The Cockcroft Institute

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A collaboration between academia, national laboratories, industry and local economy.

The Cockcroft Institute – a collaboration between academia, national laboratories, industry and local economy – brings together the best accelerator scientists, engineers, educators and industrialists to conceive, design, construct and use innovative instruments of discovery at all scales and lead the UK’s participation in flagship international experiments. It cultures the curiosity of emerging minds via education of the future generation and engages with industrial partners to generate wealth for the community that sustains us.

07/10/2026

The international Beam Gas Curtain (BGC) collaboration between the University of Liverpool, CERN and GSI Helmholtz Centre for Heavy Ion Research has received the prestigious Faraday Cup Award for the development of a pioneering beam diagnostic for CERN’s Large Hadron Collider (LHC).

At the Cockcroft Institute, the program has involved many researchers over the years. Their collective efforts have been essential in transforming the original prototype concept, initiated by Prof Carsten P. Welsch around two decades ago, into a robust instrument.

Congratulations!

Read more:
https://www.cockcroft.ac.uk/2026/10/07/faraday-cup-award-celebrates-two-decades-of-world-class-beam-diagnostics-research-at-the-cockcroft-institute/

02/10/2026

Researchers from the Cockcroft Institute (CI) made a strong contribution to the 11th International Conference on Charged & Neutral Particles Channeling Phenomena (Channeling 2026), held in Brindisi, Italy, from 20–25 September 2026.

The conference brought together more than 110 researchers from around the world to discuss advances in particle and radiation interactions in structured media and strong electromagnetic fields, with applications in advanced accelerator technologies, beam manipulation, and radiation generation.

This year’s Channeling Conference also hosted the NanoAc2026 Workshop as a satellite meeting, where several members of CI contributed a series of presentations.

Find out more:

https://www.cockcroft.ac.uk/2026/10/02/cockcroft-institute-researchers-showcase-advanced-accelerator-research-at-channeling-2026/

30/09/2026

In June 2026, ASTeC hosted its group work experience week welcoming 12 A-level students to Daresbury Laboratory.

The students worked with several specialist groups across ASTeC to learn about particle accelerator science, and the work that goes into designing, building and operating accelerators

A big thank you to the ASTeC staff, who always put an amazing amount of effort into this week. 👏

Read more:
https://www.cockcroft.ac.uk/2026/09/30/astec-welcomes-a-level-students-for-work-experience-week/

21/09/2026

A recent review article led by Dr. Hossein Saberi and Dr. Guoxing Xia from the Cockcroft Institute and The University of Manchester has recently been published in Physics Reports, providing a comprehensive overview of the evolution of particle-beam-driven plasma wakefield acceleration over the past four decades.

The review introduces the fundamental concepts, underlying theory, and scaling laws that form the foundation of the field, while highlighting key milestones and landmark achievements at leading research facilities around the world.

Find out more:
https://www.cockcroft.ac.uk/2026/09/21/particle-beam-driven-plasma-wakefield-acceleration-over-the-last-four-decades/

18/09/2026

We are delighted to announce that Cockcroft Institute expert Lee Jones has been awarded a Fellowship by the Institute of Physics (IOP) in recognition of his work over the past two decades at the forefront of particle accelerator technology.

Congratulations 👏

Find out more:
https://www.cockcroft.ac.uk/2026/09/18/ci-member-awarded-iop-fellowship/

14/09/2026

In a recently published study, CI researchers have shown how two laser pulses can combine inside a microscopic tube to generate powerful accelerating fields. Their findings suggest a way to build smaller particle accelerators and bring their capabilities to more research laboratories.

Read more:
https://www.cockcroft.ac.uk/2026/09/14/laser-beating-opens-a-new-route-to-compact-particle-accelerators/

24/08/2026

Congratulations 👏 to CI member Christopher Arran from Lancaster University for being granted three years of funding from the EPSRC New Investigator Award to study the production of electron-positron pairs in the extremely strong electro-magnetic fields of high-power lasers.

Read more:
https://www.cockcroft.ac.uk/2026/08/24/lancaster-academic-wins-sought-after-epsrc-funding-to-study-antimatter-production-in-intense-laser-pulses/

27/07/2026

We’re excited to welcome seven students from across the UK to the Cockcroft Institute at Daresbury Laboratory for a seven-week summer placement.

After an induction featuring talks from academia and industry, plus a tour of the lab’s facilities, they’re now starting projects spanning topics from quantum free-electron lasers to cargo scanning X-ray technology. Two projects are supported by our industry partners, Microwave Amps and Rapiscan Systems.

Find out more : https://www.cockcroft.ac.uk/2026/07/27/summer-students-at-the-cockcroft-institute/

22/07/2026

A-Level students got a behind-the-scenes look at cutting-edge particle accelerator science during a tour of the Daresbury Laboratory, organised by Narender Kumar.

As part of the University of Liverpool’s Annual Physics Work Experience Week, 36 students explored facilities including the Diagnostics Labs, SuRFLab, VISTA and DUNE, met researchers, and attended talks on the history and future of particle accelerators.

Read more:
https://www.cockcroft.ac.uk/2026/07/22/exploring-cutting-edge-science/

17/07/2026

Our particle accelerator escape room “Acceler8Escape” was one of the exciting workshops delivered at the Passion4Learning Science Extravaganza hosted at Daresbury National Laboratory on 9th July 2026.

A total of 136 pupils aged 8-11 from 5 local primary schools took part throughout the day, working in teams to solve puzzles and learn all about the lasers, magnets, cavities and radiation used in particle accelerators.

Read more:
https://www.cockcroft.ac.uk/2026/07/17/science-extravaganza-hosted-at-daresbury-laboratory/

Address

Warrington
WA44AD

Telephone

+441925603820

Website

https://www.cockcroft.ac.uk/, https://www.linkedin.com/company/cockcroftinstitute

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