The U.S. Particle Accelerator School
Quality Education in
Beam Physics and Associated Accelerator Technology

About the USPAS

The US Particle Accelerator School provides educational programs in the field of beams and their associated accelerator technologies not otherwise available to the community of science and technology. We also promote the development and publication of advanced technology textbooks.

We conduct graduate and undergraduate level courses at U.S. universities, holding two such programs per year, one in June and one in January. These courses, running 2 weeks in duration, take place at leading universities across the United States. By successfully completing the 2-week course requirements, which include forty-five contact hours as well as daily problems and examinations, students earn 3 semester hours of university credit.

Typically, our prerequisites are classical mechanics and electromagnetism at the junior or senior undergraduate level. However, specific prerequisites are listed in each course description.

Students pay their own registration fee (included in this fee are two meals per day), housing costs and travel expenses. We offer financial support to university students. Interested parties should contact us at uspas@fnal.gov

We have welcomed students from all corners of the world, from universities, laboratories, private companies, government and the military. Some of our students have been in the field for many years and are interested in a "refresher" course, while others are full-time students looking for additional classes to add to their education.

Qualified teachers are chosen from national laboratories, universities and private industry. The result is a large pool of prospective instructors with a rich variety of forefront knowledge and methods. We can therefore cover in our curriculum the broad spectrum of material needed to adequately represent the diverse, multi-disciplinary field of beam physics and accelerator technology.

To carry out its educational mission, the USPAS develops programs of courses suitable for universities. Major universities, in partnership with the national laboratories, underwrite the offerings and provide the necessary quality control. Through this administrative framework, universities across the nation can offer our high-quality advanced technology courses.

Administration:

The USPAS organization has three overall components. The central USPAS Office performs and coordinates all functions and activities of the School; the National Laboratory Consortium, through the Board of Governors, governs and funds the School; and the research universities nation-wide comprise the pool of universities from which the School selects hosts for its semi-annual programs.

Governance:

The governance of the US Particle Accelerator School is through a consortium of 11 national laboratories, nine of which are part of the Energy Research Office of the Department of Energy and two are NSF laboratories. Each member laboratory is entitled to one representative on the USPAS Governing Board. The members are:

Argonne National Laboratory (ANL)
Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL)
Cornell's Laboratory for Nuclear Studies (CLNS)
Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (FNAL)
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL)
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL)
Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL)
Michigan State University (MSU)
Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL)
Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC)
Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (TJNAF)

Program Structure:

Between 1981 and 1989, a seminar format seemed adequate to expose senior members of the community to the many facets of accelerator physics and technology. After a few years it became clear that to provide substantive staff development and to educate people adequately, a more rigorous classroom regimen would be required. In 1987 the USPAS initiated its credit course program.

The graduate and undergraduate level credit courses carried in each of our programs are intensive learning experiences. They allow students to learn complicated and difficult material in a reasonably short time period.

The participating universities are:

1987 University of Chicago   June 20-31, 1987
1988 Cornell University   August 1-12, 1988
1989 UC Berkeley   June 19-30, 1989
1990 Harvard University   June 11-22, 1990
1991 University of Illinois-Urbana   June 3-14, 1991
1992 University of Texas-Austin January 6-17, 1992
1992 Stanford University June 15-26, 1992
1993 Florida State University   January 18-29, 1993
1993 Harvard University June 21-July 2, 1993
1994 UCLA   January 17-28, 1994
1994 Indiana University   June 20-July 1, 1994
1995 Duke University   January 16-27, 1995
1995 University of Washington   June 19-30, 1995
1996 UC San Diego   January 15-26, 1995
1996 U of Maryland June 3-14, 1996 cancelled
1997 UC Berkeley   January 20-31, 1997
1997 MIT   June 16-27, 1997
1998 UT Austin   January 19-30, 1998
1998 Stanford University   June 16-26, 1998
1999 Vanderbilt University   January 18-29, 1999
1999 University of Chicago   June 14-25, 1999
2000 Indiana University   January 16-27, 2000
2000 SUNY at Stony Brook   June 5-16, 2000
2001 Rice University January 15-26, 2001
2001 University of Colorado at Boulder   June 4-15, 2001
2002 UCLA   January 14-25, 2002
2002 Yale University June 10-21, 2002
2003 Indiana University   January 6-17, 2003
2003 University of California at Santa Barbara June 16-27, 2003
2004 The College of William and Mary   January 19-30, 2004
2004 The University of Wisconsin, Madison June 21 - July 2, 2004
2005 UC Berkeley January 10-21, 2005
2005 Cornell University June 20 - July 1, 2005
2006 Arizona State University January 16-27, 2006
2006 Boston University June 12-23, 2006
2007 Texas A&M University January 15-26, 2007
2007 Michigan State University June 15-26, 2007
2008 University of California at Santa Cruz January 14-25, 2008

Curriculum:

The School has developed a highly varied program. Courses are being offered in many subjects, both general and specific. They include:

"Accelerators, strong focusing rings, linacs, intense beam accelerators, beam design, magnetic optics, light optics, high current and high brightness beams, spin dynamics, ... "

"Experimental methods, microwave measurement and beam instrumentation labs., accelerator vacuum labs., beam manipulation techniques, ..."

"Synchrotron radiation sources, free electron lasers, high gain FEL, strong field radiation..."

"Beam Theory, modern dynamics, numerical methods, beam instabilities, ..."

"RF systems, magnetic systems, superconducting magnets, superconducting RF, superconducting materials..."

"Computational methods in beam dynamics, beam optics and electromagnetism, ..."

"Management, radiation physics and management, radiation effects, ..."

"Accelerator applications, in medicine, industry, defense..."

Purpose:

This curriculum is meant not only to train scientists and engineers to perform the tasks necessary to complete projects and run facilities but also to educate people to be able to cultivate the many technological opportunities bound to arise in the coming decade in the national laboratories as well as in the industrial, medical and university laboratories across the country.

To meet the needs of a diverse set of students and to meet the needs of the increasing number of national laboratories interested in beams and accelerators, we have greatly expanded the range of courses offered. In particular, specialized technology courses designed for the specific needs of one or more laboratories have been introduced, as have courses using state-of-the-art laboratory equipment obtained from Agilent Technologies. These hands-on specialized courses have added up to a substantial investment in teaching and equipment.

Courses are developed for our programs with the advice of a Program Advisory Committee composed of representatives from the consortium laboratories in addition to representation from universities with accelerator programs.



Return to the USPAS Homepage
Security, Privacy, Legal