Foreword

The primary function of CERN is to provide research facilities and basic support to a vast community of Users, mainly physicists either from the Laboratory staff or from Universities and research Institutes in the Member States. In the course of furthering this objective, policies and procedures have to be established in order to assist Users in performing their research activities at CERN.

In November 1977 an Advisory Committee of CERN Users (ACCU) was set up with the task of advising the Director General on the practical measures and the administrative internal arrangements to be taken by the CERN Management for the utilization of the CERN facilities for research.

It became desirable in 1988 to revise the terms of reference and the rules of membership of the Committee, with the aim of strengthening the representativity of its members and its efficiency as a mutual consultation channel between the Director General and the communities of Users. A new Advisory Committee of CERN Users was set up according to the following rules.

The new Committee retains the same acronym: ACCU.

Terms of Reference

The task of ACCU is to advise the Director General on the practical measures to be taken and administrative internal arrangements to be made by the CERN Management for the utilization of the CERN facilities for research. This concerns in particular the working conditions and the arrangements for technical support to the CERN Users for their activity at the CERN Laboratory.

Questions dealing with the scientific programme of CERN do not fall under these terms of reference.

Membership and attendance

The membership of ACCU is as follows:

A. Two Users from each of the larger Member States (France, Germany, Italy, United Kingdom);
B. One User from each of the other Member States;
C. One User from each of the Associate Members;
D. Two CERN Staff members;
E. Four Users from non-Member States.

The members of ACCU should be active users of the CERN Laboratory. Except for the non-Member State delegates, they do not act ad personam, but with a mandate to represent their respective User communities with recognition by their respective scientific authorities. To this end, procedures for consultation with the registered CERN Users in the home countries have to be established by the appropriate scientific authorities (see ANNEX 1). Similarly, procedures for consultation with CERN Users from the CERN staff, including Fellows and Scientific Associates, have to be established by the CERN Management.

The members of ACCU nominated by the Member States (A, B), by the Associate Members (C), and by CERN (D) through the above procedure are appointed by the Director General of the Organization.

The four representatives of the Users from non-Member States (E) are directly appointed by the Director General, and act ad personam.

The members of ACCU are appointed for a period of two years, with the possibility of extension but with a reasonable rate of rotation.

The Chairperson of ACCU is elected from among the members of the Committee for a period of two years. The Chairperson remains a normal member of the Committee and is subject to the same terms of appointment.

Meetings and procedures

Meetings of ACCU are called by the Chairperson. The agenda is mailed to each member in advance of the meeting date.

The meetings of ACCU are attended by a member of the Directorate and by the Head of the Users' Office, as well as by other members of the CERN Management whenever appropriate. A representative of the CERN Staff Association attends the meetings of the Committee.

The Director General ensures proper access by ACCU members, via ex-officio membership or otherwise, to bodies of the Organization having advisory functions on technical and administrative matters and affecting the utilization of CERN by the Users.

The minutes of the meetings are made available to the Users via adequate communication channels.

The members of ACCU report regularly, at least once a year, to the appropriate scientific authorities responsible for high-energy physics activities in their home countries (A, B, C) or at CERN (D).

Annex 1

Contacts in the Member States and Associate Members to set up the procedures for nomination of members of the Users Committee.