CERN: Russia exits "the world's largest machine"

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At the end of November, more than 400 scientists with links to Russian research institutes will have to leave the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) in Geneva. This marks the end of decades of collaboration. Russia has had observer status at what is probably the largest research machine in the world (also known as the "world machine") since 1991, as has the USA.

Following the invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation in violation of international law, the highest body of the research center, the CERN Council, initially suspended Russia's observer status and rejected new collaborations with Russia and its institutions. At the end of December 2023, the Council then decided to end cooperation with Russia and its ally Belarus – a decision that was not without controversy.

Contracts not extended

In accordance with the CERN resolution, cooperation with Russia will end on November 30, when the current International Cooperation Agreement (ICA) expires. For Belarus, this was already the case on June 27, 2024. The agreements were not renewed, which normally happens tacitly at the end of their five-year term.

According to CERN, more than 400 people from both countries are affected, up from 1000 at the beginning of the invasion. Researchers from Russia or Belarus who work at institutions outside their sanctioned home countries are not affected by the cooperation freeze, CERN emphasizes. However, in order to continue working with the research center, around 100 Russian researchers have relocated.

Nevertheless, some researchers associated with CERN are concerned. For example, the Professor of Particle Physics and Rector of ETH Zurich, who used to work at CERN. In an interview with the Swiss broadcaster SRG, Günther Dissertori fears that "a lot of know-how will be lost" with the exclusion of Russia. "CERN still has to cope with this loss."

"An extreme pity"

Markus Klute, Head of the Institute for Experimental Particle Physics at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), told dpa: "At CERN, we also worked together with Russia during the Cold War, driven by scientific curiosity, in a peaceful environment. That no longer seems to be possible, and that is an extreme pity". Like Desy (Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron) in Hamburg, KIT works closely with CERN.

Hannes Jung, physicist and professor emeritus at Desy, also fears the consequences: "There are so many conflicts in the world. If scientific cooperation is restricted, this will have consequences for CERN's future projects and collaborations." He also expects a financial hole in CERN's budget – and thus possibly a bigger problem.

The member states pay higher contributions to CERN's budget than the observer states such as Russia. Switzerland, for example, contributes around 40 million Swiss francs (42.6 million euros) per year, while Germany is the largest contributor with around 220 million euros per year out of a total budget of over 1.2 billion Swiss francs. The contributions are based on the gross domestic product of the respective country.

However, Russia has also made a significant financial and material contribution to CERN in the past, which will now be discontinued, CERN spokesperson Arnaud Marsollier confirmed to heise online. Russia contributed around 2.7 million Swiss francs per year. This corresponds to around 4.5 percent of the running costs of the experiments at the world's largest particle accelerator, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC).

In addition, CERN says it will now have to raise at least an additional 40 million Swiss francs by 2028 because various Russian parts for the accelerator and components for the experiments will no longer be supplied due to the sanctions against Russia. However, the huge research machine has repeatedly faced financial challenges.

Financing problems

In view of CERN's huge development projects, such as the construction of a new ring accelerator with a circumference of almost 91 kilometers, these difficulties are likely to increase. The estimated costs of this Future Circular Collider (FCC) vary depending on the source and range from 10 billion to over 20 billion euros, at least three times as expensive as the current LHC. And it doesn't even have to stop there.

The German government has already indicated that Germany does not have endlessly deep pockets. At a workshop for German particle physicists, Eckart Lilienthal from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) caused a stir by criticizing the inaccurate cost and funding estimates. "Under the current economic conditions, Germany is not in a position to provide the planned funding for the FCC," Lilienthal is quoted as saying by the Neue Zürcher Zeitung.

Hannes Jung therefore considers it "important and positive if Russia were to continue to devote financial and intellectual resources to support experiments and research at CERN", he told the news portal SWI Swissinfo.ch. Meanwhile, it is to be feared that Russian money and Russian scientists will now benefit military research.

In a guest article for the in-house magazine CERN Courier, physicist Jung, who is also Chairman of the Science4Peace Forum, firmly expresses his rejection of decisions to impose sanctions on researchers and states – which, according to internal information, were not unanimous. Political pressure ultimately led to the exclusion of Russia.

ETH Rector Günther Dissertori also told SRF that he was "not happy with the decision". He could understand it and "also understands the positions of the countries that were particularly committed to it. But personally I would have preferred a different solution," said Dissertori.

Criticism from Ukraine

However, CERN is not cutting all ties with Russia – much to the displeasure of Ukraine. CERN has not terminated a cooperation agreement with the United Institute for Nuclear Research (JINR) in the scientific city of Dubna, not far from Moscow. CERN has been working with the organization, which is similar to CERN, since 1957: an association of mostly former Eastern Bloc countries that conducts comparable research.

The JINR is more than 80 percent financed by the Russian state, Ukrainian researchers criticize. Nevertheless, the CERN Council decided in June of this year not to terminate the agreement. However, the mutual observer status between CERN and JINR and, above all, the initiation of new collaborations were suspended.

CERN itself has around 2500 permanent employees. In addition, thousands of people from 110 nations conduct research in the organization; a total of around 14,000 scientists at research institutes around the world are part of the international network. CERN currently has 24 member states, 10 associated member states and two states and two multilateral organizations with observer status, plus cooperation agreements with 48 states, including Belarus and the Russian Federation.

(nie)