Slovakia and CERN discuss scientific and industrial cooperation

CERN Council president Mark Thomson met Prime Minister Robert Fico, Education Minister Tomáš Drucker, nuclear-sector representatives and the Slovak Academy of Sciences in Bratislava. The visit is linked to a meeting of RECFA, an advisory body of the European Committee for Future Accelerators.

RECFA is reviewing particle physics in Slovakia, including research, education, infrastructure and international cooperation. Slovakia has been a CERN member since 1993; Slovak institutes and universities participate in Large Hadron Collider experiments, and Slovak physicists contributed to projects associated with the discovery of the Higgs boson.

The government said membership should create more practical opportunities for both research institutions and industry. Participants also discussed educating a new generation of nuclear-energy specialists and encouraging young people to enter science.

The government release sets out the meeting’s aims and participants’ positions, but it does not announce a newly approved funding programme or a signed contract. No specific decision expanding the partnership is identified.