Russian physicists to be barred from Large Hadron Collider by December 1

Starting December 1, hundreds of scientists affiliated with Russian institutions will be banned from accessing CERN's facilities.

This follows the European particle physics lab's decision to expel Russia-affiliated researchers, Caliber.Az reports citing Nature magazine.

They will also be required to surrender any French or Swiss residency permits they possess.

To continue working at CERN, Russian scientists must sever ties with Russian institutions and relocate to foreign research centres. However, CERN will still collaborate on ongoing projects with approximately 270 staff members from Russia's Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (JINR), who are conducting experiments at the NICA collider in Dubna, near Moscow.

Hannes Jung, a particle physicist at the German Electron Synchrotron in Hamburg, expressed concern over the loss of Russian expertise, warning that it "will leave a hole." Nature reports that Russia's funding agencies contributed about 4.5% to the Large Hadron Collider's budget, and the loss of this support for the upcoming High-Luminosity LHC upgrade could cost CERN an additional $47 million.

The Large Hadron Collider, the world's most powerful particle accelerator, is located near Geneva, Switzerland, and involves contributions from 100,000 specialists across 44 countries, including Russia. Discoveries made at the LHC include over 60 new subatomic particles, such as pentaquarks, and confirmation of the Higgs boson.

CERN suspended Russia's observer status in March 2022 and decided not to renew cooperation agreements with Russia and Belarus beyond 2024. However, collaboration with Russia’s JINR remains ongoing.