The Cockcroft Institute

First IoP Particle Accelerator and Beam Group conference held in Liverpool

The first Institute of Physics (IoP) Particle Accelerator and Beams Group (PABG) annual conference was held at the University of Liverpool on 25th and 26th July. The PABG had previously held an annual one day meeting but this was the first time the program had been expanded to a two day conference. Almost 100 delegates from institutions across the UK attended.

There was a full program of plenary and parallel sessions across the two days with 6 invited speakers and a further 20 contributed talks.

The conference was opened with a welcome from the IoP PABG chair Dr Melissa Uchida (University of Cambridge) and the Local Organising Committee chair Prof Carsten P Welsch (University of Liverpool/Cockcroft Institute). Proceedings then got underway with panel discussion, chaired by Prof John Dainton (Lancaster University/Cockcroft Institute), on UK accelerator science and engineering in today’s changing world. There was a full program of plenary and parallel sessions across the two days with 6 invited speakers and a further 20 contributed talks.

The winner of the PABG Outstanding Professional Contribution Prize winner 2021 Chris Densham (STFC) was also invited to give a talk. He spoke about his career in a talk called ‘Targets for a Fake Physicist’. The closing keynote talk was given by Prof Elaine Seddon (University of Manchester/Cockcroft Institute) on the origin and development of FELs in the UK.

Group photograph of the participants of the IoP PABG conference.

A dedicated poster session complemented the interesting programme, illustrating the work of several UK-based accelerator science students, as well as many other delegates who had chosen to present their work in this way. A prize for the best student or early career scientist poster was awarded to Daniel Seal of Lancaster University.

A formal conference dinner was held in the Crypt of Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral. This was also when this year’s Outstanding Professional Contribution Prize was awarded. It went to Dr Brian McNeil of the University of Strathclyde/Cockcroft Institute for his exceptional contributions to Free Electron Laser research.

Industry exhibition at the IoP PABG conference.

Throughout the conference there were ample opportunities for delegates to speak with industrial exhibitors who presented their product lines. This offered ideal opportunities to discuss future collaborative research opportunities. The conference was sponsored by Elekta, Shakespeare Engineering and Dassault Systems.

The next IoP PABG annual conference will be held in Oxford in 2023.