Technological Research CSN5
CSN5 coordinates technological research and the development of applications in other areas of fundamental physics tools, methods and technologies. The INFN is a solid reference at national and international level for the development of future prototypes and the realisation of today’s particle accelerators. In addition to fundamental physics research, the prototypes are used in other fields of research, as well as economic and social life. Intense interdisciplinary collaboration and exploitation also concerns developments in radiation detectors, electronics and informatics. All these technologies have a significant socio-economic impact, for example in the fields of medical imaging, particle therapy to fight cancer, the development of treatment plans in radiotherapy with proton and ion beams, and the protection of cultural and environmental heritage.
The new frontiers of research on detectors and associated electronics follow the major experimental projects involving the INFN. The Research and Development (R&D) fields concern high energy and intensity electron accelerators, proton and ion accelerators for the production of radioactive beams and for applications in particle therapy. There are also accelerators for the production of very high energy and highly coherent electromagnetic radiation (X-FEL) and the ESS (European Spallation Source) project under construction in Lund, Sweden.
In the biomedical field, INFN’s expertise has found relevant applications in medical imaging, cancer therapy, dosimetry and the study of cellular evolution and neurological models. In addition, environmental investigations and analysis of artefacts of artistic, archaeological and historical interest are increasingly making use of extremely advanced and highly sensitive measurement technologies and methods developed in fundamental physics experiments.
Through the CSN5 initiatives, the INFN collaborates with the main national and regional research and control institutions operating in the health sector, such as the Istituto Superiore di Sanità, the Ministry of Health, national and regional health foundations and companies, other research bodies ITT (Italian Technology Institute), CNR (National Research Council) and INGV (National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology) and, last but not least, Universities. Technology transfer activities are also encouraged through the development of specific partnership agreements with industrial trade associations (CONFINDUSTRIA and CONFAPI).