National and International Collaborations
LNM has a wide range of interlaboratory and interdepartmental collaborations within NES and PSI, in particular through the use of PSI’s large scale facilities (SLS, SINQ, hotlab,…). Such activities involve joint projects (e.g., STIP) and the joint operation of experimental facilities (e.g., EMF) or the scientific service & support work (e.g., metallography, material testing) by LNM for other divisions.
The main academic partners in Switzerland are from the ETH Domain (ETHZ, EPFL, EMPA), mainly through PhD & master thesis projects, the Nuclear Engineering Master Course and joint projects within the Competence Centres for Energy & Mobility (CCEM) and Materials Science & Technology (CCMX). In the national nuclear environment, the main partners are the Swiss Nuclear Safety Inspectorate ENSI, mainly through research projects and to a lesser extent through expertise/consulting work, and the Swiss Nuclear Power Plants, mainly through swissnuclear research projects and scientific service work, respectively.
LNM is an active member in many international networks & organizations (NUGENIA, ETSON, ESNII, GIF, …) and has a large number of bi- and multilateral collaborations with universities, research institutes, regulators and technical safety organizations or industry. The active participation in international programs and EU Horizon 2020 projects with own (often in-kind) contributions is important for visibility, amplifies the benefits for our Swiss partners and is indispensable to share the high costs of complex and challenging investigations with highly radioactive materials or/and under irradiation.