Towards full implementation of the KM3NeT Research Infrastructure

Project Information

KM3NET-INFRADEV2

Grant agreement ID: 101079679

DOI

10.3030/101079679

Project closed

EC signature date 16 September 2022

Start date 1 January 2023

End date 31 December 2025

Funded under

• Research infrastructures

Total cost

€ 1 498 537,50

EU contribution

€ 1 498 537,50

Coordinated by

CENTRE NATIONAL DE LA RECHERCHE SCIENTIFIQUE CNRS
France

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - KM3NET-INFRADEV2 (Towards full implementation of the KM3NeT Research Infrastructure)

Reporting period: 2023-01-01 to 2023-12-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

The Kilometre Cube Neutrino Telescope (KM3NeT) is a large Research Infrastructure (RI) comprising a network of deep-sea neutrino telescopes in the Mediterranean Sea with user ports for Earth and sea sciences instrumentation. Scientists from more than 20 countries, 60 institutes and 4 continents participate in the project, forming an important international Collaboration in astroparticle and particle physics (https://www.km3net.org).

Following the appearance of KM3NeT on the European Strategic Forum for Research Infrastructure (ESFRI) roadmap, the KM3NeT-INFRADEV project was implemented to establish a legal entity for the KM3NeT RI, create a groundwork for open access to its data, set up rules and procedures for external users to connect instrumentation, conduct environmental studies toward the adoption of a zero-carbon footprint and to develop an outreach and communication strategy. If the impact of these activities was tremendous for the KM3NeT RI and its collaboration of scientists, for its visibility and accessibility to the scientific community, some activities were not fully completed and the needs of the infrastructure have since evolved.

The KM3NeT-INFRADEV2 project was launched to complete these objectives by, inter alia, implementing an efficient framework for mass production of KM3NeT components and to accelerate completion of KM3NeT construction. To reach these objectives, the project will address the concrete establishment of a legal entity, speed up the technical implementation of the detector by recruiting additional staff, develop data management and open science practices, and finally, ensure a sustainable long-term operational model.

As a result of these broad objectives, the anticipated impact of the project is manyfold. First, whether in astro- and particle physics, multi-messenger investigations or Earth and sea sciences, the full implementation of the KM3NeT RI participates in the opening of new windows in different research areas. It is also expected that the KM3NeT RI implementation, by encouraging technology and knowledge transfer in close cooperation with industry, fostering international exchanges and connecting various science fields will have a substantial socio-economic impact. Finally, thanks to KM3NeT-INFRADEV2 efforts towards greener practices, KM3NeT is on its path to serve as a role model for a RI with high sustainability standards and environmental and social awareness.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

During the first year of the KM3NeT-INFRADEV2 project (1st of January to 31st of December 2023), the Consortium met almost all the achievements set for the period.

Regarding the governance of the project, guidelines were set during the Kick-off meeting of the project and in its Dissemination and Exploitation Plan. A Project Management Board, composed of the Work Package leaders and the European Project Manager, as well as a Steering Committee, composed of one representative of each beneficiary, were created and meet regularly to ensure the follow-up of the project. Progresses made are reported to the KM3NeT Collaboration during the Collaboration meetings and boards.

The primary objective of the project was to progress towards the establishment of a legal entity for the KM3NeT RI. A legal entity committee was set up and met to discuss the possible legal forms for KM3NeT. Thanks to the work performed, it was decided to create an AISBL, a non-profit international association based on Belgian law. The statutes of this future entity were drafted and approved by the KM3NeT Collaboration, enabling further action towards the full establishment of the KM3NeT RI.

Another objective was to recruit additional members for the KM3NeT Project Office, in order to accelerate the implementation of the detector and to guarantee its reliability and quality. These two positions have been fulfilled. Thanks to the recruitment of a Procurement Officer, it was possible to consolidate common purchasing procedures and the drafting of a Procurement Plan. A risk management procedure for component shortage was also defined. Finally, the recruitment of a Reliability, Availability, Maintainability and Safety (RAMS) Officer allowed great progress in order to reach KM3NeT reliability and quality standards.

Regarding data management and open science practices, the KM3NeT Data Management Plan (DMP) was successfully reviewed by external experts and their recommendations are being integrated into an updated version of the DMP. Working groups were created in order to set up workflow and data management systems and enhance the open science interfaces. Finally, progress towards handling of multi-messenger alerts was made and allowed further steps towards the KM3NeT contribution to global real-time multi-messenger networks.

To support the path of KM3NeT towards greener practices, increased socio-economic impact and technology transfers with industry, specific working groups were created and will study possible changes and activities to be carried out within the project.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

Since the project is not conducting research, progress beyond the state of the art was not expected. However, results could have further scientific, technical and societal impacts.

In particular, the set-up of a legal entity will increase the visibility of the RI at the European level, thus encouraging the development of new partnerships in different academic fields, the implementation of European-wide activities and the participation of KM3NeT in European research networks. Moreover, the creation of a structure dedicated to administrative, legal and financial management will provide strong support to the scientific and technical activities of KM3NeT, as well as encourage the further dissemination and exploitation of other KM3NeT-INFRADEV2 results in order to maximise their impacts.

Indeed, it is expected that the results produced regarding the technical management will accelerate the implementation of the detector and ensure an available, reliable and safe access to the infrastructure to its partners. In addition, progress in data management and open science will enable the production of high-quality open data products that would be further exploited for the benefit of fundamental research, in astroparticle and particle physics, as well as in Earth and sea sciences.

KM3NeT-INFRADEV2 will also produce strong results regarding the environmental and socio-economic impact of the RI. In particular, identified procedures and steps towards sustainability and eco-responsibility will be applied and could inspire other RIs in the same direction, especially for those involving the construction of very large facilities and/or sea exploration. These efforts are also included in the technological developments made by KM3NeT and in cooperation with local industrial partners. These ties will be enhanced thanks to the activities performed within INFRADEV2 and will be extended as part of the KM3NeT legal entity action. Therefore, both the environmental and societal impacts expected for the INFRADEV2 project will be long-term and benefit society throughout the lifetime of the KM3NeT RI.

KM3NeT-INFRADEV2 Presentation poster

KM3NeT at the “Des abysses au cosmos” exhibition, La Seyne-sur-Mer, 14 September - 8 October 2023