CERN has been in Geneva for 70 years. As of Sunday, researchers from Russian research institutes are no longer welcome here, but that marked a turning point.
At the end of November, the time has come: more than 400 scientists with ties to Russian research institutes must leave the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) in Geneva. This will put an end to decades of collaboration. Like the United States, Russia has also given observer status to what is probably the world’s largest research machine (also known as the “World Machine”) since 1991. After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which violated international law, the CERN Council, the research center’s highest body, initially suspended Russia’s observer status and refused new cooperation with Russia and its institutions. At the end of December 2023, the Council decided to end cooperation with Russia and its ally Belarus, but this decision was not without controversy.
Contracts not renewed
According to CERN’s resolution, cooperation with Russia will end on November 30, when the current International Cooperation Agreement (ICA) expires. This was already the case for Belarus on November 30. According to CERN, more than 400 people from both countries are affected, up from 1,000 at the beginning of the invasion. CERN emphasizes that Russian and Belarusian researchers working at institutions outside the sanctioned countries will not be affected by the suspension of cooperation. However, about 100 Russian researchers have relocated to continue working at the research center.
According to CERN, more than 400 people from both countries are affected, up from 1,000 at the start of the invasion. CERN stresses that Russian or Belarusian researchers working at institutions outside the sanctions-covered countries will not be affected by the suspension of cooperation. However, about 100 Russian researchers have relocated to continue working at the research center.
Still, some researchers associated with CERN are concerned. For example, Professor Günter Di Sertori, a former CERN professor and rector of the Zurich Institute of Technology, feared that “a lot of know-how will be lost” if Russia is excluded, in an interview with Swiss broadcaster SRF. “CERN will still have to accept this loss.”
It’s a great pity.
“At CERN, we cooperated with Russia in a peaceful environment during the Cold War, driven by scientific curiosity. That’s not the case,” Markus Kluth, director of the Institute for Particle Physics at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), told DPA. It seems possible to make it longer, but that’s a real pity.” KIT works closely with CERN, as does DESY (Deutsche Elektronen Synchrotron) in Hamburg.
Physicist and Desy professor emeritus Hannes Jung also worries about the outcome: “There are so many conflicts in the world. If scientific cooperation is restricted, it will have an impact on future projects and collaborations at CERN.” He also expects a financial hole in CERN’s budget that could lead to even bigger problems.
Member states pay higher contributions to the CERN budget than observer states such as Russia. Switzerland contributes about 40 million Swiss francs (around 42.6 million euros) per year, while Germany is the largest donor at about 220 million euros per year, bringing the total budget to just over 1.2 billion francs. Contributions are based on the gross domestic product of each state.
But Russia has also made significant financial and material contributions to CERN in the past, but not now, CERN spokesman Arnaud Marsollier confirmed online. Russia donated about 2.7 million Swiss francs per year. This amounts to about 4.5 percent of the running costs of experiments at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the world’s largest particle accelerator. Moreover, CERN says it needs to raise at least an additional 40 million francs by 2028, as various Russian-made components and experimental parts for the accelerator will not be delivered due to sanctions against Russia. But this giant research machine faces ongoing financial challenges.
Funding problems
These difficulties are likely to increase when considering CERN’s large-scale development projects, such as the construction of a new ring accelerator with a circumference of about 91 kilometers. The estimated cost of this future circular collider (FCC) varies depending on the source and ranges from 10 billion to more than 20 billion euros, making it at least three times more expensive than the current LHC. And there is no need to stop there. The federal government has already made it clear that Germany does not have unlimited funds. At a workshop of German particle physicists, Eckart Lilienthal of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) caused controversy by criticizing the inaccurate cost and funding estimates. According to Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Lilienthal said that “in the current economic situation, Germany is not in a position to provide the planned funding to the FCC.”
Hannes Jung therefore told the news portal SWI Swissinfo.ch that he thinks it is “important and positive for Russia to continue to support experiments and research at CERN with its financial and intellectual resources.” Rather, there are concerns that Russian funds and Russian scientists will benefit military research. In a guest article in the company’s in-house magazine “CERN Courier,” physicist Jung, who is also chairman of the Science4Peace forum, expressed a firm rejection of sanctions against researchers or countries, but internal sources say that the sanctions were not unanimous. Political pressure ultimately led to Russia’s exclusion.
ETH Rector Günter Di Sertori also told SRF that he was “not satisfied with this decision.” He can understand it and “I also understand the position of the countries that are particularly committed to this. But personally I think a different solution would have been better,” Di Sertori said. Criticism of Ukraine
However, CERN will not completely sever ties with Russia, which is very unsatisfying for Ukraine. CERN has not terminated its cooperation agreement with the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (JINR) in the scientific city of Dubna near Moscow. Since 1957, CERN has been cooperating with this organization, which has a similar structure to CERN, mainly with the participation of former Eastern Bloc countries and conducts similar research.
Ukrainian researchers criticize the fact that more than 80% of JINR is funded by the Russian government. Nevertheless, the CERN Council decided not to terminate the agreement in June this year. However, the mutual observer status between CERN and JINR, and above all the start of new cooperation, was stopped.
CERN itself has about 2,500 full-time staff members. In addition, several thousand people from 110 countries conduct research at the organization. A total of about 14,000 scientists affiliated with research institutes around the world are part of the international network. CERN currently has 24 member states, 10 associate member states, two countries with observer status and two multilateral organizations, and has cooperation agreements with 48 countries, including Belarus and the Russian Federation.
