The Scientiﬁc

ARUNA, the Association for Research at University Nuclear Accelerators, consisting of 10 institutions and 176 registered users, is an association of university-based accelerator laboratories and the scientists performing nuclear research at them. This white paper was produced as the outcome of a workshop held June 12 and 13, 2014 on the campus of the University of Notre Dame. The workshop was attended by 59 registered participants from 20 institutions and centered its discussion around 34 plenary presentations. The program is available at http://aruna.physics. fsu.edu/Workshop.html. The goal of the meeting was to document the scientific impact of the programs at the university-based accelerator laboratories and formulate a vision of their future role for the scientific community. The university-based ARUNA laboratories pursue research programs in nuclear astrophysics, low energy nuclear physics, fundamental symmetries, and a rapidly growing number of nuclear physics applications, building bridges to other research communities. Their efforts are advancing the priorities for low-energy nuclear science as expressed in the NSAC long-range plans, and are also pioneering new initiatives, new scientific directions and developments in the field. The ARUNA laboratories span a range of sizes and comprise a very diverse portfolio of research instruments and programs. All ARUNA facilities benefit from their location on university campuses, where a large fraction of the research is carried out. The faculty and scientists at these facilities represent an important intellectual resource for the national nuclear program. They not only provide new ideas for their local facilities, but represent a large fraction of the user community for the national laboratories. ARUNA facilities are the testing ground for new ideas and new technical developments; the nation’s first radioactive beam facilities were developed at ARUNA laboratories, ARUNA facilities provide now the design for critical instrumentation for FRIB as the major new tool for low energy nuclear physics. Some ARUNA laboratories have developed unique capabilities in mono-energetic neutrons, high intensity mono-energetic γ–photon beams, providing new ideas for large scale international facilities such as ELI in Europe. ARUNA laboratories have also developed techniques for generating and utilizing high-intensity low-energy beams, which will be an important asset towards the development of the next generation of underground accelerator laboratories. Utilization of these probes is essential for addressing many of the scientific goals and challenges in low energy nuclear physics and astrophysics. The facilities are characterized by their flexibility to perform long term experiments or experimental programs that are not possible within the environment of the national user facilities. ARUNA laboratories provide an important fraction of the nuclear workforce. Through their location on university campuses, they attract undergraduate and graduate students into the field, and they provide a unique training environment for students and postdocs from a very early stage on. A large fraction of today’s nuclear physics research community has been trained at university facilities. The ARUNA laboratories play a major role in the workforce rejuvenation of the national nuclear science endeavor and are often the flagship facilities at their host institutions. To maintain this role for the broader community continuing support for university based laboratories is essential.