Brazil is first Latin American country to become associate member of CERN

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Brazil will be the first Latin American country to join the European Center for Particle Physics (CERN) as an Associate Member State, the scientific institution announced today.

Pending completion of the necessary ratification processes, Brazil will be the third country, along with Turkey and Ukraine, to become an associate member of CERN. This status will allow it to attend Council and Finance Committee meetings, and Brazilian nationals will be eligible for time-limited staff positions and fellowships.

In addition, Brazilian companies will be able to bid for contracts with CERN, increasing opportunities for industrial collaboration in advanced technologies.

“This agreement allows Brazil and CERN to strengthen their collaboration further, opening up a wide range of new and mutually beneficial opportunities in fundamental research, technological developments, and innovation, education, and training activities,” said CERN director-general Fabiola Gianotti, quoted in a statement.

“Our industry will also benefit through participation in bidding for contracts both for research and development and for the supply of services and materials. I am sure that this partnership will take the Brazilian science, technology, and innovation sector to a new level of development,” said Brazil’s Minister of Science, Technology, and Innovation, Marcos Pontes.

It is not the first contact between the Latin American country and the research center. Brazil has been present since 1990 in several CERN projects, such as the DELPHI experiment at the Large Electron-Positron Collider, and has participated in training and outreach programs for students and teachers.

Beyond particle physics, CERN and Brazil’s National Center for Energy and Materials Research (CNPEM) have also formally cooperated since December 2020 to research and develop accelerator technology and its applications.

CERN currently has 23 member states: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovak Republic, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and United Kingdom.

With information from EFE