Accelerating Canada’s leadership in global big science

TRIUMF, Canada’s particle accelerator centre, is elevating Canada onto the world stage in big science.

The 20th century saw some of humanity’s most important scientific achievements. From mass-produced automobiles to the space race and beyond, we have always pursued a mountain to climb.

In an article published in science In 1961, Alvin M. Weinberg, director of Oak Ridge National Laboratory, wrote: Just as surely as she will find medieval symbols in Notre Dame Cathedral, she will find modern symbols in the monuments of big science: giant rockets, high-energy accelerators, and high-flux research reactors. ”

Weinberg’s claims about these “monuments” were, of course, prescient. Sixty years later (and well into his 21st century), many of our greatest and most defining scientific monuments have come from experimental physics, nuclear power, and space travel. But perhaps more prescient was the coining of the term “big science” to describe what has become the world’s largest, most complex, and most collaborative scientific endeavor. Today, big science speaks to the scale of equipment needed to drive discovery and innovation. Good science requires big communities, big labs, big machines, and big budgets.

Such simple language belies the inherent complexity and uniformity that large-scale research requires, which is the very nature of how science is currently done. The march of progress no longer depends so obviously on the breakthrough discoveries of single geniuses like Einstein, Newton, and Curie in isolation or within the confines of their ivory towers. Today, international research teams transcend national borders and conduct scientific investigations on a scale and scope that was unimaginable to our scientific predecessors. Much of the large-scale science being done today relies on thousands of top talent in traditional disciplines such as physics, chemistry, and biology, as well as in necessary R&D support fields such as engineering, technical support, and management. Requires a strong team.

Not surprisingly, this coordinated and collaborative approach has allowed us to conduct better science and expand our understanding of the universe and ourselves in unprecedented ways. Big science has brought us, among other achievements, the discovery of the Higgs boson, the elusive and long-theorized particle that gives matter mass. The ability to map the entire human genome for the first time. And through a coordinated multi-messenger telescope array, we will be able to glimpse deeper and deeper into the darkest abyss of the universe, deeper than ever thought possible.

Canada’s big science ambitions

Despite a historically natural resource-focused economy and relatively small population, Canada has developed a strong reputation as a world leader in some of the world’s most important large-scale big science efforts. This, in part, combined with the postwar cooperative science funding that sowed the seeds of programs of national infrastructure development and support for academic institutions, contributed to the development of the same as accessible and globally engaged conveners and peace mediators. This is due to the intentional positioning of the institution. Canada has produced various Nobel Prize winners in the fields of physics, chemistry and medicine, and maintains a high ranking among scientists worldwide for the quality of scientific research. The country’s scientific achievements are supported by a strong university infrastructure, many of which consistently rank among the best in the world. Canada’s scientific leadership is also evident in major research facilities such as the deep underground mine SNOLAB, the Canadian Light Source, and Canada’s particle accelerator center TRIUMF, based in Vancouver.

TRIUMF is one of the few subatomic research facilities in the world capable of producing extremely powerful beams of rare isotopes. Thanks to both its facilities and the community of particle accelerator experts it convenes today, the Vancouver-based institute has become an international magnet for scientists and students working in fields such as astronuclear physics. has become a hub for the study of element formation in stellar phenomena (researchers are using rare isotope beams to study the origins and processes), life sciences (and important for the diagnosis and treatment of disease). from producing medical isotopes) to materials science (where beams can help characterize materials such as superconductors, or design and test next-generation batteries), and beyond.

In the spirit of big science, collaboration and community are at the core of TRIUMF. Unlike its federally run sister institutes in the United States, TRIUMF was a local collaboration between his three universities (University of British Columbia, Simon Fraser University, and Victoria University) prior to his first board meeting in 1968. was first conceived as. , a fourth institution (University of Alberta) signed on, and many others enthusiastically joined soon after. Today, the lab is owned and operated by a consortium, or larger community, of 21 member universities across the country. – All of these contribute equally to the laboratory’s mission and scientific program.

Although not as large as the Large Hadron Collider, TRIUMF’s 520 MeV cyclotron, with a diameter of 18 meters and a mass of 4,000 tons, is the largest cyclotron of its kind in the world, and its associated laboratory is home to the single largest experiment It now forms one of the chambers. Investing in Canada’s science infrastructure in the nation’s history. Leveraging these unique facilities, TRIUMF has established a strong track record of scientific excellence, leading important research into the properties of matter and fostering a thriving ecosystem of accelerator-generated medical isotopes. We promote and train tens of thousands of students, scientists, and STEM leaders around the world. Over 50 years.

