New Light Source Project
aiming for unique studies of microscopic motions in matter of all kinds
Organisation
Successful delivery of the NLS project requires clear science leadership, robust technical input and far-sighted strategic guidance. The organisation and management of the project has been developed to optimise all these aspects.
Professor Jon Marangos (Imperial College London) will be the Project Leader. He will be responsible
for defining the scientific priorities for the project, and thus the primary functional requirements of
the proposed facility. In this capacity he will coordinate the project requirements from the research
institute champions (see below) and the wider scientific community.
Project management will follow UK best practice and is the responsibility of Dr. Frances Quinn; within STFC Professor Mike Dunne acts is the project customer, with Professor John Womersley as project sponsor.
The detailed delivery of the project divides into three primary cost areas: the photon sources, the science instrumentation and the building and conventional facilities.
Technical design work of the photon sources will be led by Professor Richard Walker; the team comprises experts in STFC Accelerator Science and Technology Department, STFC Photon Science Department, DIAMOND Light Source, the Cockcroft Institute, UK HEIs and international collaborations. Input will also come from community workshops, the science instrumentation needs and advisory bodies.
The science instrumentation activity is led by Dr. Tracy Turner. Initially, this is a co-ordination activity to determine needs, evolving into more specific design and planning once the source solution is developed. Technical input will be from STFC Photon Science Department, UK HEIs, the prospective researchers exploiting NLS and international collaborations.
In these early stages, the required input on conventional facilities will be provided by ad hoc specialist groups drawn from the source and instrumentation teams and external consultants. In the first phase, this is the responsibility of the Project Manager; when appropriate, a conventional facilities leader will be appointed.
The Science case for the NLS project will be determined by the widest possible input from the potential user community. This will be coordinated and prioritised by Professor Marangos working with members of the Photon Science Research Institute and leaders of the 4GLS project.
The overall process will be overseen by the Photon Science Governing Body. This body will be responsible for ensuring openness, transparency and due process in decision making. It will be chaired by Professor Tim Wess (Cardiff University), who chairs the Physical and Life Sciences advisory committee for STFC. The governing body has representatives from the science community (Nigel Scrutton - Manchester, Ian Walmsley - Oxford, and Malcolm McMahon - Edinburgh) as well as representatives from the facility providers (STFC and DLS).
Decisions on the future phases of the NLS project will follow standard STFC and DIUS procedures (including Gateway approval when required).
