Past, present and future of CHERNE José Ródenas Departamento de Ingeniería Química y Nuclear Universidad Politécnica de Valencia (Spain) Secretary of the CHERNE Network 9 th Workshop on European Collaboration for Higher Education and Research in Nuclear Engineering & Radiological Protection Salamanca, Spain 5-7 June 2013

2 CHERNE network l Cooperation for l Higher l Education on l Radiological and l Nuclear l Engineering

3 CHERNE network l Created in l 18 Institutions (mostly from Europe) + 2 individual. 18 Institutions l A wide-scope open academic network. l Mainly focussed on teaching and learning activities. l To enhance cooperation, competence as well as equipment sharing between partners. l A declaration, signed by all partners, contains details concerning organisation, membership and activities. (it can be found at Why? ?

4 Cooperation between partner institutions should enhance the mutual support … u by learning from each other, u by exchanging experiences, and u by regular mutual reflections on … l how to counteract the 'less interest among students' and the 'less interest among the academic and political authorities‘, l how to learn from more successful or from less successful partners. CHERNE network

5 MEMBERS in 2013 l AcUAS, Aachen University of Applied Sciences, Campus Jülich (Germany) l Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna (Italia) l Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (Greece) (tbc at the Council) l Cadi Ayyad University, Marrakech (Morocco) l ČVUT, České Vysoké Učení Technické v Praze (Czech Republic) l Dipartimento di Fisica ed Astronomia, Università di Catania (Italia) l Dipartimento di Fisica, Università degli Studi di Messina (Italia) l Dipartimento di Ingegneria Nucleare, Politecnico di Milano (Italia) l Dipartimento di Ingegneria Nucleare, Università di Palermo (Italia) l DIQN - UPV Departamento de Ingeniería Química y Nuclear, Universidad Politécnica de Valencia (España) l ETSEIB - UPC, Escola Tècnica Superior d’Enginyers Industrials de Barcelona, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (España) l ISIB, Institut Supérieur Industriel de Bruxelles (Belgique) l IST, Instituto Superior Técnico from Universidade Técnica de Lisboa (Portugal) l KSU, Kansas State University (USA) l NTUA, National Technical University of Athens (Greece) l Universidad de Salamanca (España) Universidade de Coimbra (Portugal) l XIOS, Universiteit Hasselt, Diepenbeek (Belgium) l Dr.Dieter Hennig, Berlin (Germany) l Prof. Francois Tondeur, Brussels (Belgium)

6 CHERNE organisation l A minimal administrative organisation. l Secretary elected at the annual meeting. l Web page through which the activities of the network are communicated: l Annual Meeting to evaluate the activities of the network and discuss new proposals. l Annual Workshop open to non-members. l For the moment no fee is foreseen for CHERNE membership.

7 CHERNE membership l Academic institutions, l research institutions, l companies or l individuals u are accepted as members on presentation by two members, including at least one European academic member. l Documents for this presentation as well as the list of partners can be found at the official Web site: /

8 l The educational capacity of many European Institutions of Higher Education in Radiological and Nuclear Engineering had decreased in the last two decades. l Less interest u among students and u among academic and political authorities. l Financial restrictions l  difficulties to maintain and develop facilities, equipment and academic staff needed for practical training of students. l Each university and country presents a different situation. l Many departments had to reduce their offer and to concentrate it on a few specialities. situation in 2005

9 An increasing cooperation at the international level on the educational efforts in Radiological and Nuclear Engineering Several networks have been developed… Some focused on specific domains, concentrated on high level professional training, strongly structured or not. POSSIBLE SOLUTION

10 CHERNE activities Professor exchanges (1) 1 Studentexchanges (2) Student exchanges (2)2 Erasmus bilateral agreements (3) 3 Courses and Seminars (4) 4 Workshops (8) (8) Presence at International (5) Conferences (5) (5) International INTENSIVE COURSES (6) (6) CHERNE activities ERASMUS Intensive Programmes (7) (7) Others (9) 9

