NCCR Muoniverse approved with UZH as co-leading house
UZH and PSI will jointly host the National Center for Competence in Research (NCCR) Muoniverse, which brings together more than 30 teams across Switzerland to use muons for fundamental science and applications-oriented research.
Muon Science will get a boost in Switzerland over the coming years, and the Department of Physics at the University of Zurich plays no small part in it. The Swiss Federal Government has announced the latest round of National Centers of Competence in Research (NCCRs), and one of the six centers to be created is the NCCR Muoniverse. With Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) being its leading house and the University of Zurich the co-leading house, the NCCR will further strengthen the strategic partnership between the two institutions. However, the network represented by Muoniverse spans across all Switzerland and consists of more than 30 research teams, including two museums and the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research. This breadth shows that the scope of Muoniverse is not limited to physics, but seeks to extend the use of muons to many areas of applied science — such as research on batteries or high-power semiconductors — as well as for studying cultural heritage, snow coverage, and building structures. In physics, muons are used as sensitive probes of the standard model of particle physics and for characterizing new phases of matter, such as exotic superconductors or magnets. The foundation for Muoniverse is the world-class muon-beam facility at PSI, which will under-go a major upgrade between 2025 and 2028, as well as new detector systems, which are pixelated and can locate the decay of a muon in three-dimensionally. Thanks to these key developments, the NCCR Muoniverse will be able to create a unique, comprehensive innovation pipeline for muon science. More information under https://www.muoniverse.ch/
