Present: J. Billowes (p.t.), P. Butler (chairman), A. Di Pietro, L. Fraile, M. Garcia-Borge, M. Huyse, A. Jokinen, M. Lindroos, D. Lunney, K. Riisager, S. Siem (p.t.)

Excused: K. Blaum, T. Nilsson

The meeting starts at 09.00 h

1. Introductory remarks by the chairman

The meeting is opened by the chairman who passes on the apology from K. Blaum for his absence. The chairman welcomes Sunniva Siem as an observer from Norway at the meeting. He then congratulates the local ISOLDE team on the ISOLDE Workshop and Users meeting which was held at CERN 12-14^th February 2007.

2. Approval of the minutes of the 47th meeting.

The minutes are approved without any changes.

3. Technical developments and AB Department news (M. Lindroos) (see overheads)

M. Lindroos summarises the work carried out during this years shut-down. He  then goes on to outline the present position of the HIE-ISOLDE project.

The ATC/ABOC review, which was set up after certain issues were raised by ISOLDE users, is then discussed. After the review a set of actions have been proposed by the AB department, and will be discussed by the AB Management Board (ABMB). The AB department proposes to re-analyse consolidation needs at ISOLDE and to discuss the re-organization of the ISOLDE activities and roles. It is proposed to limit the use of RILIS to 1500 online hours in order to free up staff for the installation of the new solid state laser system. The Collaboration agrees that if this and other changes put forward by the ABMB are implemented there will be a considerable impact on the physics programme at ISOLDE.

The chairman thanks the AB Department for the professional manner in which it has responded to ISOLDE concerns. Information about the review can be found at http://indico.cern.ch/conferenceDisplay.py?confId=7306

M. Lindroos presents the status of the RFQ Cooler project. The committee is told that Hanna Franberg will coordinate the installation of the cooler and that progress has already been made during the shutdown. The necessary off-line tests are then discussed and it is confirmed that these tests must show that the bunching  is working before the cooler can be installed. The on-line installation is summarised and then a discussion is held about when the best time would be for this installation to take place. The collaboration supported installation during September 2007 as this will allow 1½ months of testing during which a sufficiently high enough level of support will be available and after which any problems encountered can be solved during the following shut-down. It is agreed that planning should allow for the running of the GPS during the disruption to the HRS schedule so as to minimise disruption to the ISOLDE users. M. Lindroos asks that the AB department be informed as soon as possible if the ISCC wishes to delay the installation beyond September because a large amount of important resources are required for this project. The committee looks forward to the positive impact that the RFQ Cooler will have on the ISOLDE physics programme.

4. Scheduling and PH Department news (L. Fraile / K. Riisager) (see overheads)

L. Fraile summarizes the 2006 physics programme. The number of shifts requested was 481 and number of shifts delivered by ISOLDE was 350.5. The first three weeks of programme had been lost but by squeezing the schedule, two experiments were able to be rescheduled at the end of the year. There had been 5 CERN wide power cuts during 2006 which had affected the running of ISOLDE. After the power cut of 29^th July it had taken one week to repair the damage caused.

The committee is shown various statistics from ISOLDE operation during 2006 including shift and target distribution and shifts using RILIS and REX. There is an ever increasing demand and use of the ISOLDE key resources, namely actinide targets, RILIS and REX-ISOLDE.

 L. Fraile also presents a summary of comments made by ISOLDE users about how the ISOLDE facility operates and how it could possibly be improved.

The committee is told that in 2007 protons will be delivered to ISOLDE from 16^th April and the physics programme will run from 23^rd April to 12^th November.

K. Riisager informs the committee that diagnosis of the problem encountered during 2006 regarding the preparation of certain targets is in progress. He then goes on to tell the committee that, since the CERN Director General has but an emphasis on safety, the safety commission is being re-organised. It has been proposed that the Physics Coordinator become the safety representative, i.e. the GLIMOS, for all ISOLDE experiments and a deputy GLIMOS will be nominated for permanent setups. A. Herlert will study safety concerns of the cryogenic systems at ISOLDE.
The committee is told by K. Riisager that contact has been made with the CERN Users Office is order to try to simplify administration required for ISOLDE experiments and users. Spokespersons are asked to inform new ISOLDE users that they should visit the ISOLDE secretariat in order to insure user information is as up-to-date as possible.

Progress of Mini-move is summarized. Mounting will take place in March and the electronics will be tested during April so that testing with beam should occur in May.

