Geoscientists Canada Facilitates New Framework for Assessment Processes in the Licensing of Professional Geoscientists in Canada

Recent modifications to Chapter 7 of Canada’s Agreement on Internal Trade (AIT) – the Labour Mobility chapter - and the introduction of new provincial legislation in some jurisdictions, concerning fair access to the regulated professions, have necessitated changes to the way credentials of individuals seeking licensure as professional geoscientists are assessed. In particular, Chapter 7 of the AIT now provides that any licensed (registered) professional in any one of Canada’s provinces or territories, be eligible for registration in another without reassessment, retraining or retesting. Fundamentally this amounts to legislated mutual recognition between all regulatory authorities across Canada, for each profession.  Some regulated professions in Canada have met this change by centralizing much of their credentials-assessment activity, by setting up and using a national admissions administration agency. In some cases, this has resulted in reduced autonomy and flexibility for provincial authorities.  The authorities for geoscience in Canada (which in many provinces are the same organizations that regulate engineering) have met the need for harmonization via a different mechanism.The Framework for assessment processes in the licensing of Professional Geoscientists in Canada/Cadre pour l’évaluation menant à l’attribution du permis d’exercice aux géoscientifiques en sol canadien developed by Geoscientists Canada with and for its constituent associations, is designed to achieve consistency in admissions decisions across Canada without compromising standards or impinging on the independence of individual authorities. This paper outlines the rationale for this approach and the development process that was followed; it also summarizes the resulting Framework.SOMMAIRELes récentes modifications apportées au chapitre 7 de l'Accord canadien sur le commerce intérieur (ACI) - le chapitre sur la mobilité de la main-d’œuvre, et l'apparition de nouvelles législations provinciales dans certains cas, concernant l'accès équitable aux professions réglementées, ont nécessité des modifications sur la manière d’évaluer les compétences des personnes requérant un permis d’exercice au titre de géoscientifique professionnel.  En particulier, le chapitre 7 de l’ACI prévoit désormais que tout professionnel licencié (enregistré) dans l'une des provinces ou territoires du Canada, puisse l’être aussi dans une autre province ou territoire sans réévaluation, formation de reclassement ou nouveaux examens d’admission.  En somme cela équivaut à une reconnaissance légale mutuelle par toutes les autorités de réglementation à travers le Canada, pour chaque profession.  Certaines des professions réglementées du Canada ont réagit à ce changement en centralisant leurs activités d'évaluation des compétences, par la création et l'utilisation des services d'une agence nationale d'administration des accréditations.  Dans certains cas, cela s'est traduit par une réduction de l’autonomie et la flexibilité d’opération des autorités provinciales.  Les autorités de réglementation des géosciences au Canada (qui sont les mêmes qui règlementent les professions du génie dans de nombreuses provinces) ont répondu à la nécessité d'harmonisation par un mécanisme différent.Le « Cadre pour l’évaluation menant à l’attribution du permis d’exercice aux géoscientifiques en sol canadien / Framework for assessment processes in the licensing of Professional Geoscientists in Canada » élaboré par Géoscientifiques Canada en collaboration et pour ses associations constituantes, est conçu pour assurer la cohérence dans les décisions relatives aux permis d’exercice au Canada sans compromission sur les normes, ni empiètement sur l'indépendance de chacune des autorités.  Le présent article décrit les grandes lignes de l’argumentaire de cette approche ainsi que le processus qui en a découlé.  On y présente également le « Cadre » qui en a résulté

The Development of Canada's Competency Profile for Professional Geoscientists at Entry-to-Practice

