Last day in Kolkata
Mina in Indiareis 2018 2018-05-07 19:05, laatste update 2019-05-15 14:05
After another buttered toast breakfast at the hotel, for some perhaps a relief after two days of Indian food only, we left for the Variable Energy Cyclotron Centre (VECC). This institute owns the first ever variable energy cyclotron build in India, but has multiple research areas besides nuclear physics. Sadly Danny could not join us, because his entry visa wasn't granted in time.
We arrived at the gate of VECC, where we were escorted to passport control by armed soldiers. Did I mention VECC is engaged in contract with the Department of Atomic Energy? After signing several forms, making an eye scan and handing over all cell phones and cameras we went to a conference hall, hence the lack of pictures. There was no question whether the air conditioning worked. Compared to the outside, the hall felt like the inside of a refrigerator. We were handed some tea (without sugar) and the director himself welcomed us to the institute. He gave us a showy golden plate, and I found myself wondering how it would look in between beer bottles and second hand couches in our canteen back in Nijmegen. I don't think we had felt this welcome at the other institutes. The director told us about the institutes' highlights, the variable energy cyclotron from 1969 and the superconducting cyclotron currently under construction. The VECC had two presentations planned about research done at the institute. One about experimental nuclear physics and one about high energy physics. Originally, the committee also wanted to go to VECC's neighbor: the Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics (SINP), but they denied access to us. Therefore VECC arranged a talk with a faculty member representing SINP. The SINP turns out to do pretty deep theoretical research such as string theory research.
In the mean time we all got quite hungry and just in time we were taken to the guest house where they prepared an entire buffet for us. The food was really good and even included white bread and boiled egg for the students who had seen enough Indian food. There were also sugared cheesy balls which I personally didn't like and purple mousse which I didn't even try. The people from VECC joined us for lunch which allowed for more casual conversation. They were really nice and seemed genuinely interested.
After two more talks we finally got to see the cyclotrons. We split into two groups and visited the ion beam faculty, the K130 variable energy cyclotron and the construction of the K500 superconducting cyclotron or photon multiplicity detector. Luckily for us, the K130 was out of order for a few days so we could take a look around the cyclotron building from 1969. The control room still looked the same as it did in those days, but they replaced the manual controls by computers. The construction of the K500 started in 2004. The cyclotron goes 10 m under ground and 10 m above. It is cooled using helium and liquid nitrogen, which are both stored in tanks after cooling to be used again. //
Overall VECC was definitely one of the nicer institutes we have seen. After giving the tiny wooden shoes and the group picture to the directors we left for the hotel. We couldn't leave Kolkata without seeing the Victoria Memorial, especially when it was so close to the hotel, so we drove past the building with our cars on our way back.
