with considerable experience in both the physics and the engineering of modern accelerator systems. Already we are finding new synergy as they bring their expertise together and begin to build further the research programme of the Institute."