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The NRC International Peer Review Committee Meets at TRIUMF

26 April 2008

The International Peer Review (IPR) took place this week at TRIUMF between September 24 and 26. The 11 person committee, chaired by Dr. Rolf-Dieter Heuer, the research director of DESY, is made up of distinguished members of the international scientific community. Its purpose is to review TRIUMF’s performance and evaluate the Five-Year Plan proposal for 2010-2015.

The IPR examines three key aspects of TRIUMF: its relevance to the Canadian research community as well as Canadian industrial and commercial interests, TRIUMF’s success in meeting its objectives, and the excellence of its activities and researchers. The IPR committee also reviewed the Five-Year Plan to identify potential opportunities and new directions for TRIUMF. The meeting itself symbolizes an important milestone in the development of the Five-Year Plan as one step further in the process that will end with the Finance Minister’s final decision regarding the future direction and level of resources made available for TRIUMF.

Over the course of the three days, the committee heard presentations from TRIUMF scientists and members of the larger community, attended a student poster presentation, asked questions during panel discussions, took a whirlwind tour of the facilities, enjoyed meals provided by the newly renovated cafeteria, and discussed the future of TRIUMF. They were also given plenty of reading material in the form of the phonebook-sized Five-Year Plan, accompanied by a bilingual version of several relevant chapters.

Much of the committee’s meeting occurred in open session, allowing any interested TRIUMF staff and community members to observe presentations given by experts in their field; the result was often a packed auditorium. The speakers themselves ranged from students and research scientists at TRIUMF to prominent members of the academic, healthcare, and business communities. The committee members demonstrated a keen interest in the presentations.

The successful conclusion of the International Peer Review is due to the hard work of many individuals, too numerous to name. All of us at TRIUMF are grateful.

Banner photo from left to right : Simon Sutcliffe, Shoji Nagamiya, Karlheinz Langanke, Edwin Bourget, Ian Halliday, Pierre Coulombe, Kenneth Ragan, Rolf-Dieter Heuer, Walter Davidson, Thom Mason, William Trischuk, Robert Tribble, Alan Pelman, and Jonathan Dorfan.

By Kaitlan Huckabone
TRIUMF's Communications Assistant