Departmental management plan

The Particle Physics Department fulfils its mission through its research programme in experimental particle physics, and detector and accelerator research and development. This programme is funded by the Science and Technology Facilities Council and deliverables and resources are agreed each year.

The PPD programme is project-based and contains a mix of projects ranging from large, complex collaborative construction projects to smaller, single-partner upgrade activities. The UK contribution to these projects is funded and managed through RAL PPD, with the exception of University staff costs.

The programme is peer-reviewed every two years by the STFC Particle Physics Grants Panel, alongside the activities of Particle Physics groups in UK universities; the most recent review was held in June 2006.

The programme has three main strands — completion of projects now in construction, exploitation and evolution of the projects now running, and development of new projects and technologies. The Department is directly involved in around 15 separate projects in several broad groups (ATLAS, CMS, Precision Weak Physics, Collider Physics, Computing and Accelerator Physics).

Project management is an integral part of PPD's departmental management arrangements and complies with the laboratory's corporate policy on project management; risk management is an integral part of the project management framework.

Staff in PPD are expected to maintain and enhance their skills, in order to enable the Department to remain a world-leading particle physics group. In order to carry out this programme, the Department needs to:

1. maintain its position as a world-leading research group in particle physics and related areas through the excellence of its staff;
   
   
2. enable access for the UK particle physics community to the world-leading scientific and technical expertise in developing detectors and accelerators, and operating large-scale facilities, available within the STFC RAL and Daresbury national laboratories
   
   
3. ensure that its capability in information technology and scientific computing is sufficient to support the UK particle physics programme
   
   
4. manage the programme efficiently and effectively, in line with corporate policies and objectives on project and programme management and accountability, and
   
   
5. ensure that all obligations under STFC local regulations, including health, safety and the environment, are fulfilled.