Competency-based assessment approaches to professional registration reflect the move by professions, both in Canada and around the world, away from traditional credentials-based assessments centred on a combination of academic achievements and supervised practice time. Entry to practice competencies are the abilities required to enable effective and safe entry-level practice in a profession.   In 2012, Geoscientists Canada received funding from the Government of Canada’s Foreign Credentials Recognition Program. A central component of the funding involved the development of a competency profile to assist in assessment for licensing in the geoscience profession. Work concluded with the approval of the Competency Profile for Professional Geoscientists at Entry to Practice by Geoscientists Canada in November 2014.   The Competency Profile comprises concise statements in plain language, setting out the skills and abilities that are required to be able to work as a geoscientist, in an effective and safe manner, independent of direct supervision. It covers competencies common to all geoscientists; competencies for the primary subdisciplines of geoscience (geology, environmental geoscience and geophysics); and a generic set of high level competences that can apply in any specific work context in geoscience.   The paper is in two parts. Part 1 puts the concept of competencies in context and describes the approach taken to develop the profile, including: input from Subject Matter Experts (practising geoscientists representing a diverse sampling of the profession); extensive national consultation and refinement; and a validation procedure, including a survey of practising Canadian geoscientists. Part 2 introduces the profile, explains its structure, and provides examples of some of the competencies. The full competency profile can be obtained from the Geoscientists Canada website www.geoscientistscanada.ca.  Future work will identify specific indicators of proficiency related to each competency and suggest appropriate methodologies to assess such competencies. It will also involve mapping the profile to the existing Canadian reference standard, Geoscience Knowledge and Experience Requirements for Professional Registration in Canada.RÉSUMÉLes approches d'évaluation basées sur les compétences en vue de l'inscription professionnelle reflètent l'abandon par les professions, tant au Canada que partout dans le monde, des évaluations classiques basées sur les titres de compétences et axées sur une combinaison de réalisations académiques et de temps de pratique supervisée. Les compétences au niveau débutant sont les capacités requises pour une pratique efficace et en toute sécurité audit niveau dans une profession.   En 2012, Géoscientifiques Canada a reçu un financement du Programme de reconnaissance des titres de compétences étrangers du gouvernement du Canada. Une composante centrale du financement incluait l’élaboration d'un profil des compétences pour faciliter l'évaluation de la délivrance de permis dans la profession de géoscience. Ce travail a été conclu en novembre 2014 avec l'approbation par Géoscientifiques Canada du Profil des compétences pour les géoscientifiques professionnels au niveau débutant.   Le profil des compétences comprend des déclarations concises dans un langage clair, définissant les compétences et les capacités requises pour exercer efficacement, en toute sécurité et indépendamment de toute supervision directe, en tant que géoscientifique. Il couvre les compétences communes à tous les géoscientifiques; les compétences pour les sous-disciplines primaires de la géoscience (géologie, géoscience environnementale et géophysique); et un ensemble générique de compétences de haut niveau pouvant s'appliquer dans tout contexte de travail spécifique en géoscience.   Le document comporte deux parties. La 1ère partie met en contexte le concept de compétences et décrit l'approche adoptée pour élaborer le profil, y compris : les contributions d'experts dans le domaine (géoscientifiques professionnels représentant un échantillonnage diversifié de la profession); de vastes consultations et perfectionnements à l'échelle nationale; et une procédure de validation, incluant une enquête auprès des géoscientifiques professionnels canadiens. La 2ème partie présente le profil, explique sa structure et fournit des exemples pour certaines des compétences. Le profil des compétences complet est disponible sur le site web de Géoscientifiques Canada www.geoscientistscanada.ca.   Les travaux futurs identifieront des indicateurs spécifiques d’aptitude liés à chaque compétence et suggèreront des méthodologies appropriées pour leur évaluation. Ils comprendront également la mise en correspondance du profil avec la norme de référence canadienne existante et les exigences en matière de Connaissances et expérience des géosciences requises pour l'inscription à titre professionnel au Canada.

Search for new particles in events with energetic jets and large missing transverse momentum in proton-proton collisions at root s=13 TeV

A search is presented for new particles produced at the LHC in proton-proton collisions at root s = 13 TeV, using events with energetic jets and large missing transverse momentum. The analysis is based on a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 101 fb(-1), collected in 2017-2018 with the CMS detector. Machine learning techniques are used to define separate categories for events with narrow jets from initial-state radiation and events with large-radius jets consistent with a hadronic decay of a W or Z boson. A statistical combination is made with an earlier search based on a data sample of 36 fb(-1), collected in 2016. No significant excess of events is observed with respect to the standard model background expectation determined from control samples in data. The results are interpreted in terms of limits on the branching fraction of an invisible decay of the Higgs boson, as well as constraints on simplified models of dark matter, on first-generation scalar leptoquarks decaying to quarks and neutrinos, and on models with large extra dimensions. Several of the new limits, specifically for spin-1 dark matter mediators, pseudoscalar mediators, colored mediators, and leptoquarks, are the most restrictive to date.Peer reviewe

Combined searches for the production of supersymmetric top quark partners in proton-proton collisions at root s=13 TeV

A combination of searches for top squark pair production using proton-proton collision data at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV at the CERN LHC, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 137 fb(-1) collected by the CMS experiment, is presented. Signatures with at least 2 jets and large missing transverse momentum are categorized into events with 0, 1, or 2 leptons. New results for regions of parameter space where the kinematical properties of top squark pair production and top quark pair production are very similar are presented. Depending on themodel, the combined result excludes a top squarkmass up to 1325 GeV for amassless neutralino, and a neutralinomass up to 700 GeV for a top squarkmass of 1150 GeV. Top squarks with masses from 145 to 295 GeV, for neutralino masses from 0 to 100 GeV, with a mass difference between the top squark and the neutralino in a window of 30 GeV around the mass of the top quark, are excluded for the first time with CMS data. The results of theses searches are also interpreted in an alternative signal model of dark matter production via a spin-0 mediator in association with a top quark pair. Upper limits are set on the cross section for mediator particle masses of up to 420 GeV

Probing effective field theory operators in the associated production of top quarks with a Z boson in multilepton final states at root s=13 TeV

