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ISLAMABAD, Aug 29 (APP):A team of experts from the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), consisting of five task force members, concluded the second review of Pakistan’s Associate Membership.
The European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) is the premier scientific laboratory established by European member states in Geneva on the principle of “Science for Peace.”
It is primarily working to unravel the frontiers of knowledge, develop new technologies and train scientists and engineers for the future.
CERN has evolved into the world’s largest Particle Physics laboratory with twenty-five Members and nine Associate Members, including Pakistan.
While Pakistan’s collaboration with CERN spans over three decades, dating back to 1994 when a cooperation agreement was signed, Pakistan became an Associate Member of CERN in 2015. Over the years, Pakistan has contributed to several CERN projects.
Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) is the lead agency in the PAK-CERN collaboration.
The CERN task force’s visit to Pakistan was headed by Ms. Charlotte L. Warakaulle, Director for International Relations, CERN. Other members included Prof. Joachim Mnich, Director for Research and Computing; Prof. Emmanuel Tsesmelis, Head of Relations with Associate Members and Non-Member States; Dr. Andrzej Charkiewicz, from the Experimental Physics Department and Prof. Tadeusz Lesiak, Polish Scientific Delegate to the CERN Council.
At the commencement of the visit, the team called on Dr. Raja Ali Raza Anwar, Chairman Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) at the Headquarters in Islamabad.
The meeting was followed by detailed presentations from different research and development facilities of PAEC and other organisations.
Dr. Masood Iqbal, Member (Science) PAEC, led the task force to various research centres and institutes, starting with High Energy Physics Labs at the National Centre for Physics (NCP), which was followed by a visit to the Pakistan Institute of Engineering and Applied Sciences (PIEAS), the premier engineering university of the country. Prof. Emmanuel Tsesmelis delivered a lecture and interacted with young researchers at PIEAS.
Amongst other facilities, the task force team visited the National Institute for Lasers and Optronics (NILOP) and Pakistan Institute of Nuclear Science and Technology (PINSTECH) in Nilore, Islamabad, followed by a visit to Government College University (GCU) and University of the Punjab, Lahore.
The review concluded with a visit to the Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Oncology Lahore (INMOL), a flagship Atomic Energy Cancer Hospital of PAEC. At INMOL, the team visited PET CT, SPECT CT, Cyclotron, and radiopharmaceutical production facilities.
After seeing the facilities, detailed presentations on the role of 20 Atomic Energy Cancer Hospitals of PAEC and INMOL were given.
At the end of the CERN task force visit, Ms. Charlotte L. Warakaulle expressed satisfaction over the visit and elaborated on the potential avenues of further cooperation between CERN and Pakistani research organisations like PAEC, Punjab University, and GCU.