26-27 January 1999 in San Sebastian, Spain

Local host: Juan Colmenero, Universidad del País Vasco, Spain, wapcolej@sc.ehu.es

Agenda for the meeting:
Participants in the meeting:
Minutes from Joint ENSA - EU-Round-Table sessions (in preparation by ENSA)
Status of the Concerted Action programme
Out come of the midterm-review
Research Infrastructures in the 5th Framework Programme
Proposed joint FP5 proposals and contact persons
The next Round-Table meeting
New members on the Round-Table
TMR-LSF joint user meeting at ECNS99


Agenda:

Time Tuesday - 26 January 1999
9:00 - 9:10 Welcome
9:10 - 10:30 Joint ENSA and EU-Round-Table Session
News from facilities and networks.
The Austron project(Weber), Novel Instrmentation for AUSTRON (Fratzl), ESS (Furrer and Carlile), FRMII (Petry), ISIS2 (Carlile),PSI (Allenspach), ILL (Dubbers)
Chairman: Albert Furrer
10:30 - 11:00 Coffee
11:00 - 12:55 Joint ENSA and EU-Round-Table Session Cont.
News from facilities and networks.
BNC (Rosta), Jülich (Richter), Orphee (deNovion), ISIS Neutrons (Carlile), BER2 (Michaelsen), ISIS - Muons (Williams), NFL (McGreevy), Risø (Clausen), RTD cold neutron opt. (Clausen), XENNI (Johnson), PECNO (Mikula), PNCMI'98 workshop (Tasset)
Chairman: Kurt N . Clausen
12:55 - 13:00 Matters of common interest -
Next joint meeting
Kurt N . Clausen
13:00 - 14:00 Lunch
14:00 - 15:30 Status of the Concerted Action programme
Book keeping, reporting and management
Status of activities supported by the Round-Table
Budget for the Round-Table
Initiatives seeking support from the Round-Table
Outcome of the midterm review of the TMR programmes
Kurt N . Clausen
15:30 - 16:00 Coffee
16:00 - 17:30 Research Infrastructures in the 5th Framework Programme
M. Malacarne DGXII
Neutron's in the 5 F.P. - concerted action?
Discussion chaired by Kurt N Clausen
17:30 - 18:00 Matters of Common Interest
Date and venue for next meeting.
TMR - user meetings
Special topics for next meeting.
Kurt N . Clausen
21:00 - 23:30 Round-table Dinner
Juan Colmenero

Wednesday - 27 January 1999
9:00 - 13:00
Working meeting for those on the Round-Table who wants to be involved in joint applications for the 5th framework programme.



Participants:

European Neutron Facilities with a TMR-Access contract:
Ch-H. de Novion, Laboratoire Léon Brillouin, CEA/Saclay, Fr., marais@bali.saclay.cea.fr
Rainer Michaelsen, HMI-BENSC, Germany, michaelsen@hmi.de
Colin Carlile, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, UK, c.j.carlile@rl.ac.uk
W. G. Williams, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, UK, w.g.williams@rl.ac.uk
Robert McGreevy, Studsvik Neutron Research Laboratory, Sweden, mcgreevy@studsvik.uu.se
Kurt N. Clausen, Risø National Laboratory, Denmark, kurt.clausen@risoe.dk

European Neutron Facilities without a TMR-Access contract:
Francis Tasset, Institut Laue-Langevin, France, tasset@ill.fr
Dieter Richter, Institut für Festkörperforschung, Germany, d.richter@fz-juelich.de
Peter Allenspach, Laboratory for Neutron Scattering, Switzerland, peter.allenspach@psi.ch
Laszlo Rosta, Budapest Neutron Center, BNC, Hungary, rosta@power.szfki.kfki.hu

User representatives / ENSA
Albert Furrer, Laboratory for Neutron Scattering, Switzerland, albert.furrer@psi.ch
Fabrizio Barocchi, Universitá di Firenze, Italia, barocchi@fi.infn.it
A. A. van Well, Interfacultair Reactor Instituut, the Netherlands, vanwell@iri.tudelft.nl
Juan Colmenero, Universidad del País Vasco, Spain, wapcolej@sc.ehu.es

