500 scientists at Russian institutes will be affected by the severance of CERN’s ties with Moscow

The European physics laboratory CERN has announced that around 500 scientists associated with Russian institutes will be affected by the termination of cooperation with Russia, which will take place in November.

CERN’s decision-making body agreed in June 2022 to end cooperation agreements with Russia and its ally Belarus over the war in Ukraine.

As a result, the five-year agreement with Belarus was not renewed when it expired on June 27 last year, and the other with Russia will not be renewed after it expired on November 30.

The decision has already deprived some 15 Belarusian scientists of the opportunity to cooperate with CERN, and hundreds of Russian scientists will soon face the same fate.

“This concerns scientists associated with Russian institutes – less than 500 today – who will have to end this collaboration,” CERN spokesman Arnaud Marsolier told AFP.

These scientists have so far been among a community of about 17,000 researchers worldwide, working primarily from their own institute or laboratory, participating in CERN-related activity, including experiments and data analysis.

When CERN finalized the decision to end cooperation with Russia in December last year, the laboratory emphasized that this “will not affect relations with scientists of Russian nationality associated with other institutes.”

Marsolier estimated that about 90 Russians have moved to other laboratories and will be able to continue their activities as normal.

The decision also does not affect employees at the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (JINR), based in Dubna, about 110 km north of Moscow.

It is considered an “international organization,” Marsolier explained.

Russia’s exclusion also means that CERN will lose a significant financial contribution.

Until now, Russia has provided about 4.5 percent of the annual operating costs for experiments conducted at the lab’s giant particle accelerator, the Large Hadron Collider (GAC), or about 2.3 million Swiss francs ($2.7 million).

Moscow had promised to provide 40 million francs for the renovation of the GAC.

Other member states will join in covering Russia’s contribution to the budget. Marsolier pointed out that CERN will be able to fill the shortage of funds for the modernization of GAC.

“No delay” is expected, he said. | BGNES

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