Meson Hall is TRIUMF’s first and largest research facility. Four storeys high with another four storeys below ground, the building houses the laboratory’s 520 MeV cyclotron – certified by the Guinness Book of World Records as the largest accelerator of its type in the world.
On March 6, 2023, Saint Mary’s University became a full member of TRIUMF, Canada's particle accelerator centre, joining a group of 21 universities across the country.
TRIUMF is a hub for discovery and innovation along with its partner institutions—solving problems, from the hunt for the smallest particles in our universe to advancing research that discovers the next generation of batteries or develops isotopes to diagnose and treat disease.
As a full member, Saint Mary’s will be empowered to participate in and lead the TRIUMF science program, including the laboratory’s vision-setting and its multifaceted and intersectional portfolio of collaborations and network opportunities.
“Saint Mary’s University is honoured to be enhancing our partnership with this renowned facility," says Dr. Adam Sarty, Associate Vice-President, Research. “By committing to now change our status to have full membership with TRIUMF, our professors and students will be ensured to maintain their access to sophisticated, isotope science and technology to innovate, inspire and educate. Working more fully within the TRIUMF family of member universities, we will achieve greater collaboration across communities and disciplines, from nuclear and particle physics to the life and material sciences.”
TRIUMF is one of the few subatomic research facilities in the world that specializes in using particle accelerators to produce extremely intense beams of isotopes. Particle accelerators use a combination of electric and magnetic fields to accelerate and guide streams of charged particles to relativistic velocities.
In fact, TRIUMF is home to the world’s largest cyclotron, a special type of particle accelerator that accelerates particles up to 75% of the speed of light as they follow a spiral path through it.
Particle accelerators are useful tools for science, medicine and business. For example, they can produce some of the most extreme conditions in the universe, allowing researchers to study how exotic, unstable isotopes form and break apart, as well as particles and molecules in their work. Some of these isotopes also have tremendous value for use in diagnostics scans for neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson's and Alzheimer's, or even direct therapies for diseases like cancer. At TRIUMF, scientists from around the world use particle accelerators for particle and nuclear physics, life sciences and medical research, materials science, and more.
Saint Mary’s has long had a collaborative relationship with TRIUMF, and two years ago Saint Mary’s led a national project for rare isotope research at the facility. A team of scientists including SMU Principal Investigator Dr. Rituparna Kanungo achieved a major milestone, accelerating for the first time a radioactive isotope beam through the CANREB (CANadian Rare isotope facility with Electron Beam ion source) facility and delivered to the IRIS experiment in the ISAC-II experimental hall. The IRIS facility is also a SMU-led CFI project that unveils the secrets of the rare isotopes with nuclear reactions.
About TRIUMF
TRIUMF was founded in 1968 by Simon Fraser University, the University of British Columbia and the University of Victoria; it has expanded to include members across Canada. The science program has expanded from nuclear physics to a multidisciplinary effort that includes particle physics, molecular and materials science, and nuclear medicine. TRIUMF provides research infrastructure and tools that are too large and complex for a single university to build, operate, or maintain.
Located on the UBC campus, the houses almost 600 scientists, engineers, and staff performing research. A hub for discovery and innovation, the laboratory attracts almost 900 national and international users every year and provides advanced research facilities and opportunities to 150 students and postdoctoral fellows. In addition to the onsite program, TRIUMF serves as a key broker for Canada in global research in particle, nuclear, and accelerator physics.