The production and use of energetic radioactive beams is a rapidly developing field in nuclear physics. Pioneering experiments are taking place; dedicated new facilities are being built and commissioned. The aim of the EUROSCHOOL ON EXOTIC BEAMS is to introduce PhD students and young post-doctoral researchers to this field and, also to present some of the recent related experimental and theoretical advances. Each school consists of various lecture courses given by specialists in the field, starting from a basic level, but also including more advanced seminars. Students are invited to contribute to the school by presenting a poster together with short oral presentations on their work.

The Euroschool is an annual event initially funded by the EU and now supported by several funding agencies and large research facilities in Europe. The school started off based at Leuven, Belgium in 1993; since 2000 it has travelled around and was organized in various European cities (Jyväskylä - 2001, Les Houches – 2002, Valencia - 2003, Surrey - 2004, Mainz - 2005, Trento - 2006, Houlgate – 2007, Piaski – 2008, Leuven 2009, Santiago de Compostela – 2010, Jyväskylä – 2011, Athens – 2012, Dubna – 2013, Padova – 2014, Dubrovnik – 2015, Mainz – 2016, Cabourg - 2017). 2018 was the year to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Euroschool. That’s when we went back to where it all started 25 years ago, in Leuven, Belgium. In 2019 our hosting country was Denmark. In 2020, we chose Romania, but we had to cancel the Euroschool due to the COVID-19 pandemic. For 2021, since we know that the participation to schools is very important for PhD students and young researchers, we have decided to organize an online Euroschool.

School Background

More than 3000 different atomic nuclei have been synthesized in laboratories, but these represent only a fraction of all possible nuclear species that are expected to exist in nature. The shortest-lived nuclei far from stability are labeled exotic because they cannot be found naturally occurring on Earth, and they are also difficult to produce experimentally. Even though they occur at the femtometer scale, exotic nuclei not only provide answers to fundamental scientific questions on the origin of the elements, but they are also relevant for technological applications in many areas: low-carbon energy generation; medical diagnosis and treatment; analysis for environmental, engineering, biomedical, geological and cultural studies, etc. The structure of nuclei far from stability can be investigated, in particular, by using radioactive ion beams (RIBs). The development of the first generation of RIB facilities has already opened up new possibilities to probe exotic nuclei. Future advances and access to new regions of the nuclear chart necessitate the advent of new RIB research infrastructure. Key questions addressed by experimental programs also require developing advanced theoretical methods, often coupled to innovative and high-performance computer simulation techniques that also find applications in other areas of science.

The school covers general topics on the physics of exotic nuclei, experimental and theoretical studies of nuclear structure and reaction dynamics and nuclear astrophysics.

Students will also contribute with oral sessions and poster presentations. We will ask you to upload your poster through the website.