Networks and other European initiatives:
XENNI, Mike Johnson, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, UK, m.w.johnson@rl.ac.uk
AUSTRON, Dr. Helmut Weber, WEBCO Consulting, Austria, helmut.weber@netway.at
FRMII, Prof. Winfried Petry, Technical University, Munich, Germany, winfried_petry@physik.tu-muenchen.de

DGXII representative
Marco Malacarne, European Commission, Belgium, marco.malacarne@dg12.cec.be

Observers:
Pavel Mikula, NPI Rez, CZ, mikula@ujf.cas.cz
Laszlo Pusztai, NPL-RISSP, Hungary, pusztai@para.chem.elte.hu

Status of the Concerted Action programme

Overheads presented at the meeting

Welcome to new members:
Peter Allenspach as representative of PSI
Winfried Petry as representative of the FRMII project

The comments on the four different activities on the Round-Table is:

Activity 1: Managing the Round-Table:

New activity: Budapest hands-on training - supported by the Round-Table with up to 12.000 Euro to cover named new users (who would otherwise find it difficult to come) support fee for conference and training course, travel and accommodation.

Activity 2: Mapping studies:

ESF has asked a series of questions to ENSA and the ESS council. ENSA has setup a sub-committee (A Furrer, D Richter, R. Cyvinski, F. Barocchi and P. Mikula) to formulate a European strategy on neutron scattering - based on input from the different national societies in Europe. This committee will also look after answering the questions from ESF, and look critically at which user-committee should be seen as suggesting new neutron sources or justifying Giga-Euro investments in a new facility.

In order to be proactive and try to avoid the endless recycling of questions and answers it was suggested that our updating of the scientific case for neutron scattering should be a report giving a +/- 5 year outlook on the achievements in neutron scattering instrumentation. i.e. the achievements during the last 5 years and the perspectives for the coming five years.
Following discussions a meeting of around 30 instrument specialists was proposed for 11-12 of June 99 in Coseners House. A preliminary set of names was produced who will be invited to contribute. It was emphasised that prior preparation will be necessary on the part of all participants and a report must be produced and published quickly after the meeting under the banner of the Round-Table and ENSA. The meeting will be supported by the Round-Table mapping action. (Supported from the Round-Table with up to 30000 Euro)

Responsible: C. Carlile will liaise with A Furrer and Kurt Nørgaard Clausen on the preparations. (deadline 15 Feb 1999)

Following the remarks on the ESF evaluation of the scientific case for the ESS, the ENSA and the Round-Table chairmen will contact the ESS Council and stress that neutron instrumentation must now be seen as equally important to the accelerator and the target for the ESS R&D phase. Measures should be taken to implement real work in this area.

Responsible: A. Furrer contacts the ESS council on behalf of ENSA, K. N. Clausen ask M. Steiner for input and contacts the ESS council on behalf of the Round-Table.

Activity 3 - Joint activities:

Workshop: http://www.hmi.de/grossgeraete/bensc/index.html
New Techniques and Developments in the Field of Sample Environment at Neutron Research Facilities
BENSC at the Hahn-Meitner-Institut, 8 to 10 April 1999
organized by: Michael Meißner, Karen Diederichsen, Harald Schneider, Peter Smeibidl, BENSC/HMI
E-mail: ensa@hmi.de

Workshop: Perspectives in neutron spectroscopy at eV energies, INFN, Roma autumn 99 (not decided yet)

Activity 4 - Other activities:

Preparation of educational material for university lecturers - information to be gathered and put on the web: 25.000 euro
Responsible: R. McGreevy will employ a candidate during this year (99).
Up to 25.000 euro is allocated from the Round-Table for salary to the candidate carrying out this task.

Young scientist activities: 15000 Euro
ENSA will call for nomination of young scientists, who should be invited to participate in a young scientist panel at ECNS'99 to express their views, needs and expectations for the next 1-2 decades in neutron research. The Round-Table will support this initiative with up to 15.000 Euro to cover travel and accommodation in connection with a preparatory meeting and other meeting and publication costs.
Responsible: L Rosta will contact U. Steigenberger and the Programme committee chairman (A. Furrer) so that they can come up with a definite proposal (with names, topics and suggestions for meeting dates).


