High Field Magnet Laboratory: a global player in science in high magnetic fields (FOM-HFML)

Approved FOM programme

Objectives

It is the ambition of RU and FOM the HFML to become an important global player with a strong and high impact scientific reputation and to play a leading role in the European Magnetic Field Laboratory.

Background, relevance and implementation

The High Field Magnet Laboratory in Nijmegen is specialized in producing the highest continuous magnetic fields, use them for innovative research and make them available for external users. The scientific motivation to use high magnetic fields in experiments and to invest in their generation is that new discoveries are very often done at the highest available magnetic fields because under these conditions new phenomena are most clearly visible.
The HFML-installation (representing a M€ 23 investment in infrastructure and a M€ 12 investment in a new 45T hybrid magnet in the process of realization) is one of the three in the world where such high continuous magnetic fields can be made and it functions successfully as a large research infrastructure on an international scale.
The HFML has played a leading role in unifying the European activities by bringing Dresden, Toulouse, Grenoble and the HFML together in order to form a European Magnetic Field Laboratory (EMFL). The EMFL initiative is included in European Strategic Forum for Research Infrastructures (ESFRI 2008) list and the HFML is placed on the National Roadmap large research infrastructures. Therefore the laboratory through its central place in the EMFL under formation, may realize a large research infrastructure on Dutch soil.
This ambition is realistic since the HFML has a strong scientific reputation in research in high magnetic fields and a prominent position within the leading international high magnetic field community. The HFML has an excellent installation, reasonably good experimental infrastructure, is well embedded in the RU, IMM and the Dutch research environment. The HFML has the most ambitious ongoing investment programme with the 45T hybrid and a Free Electron Laser with characteristics that match all relevant magnetic resonances up to 45T and connected to the HFML being realized.
To realise this ambition it is necessary to develop the HFML to its full potential, i.e. by an increase of the in-house research groups (strongly correlated electron systems, low dimensional structures, soft matter and magnet technology), of the technical staff and of the exploitation budget to make full time operation possible and to be able to cover the most relevant research areas in a scientifically appealing way.
In August 2011 FOM and RU have agreed to act together to realise this ambition. The necessary exploitation budget increase for this is M€ 3.5 per year for full operation (above the existing exploitation budget of M€ 3.0 per year). As a first step the RU will contribute k€ 4.000 (k€400 per year) extra and FOM k€ 7.500 (in a flexible funding scheme) through this FOM programme. Parallel to the implementation of these first steps further funding to achieve full exploitation will be pursued.
In March 2012, NWO recognized HFML as a national top research facility and granted M€ 11.0.

Remarks

The HFML (including this programme) will be evaluated every five years by an international committee.The final evaluation of this programme will consist of a self-evaluation initiated by the programme leader and is foreseen for 2022.