Almost £60 million is being invested by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) in a partnership with the US Department of Energy (DOE) to develop particle accelerator-based research infrastructure.

The Electron Ion Collider (EIC) is a new particle collider in the US that will help address fundamental questions on the nature of matter.

Scientists in the UK are major contributors to the EIC collaboration and have taken on a prominent role in the research and development of specific critical components of the EIC.

Experts from the Cockcroft Institute (CI) have been making key contributions to this groundbreaking facility which is expected to deepen our understanding of the material universe and drive technological innovation.

The grant includes funds for accelerator hardware delivery for Cockcroft Institute partners at Daresbury and Lancaster University, to deliver superconducting RF cryomodules for EIC.

CI engineer Professor Graeme Burt from Lancaster University who is the interim spokesperson of the UK EIC accelerator consortium said: “The EIC will be a microscope into the forces that bind particles together leading to new understanding of the world around us. I am proud that the UK will be delivering key hardware enabled by our world-class capabilities and skills to this internationally leading project.”

The accelerator workpackage will be led by engineer Nik Templeton of Daresbury Laboratory who said: "EIC is one of the most exciting new particle accelerator projects worldwide and presents a fantastic opportunity for the UK to collaborate in world-leading science and engineering. Our team at Daresbury Laboratory will design and deliver Superconducting Radiofrequency (SRF) Cryomodules for the facility, drawing upon the skills and experience gained from past projects with CERN, Fermilab (US), and TRIUMF (Canada). Daresbury's involvement will strengthen the UK's capabilities in SRF engineering and further establish world-class skills and expertise in the Northwest."

The EIC is being constructed at the DOE’s Brookhaven National Laboratory in the US in partnership with Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility. Construction of the EIC will also include teams from Argonne, Lawrence Berkeley, and Oak Ridge National Laboratories, as well as multiple U.S. universities and an international collaboration of over 1,400 researchers representing nearly 300 institutions in 40 countries.