Commerations of the 30th anniversary of the Slovak Republic’s membership in CERN
The Slovak Republic became a member country of the intergovernmental scientific institution CERN on July 1, 1993. On Tuesday, June 27, 2023, the celebration of this anniversary took place under the patronage of the President of the Slovak Republic.
The CERN director for international relations, Ms. Charlotte Warakaulle, representatives of the Ministry of Education and Culture of the Slovak Republic, that of the Ministry of Education and Culture of the Czech Republic, the Ambassador of the Slovak Republic to the UN in Geneva, representatives of institutions cooperating with CERN from Slovakia (SAV, UK, UPJS, TUKE, ...) and those from the Czech Republic (UK, ČAV).
The celebrations began with a morning program for high school students on FMFI UK, where, in addition to lectures and a virtual visit to the ATLAS detector, students could try to build a cloud chamber with their own hands and see traces of cosmic radiation particles. The same event for high school students was held earlier (June 15, 2023) by the Nuclear and Subnuclear Department in the campus of the PF UPJŠ in Košice.
In the afternoon, a ceremonial meeting took place in the Science Park of the Comenius University, where the invited guests gave their speeches, and representatives of the Slovak scientific community summarized what Slovakia had achieved during the 30 years of cooperation with CERN, not only at the scientific level, but also the benefits for the Slovak industry and for student teaching programs at different departments.
The celebrations made a very good impression on the CERN director for international relations, who appreciated the event for high school students, as well as the significant representation of young colleagues at the celebrations. Likewise, representatives of ministries and institutions confirmed the great importance of cooperation between the Slovak Republic and CERN and the possibilities that this cooperation offers not only for scientists, but also for Slovak society as a whole. At CERN, Slovakia not only participates in scientific experiments, but also successfully develops cooperation in the IT field or in various technical fields, and this successful cooperation so far opens up further opportunities in the future.