11 CHERNE activities l The scope of CHERNE is not limited and any activity related to Higher Education in Radiological and/or Nuclear Engineering can be proposed. l A priority is given to teaching activities for students of member institutions (mostly at the Master level). l Teaching activities should include at least a one-week/2 ECTS module. l Practical training, including when possible access to large facilities. l English is used in CHERNE activities. l No cost, or very low fee, for students coming from partner institutions l Cheap accommodation for students coming from abroad. l When possible, organisation of CHERNE activities will be included in ERASMUS exchanges. l Partners are encouraged to sign bilateral ERASMUS agreements. l In the next pages historic summary is listed plus activities after 1 June 2012 (if communicated to the Secretary)

12 Courses and Seminars A long list of Courses and Seminars have been given. A summary could the following: Professors from:give a Course or Seminar at: BolognaISIB, UPV CataniaCoimbra CoimbraBologna, Catania, CTU, UPV ISIBBologna, Jülich, UPV JülichBologna, UPV MilanoUPV UPVISIB XIOSJülich, Salamanca historic

13 Courses and Seminars 2012/13 Seminars given at the UPV “MÁSTER UNIVERSITARIO EN SEGURIDAD INDUSTRIAL Y MEDIO AMBIENTE” l Introducción a los métodos de Soft Computing en Ingeniería: Algoritmos Genéticos, Redes Neuronales y Lógica Fuzzy, E. Zio, (Milano) 5-9 November l Radiactividad Natural, Isabelle Gerardy (ISIB) January l Métodos y Aplicaciones en Radioquímica, U. Scherer (Jülich) 4-8 March l Análisis Avanzado de la Señal (Formation, Acquisition and Processing of Images in Nuclear Medicine Techniques), I. Lopes (Coimbra) 6-10 May u Ulrich Scherer (Jülich)  Bologna (Scintillation Counting) u Ulrich Scherer (Jülich)  ISIB (Nuclear waste management) u F. Hoyler (Jülich)  Catania (Nuclear Applications & Neutron Detection)

14 Research cooperation PhD Thesis presented l Isabelle Gerardy (ISIB) at UPV, Sept l Giorgia Cinelli (Bologna) at U. Bologna, April 2012; developed at ISIB. l Jonathan Baré (ISIB) at U. Bologna, May 2012 l Hesdras Santana (Jülich (Areva) – UPV) PhD Thesis scheduled for presentation this year. l 3 papers presented at 2012 IEEE Symposium on Nuclear Science and Medical Imaging Conference, by M.C. Battaglia (Catania) from her work in Coimbra. l TEMPUS project presented by Bologna (March 2013): no final answer yet. UPV is partner.

15 Technical Visits l Spring 2010: Joint excursion Bologna - AcUAS (students and professors?) to u AREVA (ANF=advanced nuclear fuel)/ Lingen, u NPP “Emsland” / Lingen, u URENCO (Enrichment plant) / Gronau, u GNS (Interim storage) / Ahais, u Research Centre “Hot Cells” / Jülich, u AVR (Dismantling project of AVR reactor) / Jülich l Visit to Chernobyl, 8 th June 2011; organised by University of Bologna l Bologna and Jülich u visit to Zwentendorf BWR in Austria, 2012 l UPV organized for Bologna students a visit to El Cabril (radwaste repository) and Cofrentes NPP, Nov 2012

16 Professor exchanges historic

/13 l Isabelle Gerardy [ ISIB  Jülich, Bologna, UPV ] l Patricia Vanden Cruyce [ ISIB  Jülich, Bologna ] l François Tondeur [ ISIB  Bologna ] l Ulrich Scherer [ Jülich  Bologna, ISIB, UPV ] l Frieder Hoyler [ Jülich  Catania ]

