Prof. Michał Kowal, Head of the NCBJ Theoretical Physics Department, joined the Scientific Council of the French research center GANIL (French: Grand Accélérateur National d’Ions Lourds – Great National Heavy Ion Accelerator). Along with other members of the Council, prof. Kowal will shape the institute’s research program.

At the GANIL site in Normandy, there is a cyclotron complex capable of producing heavy ion beams with high energies of tens of MeV per particle. They are used, inter alia, in research in the field of nuclear physics, astrophysics, material physics and radiobiology. The center also has a LINAG accelerator (LINear Accelerator of GANIL), which is part of the SPIRAL2 project, which is currently under development. This accelerator is capable of accelerating light particles, which, thanks to the use of an appropriate target, also allows to obtain high-intensity neutron beams used in the Neutrons For Science research area.

„The GANIL Scientific Council meets annually to review the condition of accelerators and the current and future instrumentation,” explains Prof. Michał Kowal. „At the next meeting, the proposed research programs for the next 3 years will be analyzed. The board will make recommendations to the GANIL management on priorities”.

Scientists from NCBJ also take part in the work at GANIL, mainly by developing theories and predictions for the experiments conducted there. „I hope that the presence of our research group in the GANIL experiments will be able to expand and intensify through my participation in the Scientific Council” – adds prof. Kowal.