The chairman congratulates the ISOLDE Physics coordinator and the Physics group for delivering so many shifts during 2006 despite all the problems encountered.

5. Budget 2006+7 (K. Riisager)

The ISOLDE Collaboration expenditure for 2006 and the budget until 2008 are presented. The following points are made:

• Norway has paid 30kCHF membership for the second half of 2006 but, as yet, no final agreement has been made.
• D. Voulot is now a fellow in the AB Dept. and his salary will be made by the collaboration for the first year of his contract.
• The cost of the Mini-move so far has been paid by a Belgian account but this must be reimbursed by the collaboration

The committee decides to give CHF5000.- towards the cost of the 2008 ISOLDE Workshop and is told by M. Huyse that there may be some funds available for this event from a special Belgian account.

6. HIE-ISOLDE, incl. ISOLDE-GANIL (P. Butler/M. Lindroos/K.Riisager)

The committee is told that the Scientific Policy Committee at CERN has reviewed the proposals presented in the HIE white paper but there has been no outcome as yet. ISOLDE users are encouraged to lobby their CERN council members to support the HIE-ISOLDE project.

The committee hears that a grant has been received from Leuven and the Flemish Research Foundation which will fund a R&D post for the superconducting Linac which will be require for the HIE project. It is decided that the situation of funding for HIE from CERN should be clarified before any other outside funding can be committed.

K. Riisager informs the committee about the meeting held between ISOLDE/CERN representatives and members of GANIL/IN2P3 on the 29^th January at GANIL. The meeting was called by the head of IN2P3, M. Spiro, to aid the exchange of know-how and to discuss how the two facilities can work complimentary to each other. A common strategy document will be produced by K. Riisager and M. Lewitowicz. The committee agrees that it would be highly desirable to have a good working relationship with GANIL with EURISOL as a common goal. A proposal to organize a joint scientific meeting with GANIL is discussed.

7. INTC matters (M. Huyse)

The INTC chairman informs the committee that there are a number of new members to the INTC committee and that a report on the status of RILIS is to be presented at the next INTC meeting.

8. MoU and potential new members (K. Riisager)

K. Riisager summarises the situation of the new MoU. The document has been signed by CERN and sent out to all ISCC members and those members who cannot sign it themselves should ensure that it is signed by the correct person.

The committee is told that Norway cannot yet sign the MoU until their situation has been clarified and their representative on the ISCC committee has been finalized.

A discussion follows about creating an “observer status” for counties that wish to join the ISOLDE collaboration. It is agreed that this status could be awarded for a maximum of 3 years and that the country would be charged half the annual ISOLDE collaboration membership fee. However, this status would require the country to give a commitment to trying to find funding for the full membership fee after the 3 year period has finished.

9. Fellowship applications (K. Riisager)
The present situation of fellows at ISOLDE is summarized

• Magdalena Kowalska started as a Marie Curie Fellow on 1^st January 2007.
• Hanna Franberg started as a CERN fellow in the AB department on 1^st January 2007 and will be paid from INTAG funds (EURONS JRA06).
• Didier Voulot also started as a CERN fellow in the AB department on 1^st January 2007 and will be paid for the first year by the ISOLDE collaboration.
• H. Jeppesen and A. Herlert will finish their CERN fellowships this year.

The committee is informed that ISOLDE is looking for strong candidates to apply for CERN fellowships and that the deadline dates for applications this year are 14^th March and 17^th September. Also, ISOLDE, being in the PH Department, is only allowed to take on Senior Fellows, i.e. those that already have a PhD.

The committee is told that ISOLDE has been encouraged to apply for Scientific Associate posts which are posts for 6 months to one year where the candidate is partly paid by their home institute but receives an extra allowance from CERN.

10. A.O.B.

• The committee is informed that the China Institute of Nuclear Physics (BRIF) at the Chinese Institute for Atomic Energy (CIAE) has asked for a letter of collaboration with CERN for ISOL issues.
• It is announced that the ISOLDE Spring School of Nuclear Theory will be held at CERN from 21-26 May 2007. This event will be organized by J. Cederkall and M. Hjorth-Jensen and will be aimed at PhD students.
  http://www.cern.ch/isolde-nt2007
• The committee is informed that because a new ISOLDE Physics Group leader will be required from September 2008 and CERN would like to interview the candidate, someone would have to be put forward for the position by the autumn of 2007. The procedure for appointing the physics group leader is discussed.
• The next ISCC meeting will be held at CERN on 21^st May 2007 at 09:00.

The meeting ends at 12:25h