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Published online 19 May 2009 | Nature | doi:10.1038/459311e

Austrian scientists celebrate CERN U-turn

Chancellor overturns science minister's decision to end 50-year participation in physics laboratory

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  • Dear editors, In your nature podcast from Thursday, 21 May, you mentioned Austria?s CERN funding flip-flop and I would like to clarify this issue. The Austrian Federal Minister for Science and Research, Johannes Hahn, has provoked a lot of public interest in last week?s announcement of quitting after an internal assessment process Austria?s Membership at CERN, the world?s largest research center for high energy physics. The reaction from both the physical sciences community, as well as mass media was an outcry expressing that Austria is making a huge mistake. In the end, the Federal Chancellor stopped the debate by refusing his party?s approval for the termination in Parliament. Interestingly, this decision to terminate Austria?s membership with CERN, thereby saving some ? 20 million per year, was not understood as a tool to renegotiate its membership fee. It was not even understood as a very normal priority setting process, which focuses on joining other trans- or international research infrastructures defined by the ESFRI (European Strategy Forum for Research Infrastructures) roadmap. There are currently other, some scientist?s even say more important, European research infrastructures under negotiation, not only in Physics, but also in Life and Social Sciences. These opportunities must not be neglected and in times of financial crisis priority setting is the appropriate tool of use. After oil was poured on troubled water this is now the proper time to rethink the whole process. Austria is asked to negotiate a relationship with CERN which takes the needs of the concerned group of scientists into account. Such negotiations should not be slipped in by those with a clear conflict of interest but supported broadly. And secondly an evaluation process needs to be established to identify those scientific disciplines for which joining an International Programme benefits most. Markus Pasterk, Scientific Coordinator of the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), Lyon

    • 19 Jun, 2009
    • Posted by: Markus Pasterk