Outcome from the midterm-review

The review of the access contracts on neutrons and muons were in general very positive. The programme was considered very cost effective both in terms of scientific results and in the training of new users. It was also emphasised that the EC management team at DGXII had supervised the activity with an exemplary lack of bureaucratic "red-tape".
The following suggestions were given:

The user-base should be widened both geographically and disciplinary - and it was suggested that we set benchmarks for the progress we aim to achieve.
Action: We should think about that when we propose new instruments and RTD projects.

We should improve publicity - especially to potential new users. Make one big joint advertisement for all EC supported neutron activities: Action: R. McGreevy comes up wih a suggestion.

Improve reporting by users. In the US it is common practice to acknowledge support - we do not have the same strict tradition in Europe.
Action: DGXII will come up with forms committing supported users to acknowledge the EU-programme and send copies of reports, publications or other kind of output to the grantholder of the EU programme.

Consolidate and strengthen links between Networks and the Round-Table.
Action: The Round-Table shall take the role of supporting the spreading of information and knowledge gained in the networks to the entire European neutron scene.


16:00 - 17:30 Research Infrastructures in the 5th Framework Programme

Framework 5 FP5:

The framework 5 programme was presented by Marco Malacarne from DGXII, and a copy of the view graphs used in his presentation has been sent to the members of the Round-Table by ordinary mail. The total budget of approximately 182 MEuro (- administration + contribution from associated states) and the dates indicated on these forms are tentative as the programme has not yet been formally approved. At present the list of associated states is also tentative. It is not clear how many countries will actually be associated at the time, when the contracts are finally approved. In our preparation for FP5 we will assume that all these contracts will be entered.

Proposals for FP5:

After a discussion it was decided that neutrons should consider 3 joint proposals for RTD projects and one proposal for a Round-Table on neutron sources. In order to access the interest for these networks and prepare the first draft of a work programme a responsible for each of these activities has been named. A short description including the names of the contact persons are given below. To follow the progress, please have a look at the neutron Round-Table home page.

If you want to participate or know of a suitable participant, then send brief outlines by the end of February (50-100 words) to the co-ordinators mentioned in the descriptions below.

Potential participants should note that EU support under RTD projects will amount to approximately 200 kEuro per participating group, typically over a 3 year period, and that the RTD project only covers about half of the expenses i.e. a local contribution of a similar amount shall be available. For more details of the RTD programmes under FP5 look at the CORDIS home page: http://www.cordis.lu

Proposed joint FP5 proposals and contact persons:

1 - RTD-project NTNI - New Technology for Neutron Instrumentation
It is proposed to organise an RTD project with the aim of developing new technologies for neutron instrumentation. The programme is aimed at component development, such as detectors, spin rotators and flippers and optical components, which will be essential components for instrument development over the next 5-10 years.
Co-ordinator: M.W. Johnson, ISIS e-mail: M.W.Johnson@rl.ac.uk

2 - RTD-project ENPI - European Neutron Polarisation Initiative.
Spin polarisation is an important neutron property, the use of which enhances considerably its ability to reveal intricate condensed matter properties (like spin-lattice interactions). Significant progress is being made both in theoretical aspects of polarimetric methods as well as in developing new hardware tools to achieve the most complete measurements (3He neutron spin filters, zero-field polarimeters, new polarising devices and crystals).
There is an obvious need for a collaborative effort in order to extend the field, in particular in the direction of future pulsed neutron sources.
Co-ordinator: Francis Tasset, ILL e-mail: tasset@ill.fr

