The AGATA project is a European collaboration (currently consisting of 40 partners from over 10 countries) to build the ultimate gamma-ray spectrometer for nuclear physics applications.

The proposed array will consist of 180 hexagonal germanium crystals assembled into 60 triple-clusters and 12 pentagonal crystals. The shell of germanium formed will have an inner radius of 22 cm and will consist of 230 kg of germanium. This design will achieve a solid angle coverage of 80%.

In the UK, the Nuclear Physics group at the University of Liverpool and CCLRC Daresbury Laboratory in Cheshire have secured funding from the EPSRC to contribute to the design, construction and testing of the first phase sub-array. This will involve the purchase and characterisation of one detector module and the subsequent development of pulse shape analysis algorithms to allow interaction positions to be determined. The work will also involve the development of digital electronics for the detector readout of the germanium crystals allowing the implementation of real time solutions for the energy, time and position determination.

The principle people involved in the AGATA project in the UK are: Prof. Paul Nolan and Dr Andrew Boston, Liverpool Nuclear Physics Group and Dr John Simpson, CCLRC Daresbury Laboratory.