18 Student exchanges historic

/13 (Catania)  Coimbra l Maria Cristina Battaglia (Catania)  Coimbra (March - July + November 2012) research work for her Master Thesis. (Jülich)  ISIB l Eismar Shana (Jülich)  ISIB (Erasmus, 1 semester) (Bologna)  Jülich l Cristina Carone (Bologna)  Jülich (Summer 2012); (UPV)  Jülich l Gonzalo Campayo (UPV)  Jülich (Winter 2012/13) (Jülich)UPV l Franziska Weirich (Jülich) presented her Master Thesis at UPV in July 2012 (Jülich)  Bologna l Frederik Nachtrodt (Jülich)  Bologna (Doctorate, Plasma Combustion) (UPV)  Jülich l Alexia Fenollar Solvay (UPV)  Jülich (Containment studies)

20 Erasmus bilateral agreement 25 bilateral agreements, involving 12 institutions

21 Workshops  Valencia (2005)  Valencia (2006)  Prague (2007)  Favignana (2008)  Jülich (2009)  Coimbra (2010)  Brussels (2011)  Athens (2012) and Salamanca 2013

22 Finally…

23 International intensive courses  RAPIX-NOCOS (2 editions)  RAPIX-NOCOS (2 editions) Radiation protection and nuclear measurements in non conventional sectors Organised by XIOS and ISIB.Brussels - Diepenbeek (Belgium) Organised by XIOS and ISIB. Brussels - Diepenbeek (Belgium)  XIMER (4 editions)  XIMER (4 editions) XIOS-ISIB Measurements of Environmental Radioactivity Organised by XIOS and ISIB.Brussels - Diepenbeek (Belgium) Organised by XIOS and ISIB. Brussels - Diepenbeek (Belgium)  JUNCSS  JUNCSS ( JÜlich Nuclear Chemistry Summer School ) Without EU sponsoring, August 2008 & 2011  PRA Valencia, January, 2011  PRA Probabilistic Risk Assessment (PRA) of Nuclear Power Plants, Valencia, January, /13 Only remainingXIMER Only remaining XIMER historic

24 Presence at International Conferences  ETRAP 2005  First EUTERP Platform Workshop 2007  European Nuclear Conference 2007  NESTet Conference 2008  IRPA-12 Buenos Aires 2008  ETRAP 2009  SEFI Annual Conference Lisbon 2011 historic

25 Presence at Int. Conferences 2012/13  ETRAP 2013 Vienna, Austria, March 2013  Sustainable Development, ALARA Culture and Ethics in the E&T Programmes of the CHERNE Network, H. Janssens  SARA – An intensive program course from the CHERNE network, Cechak, T.; Gerardy, I.; Hoyler, F.; Janssens, H.; Lopes, I.; Tondeur, F.  Activities developed at the CHERNE Network in the framework of Radiological Protection and Nuclear Engineering, J. Ródenas, H. Janssens, F. Hoyler  50 years ABR-BVR, Brussels, 8-10 May 2013  CHERNE, a network to promote the interest of younger generations in radiation protection in radiological and nuclear engineering. J. Ródenas, F. Tondeur, I. Gerardy, H. Janssens.  SARA, safe application of radiation and radionuclides, an erasmus intensive programme in radiation safety. F. Tondeur, I. Gerardy, F. Hoyler, T. Cechak, H. Janssens, I. Lopes.