3 - RTD-project - Software development that enables more efficient use of existing and future neutron facilities
The network will be devoted to software development that enables more efficient use of existing and future neutron facilities (possibly also to be extended to synchrotrons). Such software should contribute to considerably more cost effective and scientifically productive use of existing facilities and should provide new opportunities for the design of future instrumentation and the utilisation of future sources. All aspects of the experimental process can be included, such as:
· Instrument design (e.g. Monte Carlo simulation)
· Experiment design (by modelling/simulation prior to an experiment, 'virtual' instruments, CAD)
· Experiment execution (by interaction of simulation and analysis during an experiment)
· Instrument performance (e.g. statistical or other automated testing for complex multidetector/multicomponent instruments)
· Data visualisation and large data set handling
· Synergy of high level 'post-experiment' data analysis with all the previous categories
The network can build on and continue as appropriate some of the software activities included in previous RTD networks, e.g. NeXuS dictionary, OpenGenie, Bayesian library, McSTAS
Co-ordinator: Robert McGreevy, NFL, e-mail: mcgreevy@studsvik.uu.se

4 - Infrastructure co-operation network - Neutron Round-Table
It is intended to apply for a continuation of the neutron Round-Table but extend the programme in response to the 4th comment by the midterm review expert panel. The Round-Table can not support research but can support activities related to the transfer of knowledge and technologies between facilities and related to make generally useful software available to all users.
Co-ordinator: Kurt N Clausen, Risø, e-mail: kurt.clausen@risoe.dk

17:30 - 18:00 Matters of common interest:

The next Round-Table meeting:
The date and venue for next meeting is 31 August,1999 in Budapest
The meeting will start at 17:00 and be followed by a working dinner (at approximately 20:00).
Responsible: Laszlo Rosta books a room in the academy and makes a preliminary registration for dinner.

There will be no general reporting from facilities, but the main topics will be:
1 - The young scientist activity at ECNS'99
2 - Status of the work by ENSA on a European Strategy for Neutron Scattering
3 - Status of mapping activities co-ordinated by Colin Carlile and M. Steiner

New members on the Round-Table:

The RTD project: Vesuvio
To balance the national involvement on the Round-Table - we suggest that the project is represented by Carla Andreani
Responsible: Kurt Nørgaard Clausen contacts the project leader J Thomkinson, j.tomkinson@rl.ac.uk

The RTD project: Cold neutron optimisation
To balance the national involvement on the Round-Table - we suggest that the project is represented by Hans Graf
Responsible: Kurt Nørgaard Clausen contacts the project leader U Steigenberger

TMR-LSF joint user meeting at ECNS99:

In order to increase the visibility of the EC access programme, it was agreed to integrate our user programmes in the second European Conference on Neutron Scattering ECNS'99 1-4 September 1999 in Budapest. i.e.
1 - TMR users are urged to present their results as ordinary contributions to ECNS99
2 - there will be a special plenary TMR session.

The TMR session will be Friday September,3 from 17:00 - 19:00 and have the following format:

Introduction to the EC supported programmes for access to Neutron scattering facilities in Europe.(5-10 minutes Kurt Nørgaard Clausen Round-Table)
Presentation of the TMR-Access programmes at HMI-BENSC, LLB, NFL, ISIS and Risø by facility managers. (10 minutes each)
Open discussion about the programme - questions, comments and suggestions from users.
For young attendees the different access programmes can support travel (apex fare), and a per-diem for accommodation and living costs (equivalent to the normal rules of the facility approx. 69 Euro/day) for participants who:

Present an oral or a poster contribution at ECNS'99 with results obtained under the TMR-LSF programme and hand in the relevant paper for the proceedings.
Acknowledge the support by the European Commission on the poster and in the proceedings.
Attends the joint TMR-LSF session at ECNS'99.
Applicants should contact the respective TMR facilities for details. They will have to register for ECNS'99 in the same way as all other users, but will be reimbursed by the facility where they have performed their experiment. The deadline for ECNS´99 is 15 April 1999 - applications for support should be sent to the facilities not later than March 20th - in order for the facilities to grant support and inform the applicants around April 1st.

21:00 - 23:30 Round-Table Dinner
The dinner was the culmination of a couple of days display of the beauty of San Sebastian, Spanish hospitality, the exquisite Spanish cuisine and the excellent organisation by our host Juan Colmenero.

Risø,
draft 2 February 1999
final version 2 March 1999
Kurt Nørgaard Clausen