Accelerators for Science and Society

From penicillin to pulsars, serendipity is a common thread throughout the history of scientific discovery. The academic pursuit of knowledge has driven human progress and technological evolution down the centuries, as practical applications often arise from fundamental research.

The World Wide Web is a perfect example of this. Originally developed by Sir Tim Berners-Lee in the 1980s as a way for particle physicists at CERN to share their large data sets remotely around the world, this information system now pervades almost every aspect of our daily lives. Likewise in the field of accelerator science and technology, research that is often designed to help answer fundamental questions about our universe often finds real world applications that change our lives.

On Friday 28th June 2019, the Liverpool Arena and Convention Centre will host the Accelerators for Science and Society Symposium, featuring a number talks from world-leading researchers on a range of topics from big data to proton therapy. The Symposium will showcase how accelerator technology research is driving innovation across a wide range of sectors, and why it is so important for science and society. All of the talks will be live streamed around the world for free between 10:15 and 13:00 (GMT+1), with a number of satellite events taking place in the UK, Germany and Switzerland.

Accelerators are playing a key role in advancing the use of radiotherapy for cancer treatment. Dr Simon Jolly, Associate Professor of Accelerator Physics at University College London, is one of the UK's leading experts on particle accelerators for medicine, and will discuss the links between particle physics research and cancer treatment at the Symposium next week. Speaking ahead of his talk on ‘Proton Beam Therapy: How the Large Hadron Collider Cures Cancer’, Dr Jolly told me, “The development of the accelerator technology we use for proton radiotherapy actually started somewhere completely different: particle physics. What is fascinating is not only this shared history but also the myriad ways in which research technology has to be adapted for use in a clinical environment.”

The huge volumes of information generated by accelerator experiments around the world are also driving innovations in data science, big data and artificial intelligence (AI). Professor Maria Fasli, Director for the Institute for Analytics and Data Science at the University of Essex, is a world-leading expert in the area of big data and will showcase her research at the Symposium next week. Professor Fasli will outline the transformational power of data and discuss some of the issues and challenges that arise when using large volumes of data and advanced analytics techniques. She will also explore some of the complex ethical considerations relating to big data and AI that may have a profound impact on individuals, groups and the wider society.

The importance of accelerators for fundamental research should also not be underestimated. Dr Michael Doser, a Research Scientist at CERN, will give a talk at the Symposium entitled ‘Antimatter Matters’ that will explain how accelerators are helping us to solve big questions about the nature of our universe such as the imbalance between matter and antimatter.

After his talk, international best-selling author and designer Curtis Jobling will highlight the importance of art and creative subjects working alongside scientific disciplines in order for society to innovate and solve the big challenges it faces.

Finally, for accelerators to continue to solve important challenges for science and society in the future, we need to inspire and train the next generation of scientists and engineers. Over the past decade, I have led innovative training programmes in the area of accelerator science in collaboration with international partners from academia, government and industry. This work has resulted in the creation of a supply chain of highly qualified researchers for the international community. My talk, entitled ‘Accelerating Researcher Careers’ will highlight the benefits of this approach for the next generation of researchers, from interdisciplinary training to international mobility.

I hope that you will be able to join the free live stream of the Accelerators for Science and Society Symposium (visit https://indico.cern.ch/event/798052/page/16273-live-streams) and follow our Symposium across social media using #AccSciSoc.