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Upcoming SLUO Events on the Future of HEP

Following years of decreasing budgets, the US government recently announced plans to double the funding for the physical sciences by 2017, with increases starting as early as 2007. In response, the SLAC Users' Organization (SLUO) has scheduled several informational events to help its members participate in making the proposed budget increases a reality.

"This [budget doubling] puts us in a totally different situation from what we have been used to over the past decade," said SLUO Chair Abi Soffer. "Whether or not this bright future will be realized depends to a significant extent on how actively we, the users of HEP facilities, get behind it."

Through a series of events, SLUO seeks to encourage SLAC  users and employees to get informed, participate, and influence the direction of high-energy physics in the coming decade.

This series, organized jointly by SLUO and SLAC, includes the following events.

On April 20 and 21, the Particle Physics Project Prioritization Panel (P5) Subpanel will meet at SLAC to get input from the West Coast community. P5's charge is to propose a detailed roadmap for US high-energy physics in the next decade. Between 6:20 and 7:15 pm on April 20, P5 will hold a reception and informal community discussion outside the ROB (bldg. 48).

Toward the end of April we expect the release of the National Academies' "EPP 2010" report, which will prioritize the questions that define high-energy physics and recommend the course of the field in the next 15 years. The report is expected to make important recommendations regarding the International Linear Collider (ILC), to which SLAC will be a leading contributor.

On May 5, Harold Shapiro, the chair of EPP 2010, will be here to present the committee’s findings and recommendations to SLAC users and staff, as well as those from nearby institutions. His talk will include a long Q&A session, giving everyone an opportunity to participate.

Later in May, SLUO is planning a short day of talks and discussions to understand what it will take to realize the increased funding and new facilities, and define the role that each of us has in making it happen. The details are still being planned, and suggestions are most welcome.

The full-day SLUO annual meeting will take place on Monday, September 11. The date, a day before the BaBar collaboration meeting, was chosen so as to make it easy for BaBar members to attend. SLUO is inviting distinguished and interesting speakers, including several from the federal government, and will focus on issues of science funding, planning the future of high-energy physics and SLAC, and the ILC.