As Canada’s largest university-owned research facility, TRIUMF continues to expand the impact of Canadian science on the world stage by thinking globally and working collaboratively. For example, through his TRIUMF, Canadians were able to get their first glimpse of the Higgs boson and the ATLAS detector, one of the two main detectors of the Large Hadron Collider, which won the 2012 Nobel Prize in Physics. He has played a leading role in construction, installation and operation. . Similarly, the laboratory leverages Canada’s expertise in physics, accelerator development, and detector technology through collaborations and agreements that support Japan’s Hyper-K, India’s VECC, and India’s Electron Ion Collider (EIC). can be released into experiments and facilities. such as the United States. TRIUMF’s Center for Molecular and Materials Science offers a globally sought-after facility for investigating the properties of materials and chemical systems using beams of muons (muon spin rotation, relaxation, and resonance, or muSR) To do. Through TRIUMF, the global nuclear physics and innovation community has access to Canadian talent, infrastructure and innovation.

The future face of particle accelerator-based research in Canada: ARIEL and IAMI

On the institute’s 13-acre campus, TRIUMF’s community of researchers, engineers, and designers are currently ramping up the institute’s 50-year-old beamline, which includes research in fundamental physics, cutting-edge medical applications, and more. New accelerator technology and downstream radioisotope production facilities will help expand TRIUMF as a large research institute and broaden the impact of its role in international science. only.

At TRIUMF’s flagship interdisciplinary research facility, the Advanced Rare Isotope Research Institute (ARIEL), enhanced accelerator equipment delivers rare isotope beams of unprecedented intensity and uses a diverse isotope library to generate multiple experiments can be conducted simultaneously. With the new superconducting electron linac (the most powerful electron linac for producing isotopes online in the world) and his two additional target stations, the lab’s rare isotope production will soon triple. Masu. Using these new beams, researchers can open new avenues of research using TRIUMF’s existing infrastructure and experimental equipment.

Complementing this is TRIUMF’s new radiopharmaceutical facility, the Institute for Advanced Medical Isotopes (IAMI). IAMI has the world’s most technologically advanced medical cyclotron (TR-24 MeV, manufactured by his famous TRIUMF spinoff-turned-partner Advanced Cyclotron Systems Inc.) and a set of good manufacturing practices ( GMP) is equipped. This will allow TRIUMF to strengthen the supply of diagnostic isotopes needed regionally and nationally, as well as research partners to explore the development of new cutting-edge radiopharmaceuticals and radiopharmaceuticals for Canadian and international applications. and industry partners. One such isotope, actinium-225 (dubbed the rarest drug on Earth), has already shown overwhelmingly positive results in clinical trials and is currently being produced at the isotope production facility within TRIUMF. It is produced.

It is clear to Canada that TRIUMF’s forward-looking facilities and historic commitment to collaboration and global engagement have a contradictory impact. TRIUMF’s particle and nuclear physics program is well-known. Its accelerator expertise is sought after in a variety of major global research collaborations, and its life sciences programs are at the forefront of next-generation radiopharmaceutical development. Through industry collaboration, TRIUMF supplies approximately 2 million patient doses of medical isotopes annually, ships them around the world, establishes spin-off companies, licenses intellectual property, and uses particle beams to We are proud of the high number of reservations for on-site material testing.

Vancouver’s clean technology ecosystem, including nuclear startups like General Fusion, greatly benefits from access to TRIUMF’s infrastructure, network, and expertise in characterization and system development support. Then, in 2020, at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, TRIUMF leveraged its expertise in device engineering and gas handling and exchange systems (expertise gained from building dark matter experiments). This enabled us to prototype, test, and produce new products. – Ventilators for COVID-19 patients in Canada.

Through TRIUMF, in partnership with various national research institutions such as Canadian Light Source and SNOLAB, Canadian research and innovation continues to be propelled onto the world stage. In 2024, Canada will gain access to Horizon Europe, a multi-billion dollar funding initiative that connects research and industry partners within and outside the European Union. This agreement reflects a strong and positive view of Canadian science in global scientific institutions and opens new avenues for Canadian researchers to access international funding sources.

Strengthening Canadian science – now and for the future

Through these large-scale research facilities, Canada has contributed world-leading, made-in-Canada scientific research to the world’s ecosystems. To strengthen Canada’s science and maximize the nation’s contribution to critical initiatives such as climate change response, clean energy and quantum computing, the Government of Canada is building a large-scale research platform that is a key element of research. We need to ensure that appropriate supporting mechanisms are in place. Ecosystem. Unless we carefully reconfigure the way we fund Canadian science and important research facilities like TRIUMF, Canada could jeopardize its leadership and contribution in global big science.

With adequate funding, Canada’s research community and the national scientific infrastructure upon which Canadian and international researchers rely can continue to support the country’s position as a partner of choice in research and innovation. Ensuring these elements are strong, robust, and connected through consistent access to resources is essential to Canada’s continued leadership in global big science.

This article will also be published in the 17th issue of the quarterly magazine.