17–22 May 2026
C.I.D
Europe/Zurich timezone

Towards a Community of Practice in Project Management of Particle Accelerator and Big-Science Projects: The AcceleratePM Initiative

TUP8032
19 May 2026, 16:00
2h
C.I.D

C.I.D

Deauville, France
Poster Presentation MC8.U11: Outreach and Communications Poster session

Speaker

Giovanna Vandoni (European Organization for Nuclear Research)

Description

Across Europe, several large-scale particle accelerator and big-science projects — each exceeding hundreds of millions of euros and extending over a decade — are under design or construction, with comparable initiatives underway in the US and China. Despite remarkable scientific achievements, many of them face cost and schedule drift, even when scientific performance targets haven’t been scaled down to maintain cost and timeline. Managing these complex, R&D-driven scientific facility projects requires approaches distinct from even the largest conventional infrastructure undertakings. Recognizing this need, a group of project management (PM) professionals active in particle accelerator initiatives has launched AcceleratePM*, the first international workshop dedicated to PM for accelerator and big-science projects. The first workshop, to be held at CERN in January 2026, will gather all major laboratories and projects to exchange methods, identify common challenges, and define best practices. This contribution presents the workshop scheme, themes, key-findings and planned outcomes, showcasing the largest recent projects – amongst which HL-LHC, ESS, FAIR, F4E – and aiming at informing the management of next-generation initiatives such as the Future Circular Collider (FCC). By building on common issues and most effective solutions, AcceleratePM intends to establish a lasting community of practice, shaping how large scientific projects are conceived, planned, and delivered.

Footnotes

*AcceleratePM workshop program: https://indico.cern.ch/event/1583093/

In which format do you inted to submit your paper? Word

Author

Giovanna Vandoni (European Organization for Nuclear Research)

Co-authors

Alessandro Variola (Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare) Mr Andrew Kimber (European Spallation Source) Mr Emmanuel Rosi (GSI Helmholtz Centre for Heavy Ion Research) Dr Esther Barbero Soto (Fusion for Energy) Dr Lucas Taylor (Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory) Michele Battistin (European Organization for Nuclear Research) Natalya Winters (GSI Helmholtz Centre for Heavy Ion Research) Dr Stephan Klumpp (Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron)

Presentation materials

There are no materials yet.