The Nuclear Physics European Collaboration Committee (NuPECC) has published a series of recommendations for the future direction of nuclear science in Europe. The report is the first attempt by any group to define a network of local, national and European facilities of the same international standard.
In the report NuPECC suggests that national funding agencies should become more involved during the planning stage of these new facilities because future facilities and detectors will be significantly more complex and expensive compared to present systems. It also recommends that more young researchers should be encouraged into nuclear theory groups, so that progress in nuclear physics is not dependent on experimental activity. For the same reason NuPECC suggests that funders should find long-term financial support for the European Centre for Theoretical Studies in Nuclear Physics and Related Areas (ECT) in Italy.
Its last general recommendation is for university nuclear physics departments to be maintained at their current strength.
NuPECC aims to strengthen nuclear science by promoting collaboration between European facilities and researchers, discussing new instrumentation, and providing advice and recommendations to the European Science Foundation (ESF) and other similar bodies.
The report Nuclear Physics in Europe: highlights and opportunities has been sent to all organizations within Europe that fund nuclear science. It is split into six groups: nuclear structure under extreme conditions; nucleus-nucleus collisions and the phase transitions of nuclear matter; quark and hadron dynamics; nuclear and particle astrophysics; neutrino physics; and fundamental interactions. Individual group’s recommendations can be found by clicking .
