Polish title of the project: Pierwiastki Chemiczne jako Wskaźniki Ewolucji Kosmosu - Infrastruktura dla Astrofizyki Jądrowej

Acronym: ChETEC-INFRA

Source(s) of funding: Horizon 2020

Project budget: EUR 4,999,605.35 (including NCBJ budget: EUR 77,000)

PnH2 funding for NCBJ: 70 650 PLN.

Implementation start date: 2021-05-01

Project leader: Dr Łukasz Świderski

Project website: https://www.chetec-infra.eu/

Nuclear astrophysics deals with the study of the origin of chemical elements: from the Big Bang to combustion in stars to neutron star collisions. ChETEC-INFRA brings together three types of research infrastructures that together make this challenge possible: nuclear laboratories provide reaction data, centres equipped with supercomputers carry out calculations on stellar structure and the course of nucleosynthesis, while telescopes and mass spectrometers collect data on the distribution of elements. ChETEC-INFRA aims to overcome existing barriers to progress: in particular, it will enable unified access to nuclear astrophysics infrastructures through a new integrated web portal. The project will develop improved targets and detectors for nuclear reactions, open-source software for nucleosynthesis simulations and a 3D atmospheric model for stellar spectral analysis, building on the current state of knowledge. The novel approach will involve the application of complementary techniques to a single question, which will be achieved by combining data collection by telescopes, nuclear laboratories and supercomputers.

ChETEC-INFRA will provide the scientific community with the tools needed to answer key questions about thermonuclear fusion in stars, nucleosynthesis occurring through neutron capture and processes accompanying stellar explosions. The data obtained will be catalogued and archived for long-term access after the end of the project, ranging from estimated active cross sections for nuclear reactions, to detailed data on the chemical composition of most stars, to calculations on the nucleosynthesis of the most significant elements. ChETEC-INFRA will attract the interest of students, PhD students as well as the detector industry. The ChETEC-INFRA community is an outgrowth of the COST action CA16117 (ChETEC - Chemical Elements as Tracers of the Evolution of the Cosmos) and is linked to nuclear astrophysics networks operating in the USA, China and Japan.

The main objective of the ChETEC-INFRA project is to provide researchers from different parts of the world with research infrastructure that can serve scientific research in nuclear astrophysics. Competitions are announced every few months over the course of the project. Applications can be submitted via https://www.chetec-infra.eu/tna/