KVI-CART's particle accelerator will move to UMCG
Giulia Fabrizi
The RUG and the UMCG have decided to permanently house research institute KVI-CART's particle accelerator AGOR at the UMCG. The technicians who maintain the accelerator will move with it.
The department of medical biology will also move to the UMCG. KVI-CART's nuclear and astrophysicists will all go to the Faculty of Science and Engineering. The university is still looking for a solution for several people who don't belong to any specific department, says RUG spokesperson Jorien Bakker.
Due to last year's financial losses, the RUG's board of directors found it inevitable to reorganise research institute KVI-CART. The university wanted to move the particle accelerator and the medical physicists to the UMCG, with the other scientists moving elsewhere.
The university council blocked the board's plan, because it wasn't clear whether the UMCG would actually adopt the accelerator. There was also no guarantee that all the scientists from the institute could be housed elsewhere. Only when the board assured the council no one would lose their job did the council agree to the reorganization announcement.
Until now, there was still uncertainty as to whether the UMCG would be adopting the particle accelerator, as running it costs millions. Nevertheless, the accelerator is of the utmost importance to the Proton Therapy Centre at the UMCG, which contributes to the development of radio therapy using protons and other ions.
Dutch Cancer Society
Recent funding from the Dutch Cancer Society had helped to expand research into this kind of radiation biology. 'The university and the teaching hospital have therefore concluded that integrating our activities further is to the research's benefit', said the university.
The plans are still in the early stages, as both the university council and the UMCG's works council have to announce their decisions on the plans.