CERN will assess Latvia’s accession as an associated member / Article / LSM.lv

The Council of the European Nuclear Research Center (CERN) has decided to establish a working group to assess Latvia’s readiness to become an associate member of CERN, the Ministry of Education and Science (MES) informed.

The Ministry of Education and Science pointed out that the establishment of the working group is an important step in Latvia’s progress towards membership in CERN. This means that the representatives of CERN member states with the right to vote have positively assessed the report prepared and submitted by the Ministry of Education and Science and Riga Technical University (RTU). application and Latvia’s progress in preparing to become an associate member of CERN.

The established working group will have the task of assessing Latvia’s compliance with the three basic criteria of the CERN Associated Member State:

• • political will – the ability to secure long-term state participation in CERN through appropriate scientific and financial policy instruments;
  • high energy physics community – research and engineering capacity of state scientific institutions in general;
  • industrial capacity – the potential ability of public manufacturing companies to participate in CERN procurement and research and development (R&D) projects.

Already this year, the CERN working group will meet with policy makers, representatives of scientific institutions and entrepreneurs during the visit to Latvia. The visit will be followed by a written report to the CERN Council. On the basis of this report, the CERN Council will decide whether to give a mandate to the Director-General of CERN to open accession negotiations, negotiate an agreement and conclude it with Latvia.

Preliminarily, Latvia’s accession to CERN as an associated country could take place in mid-2021.

“This is very good news for both scientists and Latvian companies, confirming that we are one step closer to the faster growth of science and business, which will be ensured by the opportunity to fully participate in CERN research projects and competitions. It is also a commendable assessment of the many years of intensive and cohesive work of Latvian higher education institutions, ministries and companies, ”said Professor Toms Torims, Director of CERN Baltic Group, Director of RTU High Energy Particle Physics and Accelerator Technology Center, in a statement to the media.

The Minister of Education and Science Ilga Šuplinska (New Conservative Party) also expressed satisfaction: “Latvia’s accession as an associate member of CERN, similar to approved admission of Latvia As an associate member of the European Space Agency, it is an important indicator of the quality and competitiveness of science. This will promote the performance of Latvian researchers in international research programs, allow for interdisciplinary research and attract scientific staff to work in Latvia, thus promoting the development of the Latvian economy. ”

CONTEXT:

Currently, five scientists from Latvia work at CERN, while in Latvia high-energy physics and accelerator technologies and related research are carried out at RTU, Riga Stradins University, University of Latvia, Institute of Solid State Physics, University of Latvia. Companies such as Baltic Scientific Instruments, Dati Group, SAF tehnika, Primekss and others also work in this sector.

In turn, in February this year Latvia submitted an application to CERN, confirming its wish to become an associated Member State. This means that Latvian scientists and entrepreneurs will have new opportunities to work in a prestigious organization in the coming years.

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