The government, headed by Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi yesterday signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the European Laboratory for Particle Physics (CERN) that might lead to a formal infrastructure of research in Malta, and research and work opportunities for Maltese scientists in CERN.

The MOU was signed by Dr Gonzi, who was accompanied by various government officials and representatives from the University of Malta, and the Director General of CERN, Robert Aymar.

Prime Minister Gonzi was met at the main entrance of CERN by Dr Aymar, who then delivered a presentation and spoke about the importance of collaboration between Malta and CERN.

Prof. Aymar also explained that CERN wants to extend its influence in countries who are not member states, and how, as a Mediterranean country and EU member state, Malta can act as a gate to other countries.

Dr Sammut explained that the MOU is the starting point of a formal collaboration between Malta and CERN.

“In 2002 there was the first contact between the Department of Microelectronics at the University of Malta and CERN. Today, there is the first formal contact with the Maltese government – the Maltese government has today recognised the importance of CERN,” he said.

CERN, the European Laboratory for Particle Physics (also known as the European Organisation for Nuclear Research), is situated on the Franco-Swiss border just outside Geneva and funded by 20 European member states with a budget of e600 million per year. It researches non-military peaceful fundamental science, with the aim of bringing together the same countries that fought each other in World War II.

Technically, Maltese scientists are not allowed to work and conduct research at CERN because Malta is not a CERN member state. However, thanks to the results of a Ph.D. thesis brought about through temporary collaboration between CERN and the Department of Micro-electronics (then in the Faculty of Engineering, and now in the Faculty of ICT) at the University of Malta, Dr Sammut is working as a research engineer involved in one of the world’s biggest, and most expensive, projects ever undertaken.

The visit was an all round success – Dr Gonzi was visibly impressed by the massive scale of the facility and laboratories, and expressed his confidence at the great contribution CERN can give to Maltese students.

Speaking to this newspaper, Dr Sammut personally thanked his Ph.D supervisor Professor Joseph Micallef, at the Department of Microelectronics, who had started the collaboration back in 2002.

“I can say that I am thrilled about the whole thing – back in 2002, I would never have thought that all this would happen. The government took this proposal very seriously, and the first step for something concrete has already been made,” he said.

Worldwide specialists are building the largest and most powerful scientific instrument ever constructed by mankind – a particle accelerator known as the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). The LHC is 27 km long and is 100m underground, carrying a price tag of around e6 billion.

Dr Sammut is in charge of the implementation and optimisation of the feed forward control system of the LHC. He got access to a cryogenic infrastructure of e25 million which he needed to successfully complete his research project. In addition to this, he also coordinated a team of engineers and technicians to build and characterise an electronic instrument that measures dynamic properties of LHC superconducting magnets. At the time of completion, this instrument was the fastest, and most precise, of its kind in the world.

The project, which started in 1984, will be switched on in May and its cutting edge technology may have profound implications in physics, engineering, computing and medicine, ranging from the infinitely small (nanotechnology) to the infinitely large (cosmology).

Dr Sammut explained to this newspaper that the MOU will initiate a series of discussions about what concrete measures will be implemented with regard to contracts, state funding and the choice of people who will work on this collaboration.

It is also hoped that a research centre will be built in Malta so that Maltese students who are trained in CERN will have opportunities to implement what they have learnt and, as a result, reduce any brain drain.