Russia takes part in all top experiments of CERN in the fields of high-energy physics

A regular meeting of the Committee “Russia-CERN” was held in Moscow. A Russian delegation at the meeting was represented by First Deputy Minister of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation Grigory Trubnikov. A delegation of the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) was headed by CERN Director-General Fabiola Gianotti.

Following the meeting, CERN Director-General described work of the Committee as productive: “We are glad that contacts with the Russian Federation are enhanced. These meetings are held twice a year, and we are pleased to see how Russian universities widen their scientific programmes. We hope for the further fruitful cooperation with the Russian Federation.” .

In the framework of the meeting of the Committee, the parties discussed approaches to intensification of scientific and technical cooperation between Russia and CERN, as well as planned particular steps for cooperation development. Thus, efforts will be made in the nearest future on preparation of a new Agreement on scientific and technical development in the fields of high-energy physics and other areas of mutual interest. This document will become the basis for widening the formats of cooperation between Russia and CERN.

First Deputy Minister of Science and Higher Education Grigory Trubnikov informed the mass media after the meeting: “Today, we summed up the results of work already completed, outlined short-term and long-term tasks. At the meeting, several dozens of our institutes and universities were presented, and we discussed joint plans with CERN for the next 5-7 years. The collider operates very successfully, more than 1000 our researchers take part in these experiments and co-author discoveries made at the collider. Now, a two-year shutdown starts to upgrade the collider. After the pause, the collider will be launched again, and its luminosity, and consequently amounts of experimental data, will several times outreach those of today’s ones. It is the result of Russian participation in CERN as well, of our technologies. As for the future cooperation, CERN expressed its willingness to participate in Russian projects, and we are ready to take part in new CERN project as well.”

During the meeting, possible contact points of the national project “Nauka” (lit. “Science”) and CERN opportunities were discussed.

Fabiola Gianotti noted: “Although CERN is not an educational institution, we are ready to provide a perfect basis, create necessary conditions for Russian young scientists to take part in these projects and gain experience for their scientific research. When I was a student and got to CERN, it was a unique experience, there was a multilingual environment where people shared the common goal. It is a scientific paradise” .

“In the frames of the national project, great attention is paid to international scientific and technical cooperation. CERN is one of our partners with whom we have been cooperating for more than 50 years. Participating in CERN projects, Russia deals with the advanced, top technologies. It is a great platform for training our young staff and an opportunity to participate in the unique experiments in the fields of high-energy physics. Then, they will return to Russia with new knowledge and continue research,” Grigory Trubnikov said.

Members of the Committee and participants of the meeting discussed a wide range of topical issues of cooperation, including the progress in development of the High Luminosity LHC and participation of Russian organizations in LHC upgrade projects. Special attention was paid to the issue of participation of Russian universities in the LHC experiments. The Russian delegation comprised representatives of NRC “Kurchatov Institute”, Budker Institute of Nuclear Physics of SB RAS, the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, SINP MSU, Institute of Nuclear Research RAS, the Lebedev Physical Institute RAS, MIPT, the State Corporation “Rosatom”, as well as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia.

A regular meeting of the Committee “Russia-CERN” will be held in spring 2019 in the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN).

Source: minobrnauki.gov.ru