Trinity welcomes significant step towards Ireland’s CERN membership
Posted on: 19 February 2025
Ireland has been accepted in principle into the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN) as an associate member, opening the door to next-gen research facilities and teaching opportunities for researchers, teachers and students alike.
Subject to funding requirements and Dáil approval, it is anticipated that Ireland will complete the accession process in 2026.
CERN is known by many as the home of the Large Hadron Collider – the world’s largest and most powerful particle accelerator. Collaborative research focuses on enhancing our understanding of the fundamental particles and forces of the universe – knowledge that promises to have myriad applications across a suite of disciplines.
Welcoming the news, Prof. Sinéad Ryan, Dean of Research at Trinity and co-spokesperson for the Ireland CERN Users' Group, said: “I warmly welcome the exciting news that Ireland’s bid for associate membership has been accepted in principle. That news is testament to the strength of the Irish application and to our potential not just to benefit from membership but to contribute to CERN's current and future research.
“CERN membership brings huge opportunities to enhance teaching, learning and skills development in STEM all across the country, for students, teachers and researchers who will now have access to targeted workshops, outreach activities and next-gen research facilities. Membership will also open up new markets and foster new R&D partnerships for Irish industries and SMEs.
“Here in Trinity's School of Mathematics researchers already have broad and deep ties to CERN's theoretical particle physics division and are delighted that membership will foster new collaborations and research directions for them and their students. Importantly, membership was enthusiastically supported across disciplines in physics, chemistry, engineering and computer science, where new research projects are already under way as part of Trinity’s associate membership of the CMS experiment.”