Mark Thomson

Executive Chair of the UK Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) and Professor of Experimental Particle Physics at the University of Cambridge.

[Mark Thomson @ProfMarkThomson]

Last staff talk at @DaresburyLab reflecting on my last 6+ years as Executive Chair of @STFC_Matters. During this time, Daresbury Lab has gone from strength-to-strength, delivering great science and innovation. A big thank you to my wonderful friends and colleagues in the NW.

[Mark Thomson @ProfMarkThomson]

View across Edinburgh from the rooftop of the Higgs Centre for Innovation at ⁦@STFC_Matters⁩ ⁦@ukatc⁩ during my final visit as Executive Chair. Tomorrow ⁦@DaresburyLab⁩ although might be hard to compete with today’s view.

[Mark Thomson @ProfMarkThomson]

In Lund today for the European Spallation Source Council ⁦⁦@essneutron⁩ . It will be my last council meeting after more than six years, so it was particularly pleasing to see the fantastic progress with this flagship European neutron source project.

[Mark Thomson @ProfMarkThomson]

Spent the last couple of days at ⁦@Fermilab⁩ for the International Neutrino Council and ⁦@DUNEScience⁩ RRB meeting. Great to catch up with colleagues in the US and to hear about the amazing progress with LBNF/DUNE. Wilson Hall looking as good as ever!

[Mark Thomson @ProfMarkThomson]

Going underground (again). On Tuesday we were delighted to host members of the @UKRI_News Board at @STFC_Matters @BoulbyLab in the North East of England. Discussed the search for Dark Matter and the wide range of multi-disciplinary science opportunities at 1.1 km underground.

[Mark Thomson @ProfMarkThomson]

Going 1.1km underground: great to host John Sarrao, director of the SLAC Linear Accelerator Centre, at @STFC_Matters @BoulbyLab in North Yorkshire. We saw the impressive progress with excavation of a space for a very large new facility. Talked about Dark Matter and much more...

[Mark Thomson @ProfMarkThomson]

Hugely honoured to have been selected as the next Director General of @CERN. CERN is an incredible organisation where scientists from Europe and beyond have come together to uncover the mysteries of the Universe - incredibly exciting!

[Mark Thomson @ProfMarkThomson]

Congratulations to Filippo, an outstanding choice as the next chair of SKAO Council.

[Mark Thomson @ProfMarkThomson]

Great tour of the GANIL facility near Caen in Normandy. Huge progress since my previous visit 18 months ago. The SPIRAL 2 accelerator (pictured) is really impressive. Big thank you to colleagues in France 🇫🇷 and the GANIL team!

[Mark Thomson @ProfMarkThomson]

University of Roma Tor Vergata to celebrate 40 years (!) of partnership and friendship between STFC's ISIS neutron and muon source and colleagues from Italy and, in particular Tor Vergata. I had the pleasure of speaking about UK - Italy collaboration on neutrons and much more...

[Mark Thomson @ProfMarkThomson]

Enjoying the atypical late October weather on a long walk to the west of Cambridge. Spectacular views over the city. Just 8 miles to go…

[Mark Thomson @ProfMarkThomson]

Yesterday, Lord Vallance, Minister for Science, joined us at @RutherfordApLab to open the @nqcc_official, which is jointly sponsored by @STFC_Matters and @EPSRC. I remember back in 2018 when we first discussed having the NQCC at RAL - fantastic to see the dream become reality!

[Mark Thomson @ProfMarkThomson]

Celebrating with the ⁦UKRI Infrastructure team following my last time chairing our advisory panel. I am incredibly proud of what we have achieved over the past 6 years, establishing an amazing investment portfolio of over £2.5Bn for large research and innovation infrastructure.

[Mark Thomson @ProfMarkThomson]

In Paris today for the annual bi-lateral discussion on science collaboration between ⁦@STFC_Matters⁩ and ⁦@CNRS⁩ Nucléaire et Particules. A really interesting and constructive discussion about mutual scientific interests. The views were also pretty good…

[Mark Thomson @ProfMarkThomson]

Just welcomed attendees to the ⁦@STFC_Matters⁩ National Laboratories Research Conference taking place across four sites: ⁦RAL⁩, Daresbury, ⁦⁦Boulby and here at the ⁦@ukatc⁩ at the Royal Observatory Edinburgh. As always, stunning views from the Higgs Centre.

[Mark Thomson @ProfMarkThomson]

Really happy to see the launch of #RICHeS bringing together the humanities and science - a great example of UKRI driving genuinely multidisciplinary research.

[Mark Thomson @ProfMarkThomson]

Really enjoyable visit to LIP in Lisbon. Exciting detector developments for particle physics and much more. Joined by ⁦@ukinportugal⁩ HMA ⁦@LisaBandari⁩ to discuss 🇵🇹 🇬🇧 science collaboration. Thanks to the wonderful LIP team for taking time to discuss their work.

[Mark Thomson @ProfMarkThomson]

⁦@CERN⁩ at 70. This week we came together to celebrate CERN’s 70th anniversary. CERN’s enduring success is a testament to long-term European collaboration.

Visiting the ATLAS detector with Peter Kyle (UK Secretary of State for science) was one of many highlights.

[Mark Thomson @ProfMarkThomson]

Inspiring speech from Ursula von der Leyen at @CERN yesterday. Highlighted the impact of long-term European collaboration in science and technology and its importance for the future competitiveness of Europe.

[UK Mission Geneva 🇬🇧 @UKMissionGeneva]

Messages from European partners #CERN70 echo many of the reasons why 🇬🇧 is 2nd biggest contributor to @CERN

-No European country could achieve alone what we have achieved together at CERN

-CERN is a European asset that benefits the 🌍

-To compete, we must collaborate more

[Mark Thomson @ProfMarkThomson]

Visiting the ATLAS detector at @CERN with my good colleague Shabana Haque. We have the great honour of representing the UK on CERN Council. Today we are celebrating CERN’s 70th anniversary. A fantastic day at this outstanding organisation!