In early March the Instituto Superior Técnico, signed an agreement with CERN – the European Organization for Nuclear Research – where the world’s biggest laboratory for particle physics is located. This cooperation agreement will enable IST engineers and scientists who work in the areas of information and communication technologies to fill positions as associate members of CERN. They may thus collaborate in the technologies that are now being developed for future experiments with high energy, strengthening the relations between the two entities in this field.
Over the past few years, several IST researchers from other areas, such as high energy physics, instrumentation and grid computing, have been heavily involved in experiments at CERN, such as the CMS and the ATLAS experiments that, in 2012, obtained conclusive evidence of the Higgs boson.
André David is one of them. After graduating in physics engineering from IST, he headed to Switzerland and has been at CERN since 2001 where he works precisely in the CMS experiment as a “research physicist.” He is, therefore, the best person to talk about the work that has been done and that can still be done in the organization. “CERN is not an institution that makes physics: it exists so that physics can be made. It puts at our disposal accelerators, facilities, offices and makes it possible for some of us to work as experimental physicists.”
Others – most of whom are working at CERN – play key roles in the development of these scientific activities and the day-to-day of the organization, as is the case of João Silva, a former student of computer science and computer engineering, who is currently a member of the Advanced Information Systems group at CERN.
“I am directly responsible for a system (…), which is transversal to all areas of the organization, called EDH (Electronic Document Handling)”, he explains by email. “The EDH is an integral part of the daily life of community members at CERN (…). Due to the high staff turnover levels and the large number of visiting scientists [those who CERN allows to “do physics”, as André David says], it is of paramount importance that there is an efficient and integrated solution for the management of administrative procedures that enable users to perform routine tasks simply and transparently. Thus, we make it possible for engineers and scientists at CERN to focus on their core business, the key research.”
It was precisely to strengthen the cooperation in this area of information and communication technologies, which, for example, also includes accelerator control software, industrial control, databases or operating systems that the new agreement has come into force.
As summarized by João Silva, “Although not all CERN employees are directly involved in the research experiments, it is an honour and a privilege to be able to contribute directly or indirectly, so that all of us, as human beings, can better understand the world we live in.” From now on, the number of researchers from IST that will write their part in this story may be even greater.
