Accelerator workforce development

Accelerator science has been hugely influential on research, contributing to physics Nobel Prize-winning research every three years. The DOE Office of Science invests in accelerator science to sustain America’s excellence and constructs and operates large-scale scientific user facilities to be vital tools of discovery. Developing the next breakthroughs in accelerator science, and designing, building, and operating user facilities, requires a large, highly skilled workforce of accelerator scientists, engineers, and technical (AS&E) staff. Some portions of the AS&E workforce are best planned with a long-term, national perspective in mind. A roundtable meeting was called with participants comprising 9 DOE National Laboratories and the Office of Science Nuclear Physics User Facility FRIB. An approximate census of the current accelerator workforce at those institutions was assembled along with an approximate workforce projection with a 10-year horizon. Critical and endangered skillsets were identified and best practices for workforce development were shared. In recognition of the wider ecosystem, plans were discussed to expand the roundtable participants to universities and critical members of the accelerator industry in the next year.