LhARA Collaboration Meeting #9

Europe/London
Description

The nineth LhARA collaboration meeting took place on the 29th and 30th April 2026.

The meeting will be held in the Pickavance Lecture Theatre at the STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory on the Harwell science and innovation campus.  

The meeting will start on Wednesday at 9:30 with tea/coffee followed by a welcome and introduction at 10:00.

Accommodation may be found on the Harwell Campus at Ridgeway House.  Additional information about accommodation may be found here.

ZOOM link for remot particpants: https://cern.zoom.us/j/63835203349?pwd=cehDjgdlx6NZ4LGoepdZfjfC9FODdc.1

Participants
  • Calvin Dyson
  • Colin Whyte
  • Hywel Owen
  • Milaan Patel
  • Poram Ruksasakchai
  • William Shields
  • Wednesday, 29 April
    • 09:30 10:30
      Social and catering: Arrivals and coffee
      Convener: Kenneth Long (STFC)
    • 10:30 10:45
      Welcome and introcuction
      Convener: Kenneth Long (STFC)
    • 10:45 12:30
      Plenary session: Radiobiology programme
      Convener: Jason Parsons (University of Birmingham)
    • 12:30 13:30
      Social and catering: Lunch
    • 13:30 15:00
      Plenary session: Source and capture
      Conveners: Nicholas Dover (Imperial College London), Robbie Wilson (University of Strathclyde)
      • 13:30
        Overview of EPAC 20m
        Speaker: James Green (STFC)
      • 13:50
        Experimental progress on the plasma lens 20m
        Speaker: Poram Ruksasakchai (Swansea University)
      • 14:10
        Simulations of the plasma lens 20m
        Speaker: Calvin Dyson (Imperial College London)
      • 14:30
        Discussion on future R&D 30m
    • 15:00 15:30
      Social and catering: Tea
    • 15:30 17:00
      Plenary session: Instrumentation
      Convener: Kenneth Long (STFC)
      • 15:30
        Intro 5m
        Speaker: Kenneth Long (STFC)
      • 15:35
        High-resolution cell imaging 20m
        Speaker: Prof. Christopher Dunsby (Imperial)
      • 15:55
        Time-of-flight ion diagnostics 20m
        Speaker: Nicholas Dover (Imperial College London)
      • 16:15
        End Station Beam Monitoring: Gas Jet Profile Monitor and Air Fluorescence Monitor 20m
        Speaker: Milaan Patel
      • 16:35
        Review of instrumentation for PoPLaR and progress on space-fibre development 20m
        Speaker: Calvin Dyson (Imperial College London)
      • 16:55
        Discussion 5m
    • 18:30 21:30
      Social and catering: Dinner
  • Thursday, 30 April
    • 09:30 10:30
      Plenary session: PPD outreach day, Caversham, Glasgow Science Festival and Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition
      Convener: Kenneth Long (STFC)
      • 09:30
        Update on status of Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition planning 20m
        Speakers: Kenneth Long (STFC), Dr Paul Jurj (Imperial)
      • 09:50
        Glasgow Science Festival 15m
        Speaker: Colin Whyte (University of Strathclyde)
      • 10:05
        Caversham Science Fair 10m
      • 10:15
        Discussion 15m
    • 10:30 11:00
      Social and catering: Coffee
    • 11:00 12:00
      Plenary session: Building the third pilar: co-creation, outreach and engagement
      Conveners: Colin Whyte (University of Strathclyde), Kenneth Long (STFC), Prof. Pat Price (Imperial)
      • 11:00
        Business case; outline and proposed time line 15m
        Speaker: Kenneth Long (STFC)
      • 11:15
        Programme planning, exploitation of synergies, and routes to resource 15m
        Speaker: Colin Whyte (University of Strathclyde)
      • 11:30
        Discussion 30m
    • 12:00 12:45
      Plenary session: LhARA Beamline Design and Integration
      Convener: William Shields (Royal Holloway, University of London)
    • 12:45 13:15
      Plenary session: Planning, goals for the September 2026 collaboration meeting
      Convener: Kenneth Long (STFC)