This award supports the National Academy of Sciences to conduct a broad community based study of the science opportunities and technology challenges in high magnetic field research. The study will be forward looking and addresses the decade beyond that addressed in the 2005 NRC report, on Opportunities in High Magnetic Field Science. The study is conducted by the Board on Physics and Astronomy, in consultation with the Board on Life Sciences, Board on Chemical Sciences and Technology, and the National Materials and Manufacturing Board. It will provide an assessment of the current status of the high magnetic field program in the United States and an analysis of trends in the makeup of the principal user groups of that program. The study will develop recommendations for the future of magnetic-field research and technology development for this area given the needs of current and anticipated user communities and in the context of other programs worldwide. The outcome of the study will be a report that will be published and made broadly available to the community. Funding for the study is provided by the Biosciences directorate, and the Mathematical and Physical Sciences directorate (Chemistry Division, Division of Materials Research and the MPS Office of Multidisciplinary activities) at NSF.
This grant provided partial support for the National Research Council (NRC) study that assesses the current status of high magnetic field research in the United States and provides recommendations to guide the future of research and technology development for this area given the needs of science communities that use these facilities and in the context of other programs worldwide. A pdf version of the report is available for download, for free, at www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=18355. The report identities the science drivers as falling into 4 broad areas—(1) condensed matter and materials physics; (2) chemistry, biochemistry, and biology; (3) medical and life science studies; and (4) other fields such as high-energy physics, plasma physics, and particle astrophysics. Among the topics covered in the report’s findings, conclusions, and recommendations are a recognition that there is a continuing need for a centralized facility but also that clear benefits will flow to research communities from decentralized facilities. According to the report, support agencies should evaluate whether to establish such facilities when 32 Tesla superconducting magnets become available. The report also recommends the provision of facilities that combine magnetic fields with scattering facilities and THz radiation sources, and sets out specific magnet goals for magnets needed in several areas of research.