Peer reviewe

Measurement of the W gamma Production Cross Section in Proton-Proton Collisions at root s=13 TeV and Constraints on Effective Field Theory Coefficients

A fiducial cross section for W gamma production in proton-proton collisions is measured at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV in 137 fb(-1) of data collected using the CMS detector at the LHC. The W -> e nu and mu nu decay modes are used in a maximum-likelihood fit to the lepton-photon invariant mass distribution to extract the combined cross section. The measured cross section is compared with theoretical expectations at next-to-leading order in quantum chromodynamics. In addition, 95% confidence level intervals are reported for anomalous triple-gauge couplings within the framework of effective field theory.Peer reviewe

Performance of the CMS muon trigger system in proton-proton collisions at √s = 13 TeV

The muon trigger system of the CMS experiment uses a combination of hardware and software to identify events containing a muon. During Run 2 (covering 2015-2018) the LHC achieved instantaneous luminosities as high as 2 × 10 cm s while delivering proton-proton collisions at √s = 13 TeV. The challenge for the trigger system of the CMS experiment is to reduce the registered event rate from about 40 MHz to about 1 kHz. Significant improvements important for the success of the CMS physics program have been made to the muon trigger system via improved muon reconstruction and identification algorithms since the end of Run 1 and throughout the Run 2 data-taking period. The new algorithms maintain the acceptance of the muon triggers at the same or even lower rate throughout the data-taking period despite the increasing number of additional proton-proton interactions in each LHC bunch crossing. In this paper, the algorithms used in 2015 and 2016 and their improvements throughout 2017 and 2018 are described. Measurements of the CMS muon trigger performance for this data-taking period are presented, including efficiencies, transverse momentum resolution, trigger rates, and the purity of the selected muon sample. This paper focuses on the single- and double-muon triggers with the lowest sustainable transverse momentum thresholds used by CMS. The efficiency is measured in a transverse momentum range from 8 to several hundred GeV

Search for dark photons in Higgs boson production via vector boson fusion in proton-proton collisions at √s = 13 TeV

A search is presented for a Higgs boson that is produced via vector boson fusion and that decays to an undetected particle and an isolated photon. The search is performed by the CMS collaboration at the LHC, using a data set corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 130 fb−1, recorded at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV in 2016–2018. No significant excess of events above the expectation from the standard model background is found. The results are interpreted in the context of a theoretical model in which the undetected particle is a massless dark photon. An upper limit is set on the product of the cross section for production via vector boson fusion and the branching fraction for such a Higgs boson decay, as a function of the Higgs boson mass. For a Higgs boson mass of 125 GeV, assuming the standard model production rates, the observed (expected) 95% confidence level upper limit on the branching fraction is 3.5 (2.8)%. This is the first search for such decays in the vector boson fusion channel. Combination with a previous search for Higgs bosons produced in association with a Z boson results in an observed (expected) upper limit on the branching fraction of 2.9 (2.1)% at 95% confidence level

Search for long-lived particles decaying to jets with displaced vertices in proton-proton collisions at root s=13 Te V

A search is presented for long-lived particles produced in pairs in proton-proton collisions at the LHC operating at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV. The data were collected with the CMS detector during the period from 2015 through 2018, and correspond to a total integrated luminosity of 140 fb(-1). This search targets pairs of long-lived particles with mean proper decay lengths between 0.1 and 100 mm, each of which decays into at least two quarks that hadronize to jets, resulting in a final state with two displaced vertices. No significant excess of events with two displaced vertices is observed. In the context of R-parity violating supersymmetry models, the pair production of long-lived neutralinos, gluinos, and top squarks is excluded at 95% confidence level for cross sections larger than 0.08 fb, masses between 800 and 3000 GeV, and mean proper decay lengths between 1 and 25 mm.Peer reviewe

Search for top squark production in fully hadronic final states in proton-proton collisions at root s=13 TeV

A search for production of the supersymmetric partners of the top quark, top squarks, is presented. The search is based on proton-proton collision events containing multiple jets, no leptons, and large transverse momentum imbalance. The data were collected with the CMS detector at the CERN LHC at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 137 fb(-1). The targeted signal production scenarios are direct and gluino-mediated top squark production, including scenarios in which the top squark and neutralino masses are nearly degenerate. The search utilizes novel algorithms based on deep neural networks that identify hadronically decaying top quarks and W bosons, which are expected in many of the targeted signal models. No statistically significant excess of events is observed relative to the expectation from the standard model, and limits on the top squark production cross section are obtained in the context of simplified supersymmetric models for various production and decay modes. Exclusion limits as high as 1310 GeVare established at the 95% confidence level on the mass of the top squark for direct top squark production models, and as high as 2260 GeV on the mass of the gluino for gluino-mediated top squark production models. These results represent a significant improvement over the results of previous searches for supersymmetry by CMS in the same final state.Peer reviewe