Pakistan has reached a remarkable milestone in scientific research by becoming an associate member of the European Council for Nuclear Research (CERN). Pakistan is the first Asian country to become an associate member in the Geneva-based CERN, which is the world’s leading physics research centre, founded in 1953 by twelve European nations. It leads the world in areas like particle and energy physics and invented the World Wide Web, besides many other discoveries to its credit. Pakistani physicists have remained actively engaged with CERN for a long time. However, the current status accorded to Pakistan is particularly an outcome of an initiative taken in 2011that ultimately led to winning associate membership. Over the decades Pakistani scientists have contributed to the research at CERN. Nobel Laureate Dr Abdus Salam did some pioneering work at the Council. Later, over 30 Pakistani scientists were involved in the discovery of the Higgs Boson, also nicknamed the ‘God particle’. The ‘God particle’ is seen as fundamental to the creation of the universe and has been the subject of an intense scientific hunt. Dr Abdus Salam predicted the existence of the Higgs-Boson particle in the 1970s. It was for this body of work that Salam, along with Weinberg and Glashow, was awarded the Nobel Prize for physics in 1979.
Pakistan-CERN cooperation formally started in 1994, with the signing of a mutual cooperation agreement. This struggle for membership swiftly proceeded after the 2011 visit of former Director General Strategic Plans Division Khalid Ahmed Kidwai to the CERN CMS control centre in Meyrin. After this visit Pakistan formally applied for associate membership in February 2013. The Pakistan National Centre for Physics has been collaborating with CERN since 2000 and the Heavy Mechanical Complex has been producing products on demand. Pakistani scientists have for decades played a part in particle physics research and it was strongly felt that a prominent international standard research platform, i.e. CERN, was needed for the scientists of Pakistan. This collaboration of Pakistan with CERN emphasises the significance of scientific research and higher education for economic and technological development in Pakistan. With the associate membership, Pakistan will also receive a student quota of around fifteen students.
There are several other spinoffs related to CERN, such as developments in the field of science and technology that will contribute in many other areas such as medicine, homeland security, industry, simulation of cancer treatments, reliable testing of nuclear weapons, food sterilisation, nuclear waste transmutation, and scanning of shipping containers. These are some by-products of physics research. It will also help in technology transfer in key areas of radiofrequency (RF) technology, ion beam optics, and cryogenics. Associate membership also means that Pakistan shall contribute to CERN projects and it can give a fillip to Pakistani industry and other entities that can apply on a preferential basis for any tenders. This also means that if a few scientists and institutions can achieve such laurels for the country, others can do so too. The achievements of Pakistan’s proud scientists in indigenous production of a nuclear capability have deterred India in spite of the best efforts of the world to prevent it. We could excel in many other things! Energy is quintessential for growth and the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission is efficiently executing the Energy Security Plan 2050 that will add another 44,000 megawatts to the energy mix. Let us continue to repeat the CERN moment.
The writer has a post-graduate degree in Defence and Strategic Studies from Quaid-e-Azam University, Islamabad