CERN's benefits for SA's human capital highlighted

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The collaboration between South Africa and CERN, the European Organisation for Nuclear Research, has significantly enhanced the country's research capabilities and human capital, positioning it as a key player in global scientific innovation.

Fifteen years of partnership were celebrated at an event in Cape Town on 20 and 21 January, at which the Deputy Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, Ms Nomalungelo Gina, highlighted the transformative impact of the relationship.

"This collaboration has not only exposed our research community to cutting-edge science, but also equipped our nation with skills and technology that extend far beyond physics," she said.

The SA-CERN Programme has seen South African participation at CERN's Geneva-based facilities expand from just 15 researchers to over 60, with postgraduate beneficiaries increasing from fewer than 25 to more than 70.

The initiative has allowed South African researchers to participate actively in large-scale international projects such as the ATLAS experiment, which was essential in the discovery of the Higgs boson, a milestone in modern physics.  The 2012 discovery provided key insights into how particles acquire mass and fundamentally altered our understanding of the universe.

CERN is a global hub for scientific research, innovation and collaboration. Its main mission is to advance the understanding of the universe by studying the fundamental nature of matter, energy, space and time. To achieve this, CERN operates a range of complex and sophisticated scientific instruments like the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the world's largest and highest-energy particle collider.

Detectors such as ATLAS and CMS are designed to detect and analyse the particles produced in these high-energy collisions. CERN also has a massive computing infrastructure that processes and analyses the vast amounts of data generated by the LHC and other experiments. This has led to sophisticated data analysis, computing and engineering solutions.

South Africa's collaboration with CERN is motivated by, among other things, the strategic goal of obtaining access to important and world-class global research infrastructure, which is crucial to the progress of several of the country's major scientific sectors.

The Deputy Minister said global research infrastructure provided an enabling environment for established researchers to improve their performance, knowledge and innovation outputs.

"The complexity, as well as the high development, construction and operation costs, teaches us that it is impossible for one country or region to build or operate these facilities on its own," she explained.

She emphasised the significance of continuing to encourage and empower young people, particularly those from underprivileged backgrounds, to pursue careers in science, technology and engineering. She believes that the SA-CERN Programme will make a strong contribution in this regard.

Prof. Azwinndini Muronga, Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Research, Innovation and Internationalisation at Nelson Mandela University in Gqeberha, highlighted the collaboration's impact on historically disadvantaged institutions in South Africa, as well as schools in rural and township areas, which continues to help identify talent.

Dr Mike Lamont, the Director for Accelerators and Technology at CERN, said science is a tool that brings nations together, and the power of collaboration in science helps nations to tackle global challenges collectively, building capacity, knowledge and opportunities. 

Talking about some of the latest developments, he said that CERN was embarking on hard, expensive and complex experiments that pushed the limits of what was available for medical research, producing novel radioactive isotopes with potential applications in therapeutics and diagnostics.

"Working together politically, culturally, intellectually in the spirit of innovation, modernism and cosmopolitanism, we make progress on the back of the enlightenment values of reason, science and humanism, with technology and wealth generation playing their part," said Lamont, adding that South Africa and CERN had come a long way.

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Issued by the Department of Science, Technology and Innovation.

For more information, please contact Veronica Mohapeloa at 083 400 5750 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., or Mr Pontsho Mantlhakga at 072 346 5219 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

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