FRIB Users Organization update
By Kelly Chipps, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
FRIB Users Organization holds annual election
The FRIB Users Organization (FRIBUO) Executive Committee completed its election for three new members in January. FRIBUO members voted for two general members and one member of the standing operations subcommittee that focuses on day-to-day operations.
The new general members are Rituparna Kanungo (St. Mary's University) and Vandana Tripathi (Florida State University). The new operations subcommittee member is Andrew Ratkiewicz (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory).
The new members replace outgoing general members Dan Bardayan (University of Notre Dame) and Steve Yates (University of Kentucky) and outgoing operations subcommittee member Romualdo deSouza (Indiana University), who are concluding their terms of service to the FRIBUO executive committee.
The Executive Committee voted Kelly Chipps (Oak Ridge National Laboratory) as FRIBUOEC Chair for 2022, and Melina Avila (Argonne National Laboratory) as Secretary.
FRIB Users Organization members participate in Nuclear Physics DC Day
In April, many members of the FRIB Users Organization participated in the annual Nuclear Physics DC Day activities, including virtual meetings with representatives and staffers across the U.S.
With Congress focused on a number of issues, the question is: How does the user community effectively keep advocating for nuclear physics as the appropriations process proceeds behind the scenes?
FRIB users emphasized to their elected officials that the nuclear physics research agenda is best enabled through a balanced portfolio of facility operations, research, and construction of new capabilities, consistent with the recommendations of the 2015 DOE/NSF Nuclear Science Advisory Community Long Range Plan that highlighted the unique value of nuclear physics research to national innovation leadership.
FRIB Users Communications Preferences Survey
Also in April, the FRIBUO Executive Committee initiated a survey to engage the user community in determining how FRIB can best communicate updates. In total, 332 people responded.
The majority of respondents prefer email for FRIB updates and communications, requesting a wide range of information: schedule updates, technical details, and science highlights, among other things.
Several communications improvements to the FRIB user portal are already in the pipeline—keep an eye open for updates!
Low Energy Community Meeting to be held 8-10 August
The annual Low Energy Community Meeting (LECM) will be held 8-10 August, hosted by Argonne National Laboratory. At the moment, the meeting is planned for in-person attendance.
On the afternoon of 8 August are several workshops and tours of ATLAS. The working groups will meet through the morning and early afternoon of 9 August, followed by the start of the plenary session, featuring talks from the FRIB Achievement Award for Early Career Researchers winners.
The main plenary session will take place in the morning of 10 August, with presentations from the funding agencies, FRIB, ATLAS, ARUNA, and the FRIB Theory Alliance. Several special topics talks are also included.
More information, including the program, working group session schedule, and registration form, can be found at the LECM 2022 website.
