Experiment Scheduling
The JLab Scheduling Committee has been established in order to develop the goals for each accelerator/physics running cycle, develop the schedule for accelerator operations, and identify the priorities among experiments scheduled to run simultaneously.
The Scheduling Committee will consider the physics priority of each experiment, together with the long-term goals of the research program, the accelerator's ability to deliver the beams desired reliably, the availability and reliability of the necessary experimental apparatus, the time necessary to mount each major experiment, and other constraints as appropriate. An effort will be made to schedule complete experiments whenever this is deemed technically feasible. See the scheduling process for detailed information.
Following the scheduling of an experiment a formal liaison physicist will be assigned (if not already done). The liaison physicist will be responsible for coordinating interactions between the lab and the experiment collaboration with particular emphasis on the equipment staging and installation in the hall and on the completion of the necessary EH&S reviews of the equipment and procedures that will be used for the experiment.
At the time an experiment is first shown on the long range schedule (i.e. nominally 9-12 months before it will actually run), the Accelerator Division Experiment coordinator will schedule a meeting that will include: representative(s) of accelerator operations as assigned by the head of operations, representative(s) of the relevant experimental hall as assigned by the hall leader, the chair of the Technical Support Committee, the spokesperson for the experiment and the liaison physicist assigned by the hall leader. This group should examine the experiment thoroughly, identify all the special requirements for beam, beamline, non-standard equipment, operational conditions, special radiation issues, etc., and establish milestones and a schedule for meeting them which assures that the experiment is ready to run during the scheduled time slot. An agreed upon mechanism for verifying the quality of beam delivered to the experiment will be established, if required. The group may schedule additional meetings in the period leading up to the experiment to monitor progress in the preparations and/or address details of the work to be done; the frequency and participation in these meetings will be adjusted as appropriate for the complexity of the experiment and its installation requirements.
The accelerator operations representative assigned as the liaison between he experiment and accelerator operations will serve in this capacity through the completion of beam delivery for the experiment. He or she will assure that any special requirements of the experiment are conveyed to the operations staff and the relevant program deputies, so optimal use is made of beam time, and knowledge of special conditions is distributed well in advance.
One week before the experiment is scheduled to start taking data, one last meeting should occur to ensure that all open issues are resolved and that the experiment readiness certificate is signed off. The result will be confidence that the experiment is prepared to run without "surprises" and that operations is prepared to deliver beam which meets the established requirements during the time slot in question.
To ensure adequate interactions between the experimenters, the hall representatives and the accelerator operations team during the entire course of the experiment, representatives from each running experiment with the knowledge and authority to speak for activities underway in the hall (nominally the run coordinator for the experiment in progress), should attend the Accelerator Operations Scheduling meeting at 1:30 P.M. on Wednesday if their hall is to receive beam in the following two weeks, or has received beam during the past week. When an experiment has received beam during the previous week, the representative from the experiment should be prepared to summarize, as briefly as appropriate, the result of these beam operations, and to suggest any ways in which accelerator operations or efficiency of beam delivery could be improved during subsequent running.
A representative from each of the running experiments should also attend the 8am accelerator operations review meeting on any morning Monday through Friday in which they received beam during the previous 24 hours (72 hours on Mondays), or expect to receive beam during the following 24 hours (72 hours on Fridays). These representatives should be prepared to address questions regarding beam delivery to their hall, details of schedules, etc. Representatives from Halls A, B, and C should attend the 1:30 Monday downtime scheduling meeting as required.