Caption: Family photo of the business and scientific delegation, along with CERN's school group in Portuguese for secondary school teachers, taking place this week. (c) CERN
A Portuguese mission to CERN (European Organisation for Nuclear Research) was organised on 3 and 4 of September, promoted by ANI and other entities (FCT, LIP, MCTES and CERN). This mission was coordinated during a visit by the Minister of Science, Technology and Higher Education, Professor Manuel Heitor, who was accompanied by the Secretary of State for Internationalisation, Professor Eurico Brilhante Dias.
The director António Bob Santos and the Industrial Liaison Officer (ILO) José Antão joined representatives of other agencies (FCT, IAPMEI, AICEP), universities and polytechnic institutes, who accompanied the delegation of 17 companies, 5 Interface Centres (CITs) and 2 Collaborative Laboratories.
The work involved plenary presentations and tours of laboratories and instruments, including the ATLAS and CMS detectors in the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) tunnel. A total of 21 meetings were also held between Portuguese companies and representatives of CERN’s scientific and technological groups. The visit, which took place within the framework of the ILO's activity with CERN and other international organizations, was aimed at increasing the financial return of the Portuguese stake in CERN, through industrial contracts.
There was also an opportunity for the community of Portuguese scientists and technicians at CERN to meet Portuguese companies and academic institutions, as well as to honour professor Gaspar Barreira, Portugal's historical representative in the organisation, who recently passed away.