CERN’s turn away from Russian scientists has positive aspects — Kurchatov Center chief

MOSCOW, September 21. /TASS/. The president of the Kurchatov Institute research center, Mikhail Kovalchuk, has said that the European Organization for Nuclear Research’s refusal to cooperate with Russian scientists will have a positive impact on the development of science in Russia, as the experience gained by researchers will be useful in the work of Russian mega science facilities.
On September 20, Nature magazine reported that CERN, known as the operator of the Swiss-based Large Hadron Collider, will deny hundreds of Russian-affiliated scientists access to its facilities from the beginning of December 2024.
“This is quite obviously a positive development for us in some respects,” Kovalchuk told the daily Izvestia in a commentary, noting that the experience of Russian scientists working at CERN would come in handy in implementing the program for building Russia’s own mega science facilities.
Among such facilities Kovalchuk named the SKIF (Siberian Circular Source of Photons) center under construction near Novosibirsk – a compound of 34 buildings and facilities, as well as engineering and technological equipment for advanced research with bright and intense beams of X-rays.
Kovalchuk noted that many international scientific projects were based on the ideas of Soviet and Russian scientists.
“Apart from the fact that we are the largest intellectual donor, in fact all these projects were launched thanks to the involvement of Russian scientists,” Kovalchuk said.