26 Previous to creation of CHERNE 2002 PAN-1 PragueCVUT, ISIB & UPV 2003 PAN-2 PragueCVUT, ISIB, UPV, XIOS, FH Aachen 2004 PAN-3 Mol-BrusselsCVUT, ISIB, UPV, XIOS, FH Aachen These courses can be considered the origin of the CHERNE network After the creation of CHERNE SPERANSA (2006, Mol-Jülich; 2007, Prague; 2008, Mol-Brussels) CVUT, ISIB, UPV, XIOS, FH Aachen, Poli Milano ICARO (2009, Lisboa ITN; 2010, Catania-Palermo; 2011, Lisboa ITN) XIOS, UPV, Catania, Bologna, CVUT, Coimbra, ISIB, FH Aachen, Poli Milano, Palermo JUNCSS (2008, 2009, 2010) Jülich. ISIB, XIOS, UPV, Bologna, Coimbra, Jülich SARA (2012, Mol-Jülich; 2013, Prague) FH Aachen, ISIB, XIOS, UPV, Coimbra, Catania, Bologna, Palermo, Salamanca, CVUT PAN: Practical Approach to Nuclear techniques SPERANSA: Stimulation of Practical Expertise in Radiological And Nuclear Safety JUNCSS: Jülich Nuclear Chemistry Summer School ICARO: Intensive Course on Accelerator and Reactor Operation and applications SARA: Safe Application of RAdiation and radionuclides ERASMUS Intensive Programmes

27 ERASMUS IPs submitted to EU for 2012 & 2013 not approved or rejected l NECTAR: Nuclear EduCation and Training on Accelerators and Reactors [twice  ] l MARC: Methods and Applications of Radiation Chemistry l RAMON: Radio-Analytical Methods Of Nuclear techniques

28 ERASMUS Intensive Programmes New IPs submitted to EU for 2014 l SARA : Safe Application of RAdiation and radionuclides, Coordinated by Tomas Cechak from Czech Technical University, Prague (Czech Republic). Site: Mol-Geel- Diepenbeek (Belgium). Participants: FH Aachen, ISIB, XIOS, UPV, Coimbra, Catania, Bologna, Palermo, Salamanca, CTU Prague. l MANTRA: Medical Applications of Nuclear Techniques and RAdiations Coordinated by Domiziano Mostacci, University of Bologna Site: Catania – Bologna (Italia). Participants: Athens, Bologna, Catania, Coimbra, ISIB, Jülich, Palermo, Prague, Salamanca, UPV, XIOS.  Apr 17th: the proposal passed the formal screening  May 29th: the proposal passed the quality screening  Awaiting the result of the financial screening, which constitutes the final step Approved

29 The Past from the Present ►On the basis of an existing collaboration between some institutions, the creation of the network permitted to enhance the educational cooperation among partners. ►The main target of the CHERNE network has been and still is to develop teaching activities for the benefit of students of the institutions belonging to the network. ►The exchange of students has been clearly increased, giving them an access to specialised fields not developed in their own institution. ►A clear result obtained so far with the network, more specifically with the intensive courses already developed, is the enhancement of the interest of students and academic authorities on Nuclear Engineering.

30 The Past from the Present What have we got so far? Positive ►IPs organised. ►Courses and Seminars. ►Exchanges of professors and students. ►Cooperation between institutions: bilateral and multilateral. Negative ►IPs rejected ►Courses not organised or without enough attendance ►Failure of commitments ►Inactive partners ►Let’s see some problems that are challenges for the future

31 Problems associated with activities of CHERNE network l Financing is, as everywhere, the key difficulty. l If the courses are to be financially viable, they need to be supported by grants, mostly from the EU programmes. l CHERNE activities are based on the enthusiasm of individuals in a number of partner institutions, without whom the network would soon be disbanded. l For some activities, it is difficult to bring together a good enough group of students who will regard the course as a contribution to their education, and not merely as a pleasant sightseeing tour. The Future

32 Challenges l New Erasmus programs, not well known yet. l If the courses are not financied, look for sponsors. l Better one-week courses? l Which is the critical number of members of the network? l Which is the optimal educational/research ratio for CHERNE activities? l Young generation in CHERNE members to continue the work of those individuals whose enthusiasm permitted the creation and operation of the network. l To continue cooperation and exchanges. l New organisation of CHERNE? The Future

33 Looking back the past, from the present, to undertake the future: Is CHERNE a successful model of cooperation between higher education institutions? Can we be satisfied with achievements of CHERNE? We have three days to analyse, discusse and try to find solutions.

Thank you for your attention